{UAH} THE UNSUNG UNLA HEROS OF THE NRA BUSH WAR

THE UNSUNG UNLA HEROS OF THE NRA BUSH WAR

Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) was the post Iddi Amin national army of Uganda.  It was born out of the post Amin political arrangement dubbed Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) which had been the umbrella organization for all the anti-Amin groups.  The UNLA was born following the reorganisation of the anti-Amin fighting groups that had fought alongside the Tanzanian army to dislodge Iddi Amin.  It is during this reorganisation exercise that Museveni's FRONASA group has a number of its fighters eliminated from the new army because they were Rwandese refugees.  However, Museveni who was the Minister of Defense at the time retained them as his private army and were to form the nucleus of his NRA when he opted to launch a guerrilla war.  

This reorganisation of the army came amidst a tense atmosphere within the UNLA characterised by a recruitment race between Museveni and his FRONASA and the OOs and their mainstream UNLA.  Right from the early days of exile in Tanzania, Museveni had broken off from Obote and promoted his FRONASA as a force comprised of southerners and westerners in order to counter what he perceived as dominance of the army by the northern and eastern regions.  This posture was maintained during the 1980 elections and his subsequent bush war thus fighting the dominance of government by the 'northerners'.

During the bush war, some UNLA  personnel from western Uganda kept defecting from the UNLA  to join the NRA.  Its only when an Acholi, Captain Okwera opted to lead his Fort Portal based 13th Battalion and join hands with the NRA in July 1985, that the door was opened up for 'northerners' to join the NRA.  The defection of UNLA personnel though not acknowledged by Museveni, proved to be a big game changer for the military conflict.  Its UNLA's joining of hands with the NRA in Fort Portal that sparked off the coup against President Obote and tremendously weakened it.  Also, around August 1985, a group of 27 men escaped with two Armed Personnel Carriers (APC) from their base in the capital Kampala and defected to the NRA controlled western region.  

The UNLA was at the time building its mechanised capability and had no tanks but only APCs based at the former Army Shop and now Mutes a Royal University in Mengo. It was called the Mechanized and Commando Unit and under the command of Ochero Nangai.  The Unit whose personnel had been trained in Egypt and DPRKorea gave the ULA infantry specialised back up in the battle field.  From Mengo, the defectors left stealthily and headed for Busega round about where they were supposed to link up before taking the Mityana road.

The group comprised of two  Lieutenants, two Warrant Officers, one Staff Sgt, one Sgt, one Corporal and one L/Cpl also had civilians of which two were clad in full military attires.

They took with them two APCs, two military Land rover jeeps, one TATA military breakdown truck, after emptying the armoury of an assortment of different types of riffles, pistols and

RPGs.  The majority in the group hailed from Tooro and included Lt. Patrick Monday as the group leader, WOI John Kusemererwa, S/Sgt Kyomuhendo, Sgt Charles Monday, the two civilians in military uniform and Cpl Magyemagyye Zambogo who drove the second APC. The others not hailing from Tooro were Lt. Duncan from Ankle, L/Cpl Nyakaana from Bunyoro  a certain Pte from Acholi Cpl Michael Oguta from Lango who drove the second APC.  After failing to link with another group of defectors under 2Lt. Lukanga who had taken the third land drover in order to pick them from Makindye State Lodge, the group took the Mityaana Road route.  The UUNLA roadblock at Buloba which was the last line of Defence between government troops and the NRA was overcome using a forged Movement Order purportedly signed by Lt. Col. Ochero Nangai  and the cover story of how they were going to Mityana to rescue their own.

However, the 2Lt Lukanga group was suspected and arrested before they could leave Kampala and a message was sent to intercept the Lt. Monday group but it had already passed the roadblock at Buloba.  Instead a helicopter gunship attempted to intercept them but when they fired at it, it never came back.  In Mityana, they were received by the NRA who had been expecting their defection.  They were sent to the NRA liberated Zone in the western region before they were deployed under Saleh's Mobile Brigade in Masaka.  The group actively fought in the battle for the control of Katonga Bridge before UNLA's 12th Battalion under the command of then Lt. Julius Oketta in Masaka opted to join hands with the NRA in overrunning Katonga bridge and heading for Kampala.   

Their defection was widely reported locally and internationally because of the fact that they were from an elite unit of the infantry leaving it with no significant ground support formation to deploy against the NRA.  Apart from the Egyptian trained Commando, a certain Cpl from Bugwere who was killed by friendly fire around Ndeeba in Kampala on 23rd Jan 1986 and Cpl Oguta who had earlier driven the second APC and was killed on the 25th Jan 1986 along Parliamentary Avenue during short battles to capture Radio Uganda, all the rest survived into the next government.

Upon coming into government, the group was deployed under the newly formed Support Unit based at Bombo and comprised of artillery, some semblance of mechanized and field engineering. In the late 1980s the unit was accused of plotting a coup, its then Operations and Training Officer (OPTO) - Major Mugarra (a former soldier under Iddi Amin who hailed from Tooro) and his alleged conspirators were arrested and detained without trial in Karamoja.  Consequently, as had been the case with the pro-Buganda fighting groups like UFM and FEDEMO, the incident provided an opportunity to secure this vital component of

the new army while weeding out personnel who had served under the former armies of UA and UNLA.  It was split into Mechanised which was first shifted to Katabi in Entebbe before moving it to Masaka; the Artillery unit was taken to Masindi while Field Engineering was taken to Masaka too.  Its during the reign of James Kaziini as the Commanding Officer of the Mechanised Regiment that he harassed Maj. Patrick Monday into early retirement from where he miserably died a bitter man.  The entire group almost suffered the same fate with Lt. Magyemage Zambogo exiled in Europe.

The big question is:  Was it an NRA victory or an NRA/UNLA alliance??????  For all those who lost their lives, we can only dedicate to them this chorus:  "..............until when their blood was shed for Muhoozi."

INFORMATION IS POWER

Posted by Uganda - A Change of Guards!

Viele GruBe

Robukui

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