{UAH} Gen Attorney General and his gun-toting act!

Gen Attorney General and his gun-toting act!

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24 2018

    

 

 

Asuman Bisiika  

By Asuman Bisiika

The photo in which Mr Mwesigwa Rukutana was holding an automatic rifle, went viral on social media. Thanks to the gods, mainstream media brought it down to us and gave Mr Rukutana a platform to explain what some lawyerly fellows thought was an anomaly.
Mr Rukutana is the Deputy Attorney General of Uganda (and since the substantive Attorney General of Uganda is not a politician, Mr Rukutana is the face of the Attorney General's Chambers). And now, with his gun-toting act, we have baptised him Gen Attorney General.
In the Daily Monitor, Mr Rukutana is quoted as saying: 'I have owned this gun for 20 years'. He claimed the picture was about four years old and that someone hacked it from his Facebook account. Typical…
'I had just returned from Kyankwanzi and I was moving with the gun in the evening around my farm in Ntungamo. I have lawfully possessed that gun since there was an attempt on my life during the [Constituent Assembly] campaigns [in 1994]. In that attempt, one driver of a minibus called Lutwa was mistakenly killed, the killers thinking it was me.'
Rukutana adds: 'I have an escort car of eight armed guards following recent threats on my life. So what is the hullabaloo about me having a gun?'
And you ask, what does that answer got to do with the abnormal situation where the Deputy Attorney General moves casually with classified (and privileged) stores of the military? What does it say about the country?
I am not a soldier. But I have been shot at and I have also shot at someone (ask UPDF's Gen Geoffrey Muhesi, wherever he is). I am now masquerading as a student of the military and security.
This is what I understand: The so-called AK47 (an auto-reload assault rifle) is the standard military-issue of the UPDF, the Uganda Police and the Prison Services. Its MER (Maximum Effective Range) is 80 metres. Now, as a student, I need guidance on how such a weapon would be legally licensed to someone outside the rigours of the discipline and professional demands of the armed forces?
Plus: under what circumstances would a gazetted VIP like the Deputy Attorney General secure his or her personal safety with a standard military-issue weapon? Banange…!?
You may quote all the laws in Uganda and elsewhere but a situation where a gazetted VIP personally secures his safety with an auto-reload weapon is quite telling and is likely to attract focus unto the structural weaknesses of the state.
Bwana Mwesigwa Rukutana, the best security scenario is to have your safety managed by lesser mortals like me. May be you should hire me to manage your security and safety. 
Supreme leaders have generals. Generals have commanders. Commanders have officers. Officers have men (and women). Boss, even at the level of officer, an auto-reload rifle slung on the shoulder is not necessary in public. You just move with your boys (and girls).
If an officer finds it unnecessary to carry a rifle, the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General 'should' not be seen carrying an auto-reload rifle.

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A Kasese top businessman requested (applied) for a small weapon (pistol). When I learnt that he was applying for a pistol, I called him and advised him to drop the idea.
I told him that as a believer (Muslim), he was better off leaving his security and safety to Allah. I don't know what became of my advice; I don't know his current 'gun-status'.
Dear Gen Attorney General, guns (particularly in the hands of civilians), cannot provide sustainable security at national and individual level.

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