{UAH} My Encounter with a Government Spy

By Ahmed Wetaka

Shortly after the escape of Dr. Kiiza Besigye in 2001, I received a phone call to join a team of journalists from Kampala enroute to Kapchorwa district to cover the plight of the Benet people. The Benet had just been evicted from their homes for alleged encroachment on Mt. Elgon national park land.

I packed my backpack and waited for the team from Kampala so as to proceed with them to Kapchorwa for the assignment. The group that was led by veteran Uganda Television-UTV (Now UBC) reporter, Peter Swilike Kiisa arrived in Mbale town around 2pm.

I can only remember two other members of the team including Henry Baguma from Radio Uganda (now UBC Radio) and former news hour presenter, and Paul Kavuma from the then Monitor FM that was later rebranded to KFM.
We converged for lunch at Eldima hotel along Republic Street in Mbale town for lunch. We set off in about an hour's time for Kapchorwa and arrived late evening because of slippery roads since it was a rainy season.

We checked in at Noah's Ark hotel annex. But there was one problem. There was no power yet our TV colleagues didn't have sufficient battery power and needed to charge for the task ahead.
We inquired at the hotel about the available alternatives and were directed to the main Noah's Ark hotel, which was running a generator since it was one of the popular night spots in this cold town.
I tagged along a reporter from UTV who wanted to charge his battery. Once at the hotel, we explained our mission and were directed where to charge from. We decided to order for snacks and tea as we waited for the batteries to fill-up. Shortly after, some gentleman dressed in a jacket and black trouser entered the restaurant and walked straight to our table.
He inquired whether he could share the table with us. We raised no objection. He immediately ordered for a drink. He later inquired where we were from probably to start some conversation.
The UTV fellow told him we were from Kampala and didn't add a word. Minutes later, the stranger asked whether it was true Col. Anthony Kyakabale (now Lt. Colonel) had also fled the country as reported in the media. We told him we had also just read about it in the papers like him.

He immediately started explaining how Kyakabale was a very good man. He claimed it was Kyabakale who had even trained him at some point, adding he wouldn't have a problem joining him if it its indeed true that he had fled the country to start a rebel group.

My UTV colleague looked on in silence as I engaged the stranger, who looked suspicious and made calculated statements, seemingly driving the conversation to a certain direction. We also observed that the fellow wasn't settled. He kept pacing up and down like he was expecting some people who had taken long to arrive.
My UTV colleague got uncomfortable with the conversation and stepped on my foot signaling me to stop engaging the stranger. It wasn't long that the fellow stood up and walked away. The UTV reporter, who was my senior in age and journalism, cautioned me to go slow on the stranger, saying he looked a spy who was fishing for information.

The stranger returned about 30 minutes and continued with his conversation about his desire to join Kyakabale but we watched on in silence. About an hour later, a man showed up at the entrance dressed in a half coat with a tie holding a light skinned lady around the waist. They staggered in as if they were drank while laughing on top of their voices.
My UTV colleague told me you know what? The real movie is about to begin. He told me it's only CID officers who dress in ties at such awkward hours. It was almost 10pm. He said just watch and see what follows.
No sooner had he completed his statement, than another man wielding a pistol with a moustache like that of Hitler stood in the door. He shouted on top on his voice ordering the hotel attendants to turn down the music system. Our strange neighbor immediately secured the hind door, probably thinking someone would try to flee.

The man with the moustache, who I later came to learn was the District Internal Security Officer-DISO walked straight to our table and asked us to identify ourselves. Luckily enough, I never move without any form of identification. I pulled out my university identity card since I was still a student at Islamic University in Uganda, Main campus.

He looked at it and handed it back to me. He turned to my UTV colleague and asked him for his identity card. He had none because he had left it in his hotel room. He asked him where he works. The fellow said Office of the President since that is where UTV belonged then.
It was prestigious for UTV and Radio Uganda staff to identify with the office of the president even when they dying of misery with meager salaries. Not convinced, the DISO shouted we were told you were charging something here. What is it?

So the UTV fellow directed him to the battery of his TV camera. They checked it and stormed with the CID fellow, woman and stranger.

The UTV fellow turned to me and asked didn't I tell you these fellows were up to something? We immediately decided to retrieve the battery and retire to the hotel since power had returned.

When we got to the hotel, we found the entire team we had left behind discussing what had just happened. Apparently, the DISO and his team had stormed the hotel kicking doors and ordered everyone out.
Baguma was the biggest victim of the raid since he had gone to bed early due the blackout. When the officers kicked his door, he woke up and peeped through the key hole.
He was able to recognize the DISO because they were from the same village. He opened the door but was grabbed by the officers and pushed him to the ground. Realizing this could get worse, he summoned the courage to call out his village mate who immediately asked his boys to step aside. He looked keenly to discover it was his village they had just roughed up. They later apologized for whatever had happened. But being news reporters; this couldn't just go like that.
The matter came up during a press conference the next day held at the Kapchorwa district headquarters. The officers apologized, saying they were on high alert because of the prevailing circumstances. The DISO even promised to accommodate us the next time we show up in Kapchorwa.

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H.OGWAPITI
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"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that  we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic  and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
---Theodore Roosevelt

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