{UAH} OF OBOTE'S NYA AND MUSEVENI'S LDU (PHOTOS)

OF OBOTE'S NYA AND MUSEVENI'S LDU (PHOTOS)

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CHANGE OF GUARDS - Uganda's military dictator's 35 years hold on power can be traced to the 1979 overthrown of Iddi Amin by the Tanzanian army. Among the few Ugandan exiles who came along the Tazanians was an ambitious and power hungry young man called Yoweri Museveni.  He manoeuvred his way to take up the position of Minister of Defence in the post Amin UNLF government. He used his position to recruit an ethnic personal army thus undermining the creation of a new national army. Consequently, the new post Amin army, UNLA became visibly divided along the north and south divide of Bantu Vs Nilotics and those for Museveni and those for Obote. After freely and fairly loosing the 1980 elections, Museveni took to the jungles for his sectarian guerrilla war against the Obote government. His insurgency was visibly a contest for power between the Bantu south and the 'northerners'. The young and highly infiltrated UNLA struggled to contain the Museveni insurgency whose bases were in the ethnically hostile Buganda region.

In its counter-insurgency efforts against Museveni's NRA guerrillas, the UPC government adopted the recruitment of militias. First it was the UPC Chairmen and their Youth Wingers who operated from their respective home areas against political opponents. The Special Forces under the Police drawn mainly from Teso and Lango. Then came the paramilitary armed young men drawn from northern Uganda more especially Kitgum who, because they were not regularly recruited, were simply referred to as Not Yet Approved (NYA). In the same regard, they had no Service Numbers and their legal status was in balance. With just a few military drills, they would be armed and sent to the Front-line alongside the UNLA to confront the NRA. These young men died at the Front-line like flies prompting the Acholi to accuse the Langi of leaving them to do the donkey work hence the 1985 military coup.

After taking power, Museveni faced a rebellion from the Acholi and Iteso and in his counterinsurgency efforts, he created paramilitary groups from Acholi and Teso sub-regions. Many ended up being enlisted into his army together with the former insurgents who would surrender coupled by the economic hardships suffered by the northern and eastern regions thus they formed the majority of his foot soldiers.

Faced with a potential military confrontation with Rwanda and a fragile political terrain, in 2018, Museveni rolled out a scheme to raise a paramilitary force dubbed Local Defence Unit (LDU).  Again, Acholi and Teso regions were at hand to provide the necessary human resources.

These young men underwent more serious military training in infantry than even what many of UPDF officers including some generals have ever received. Therefore, the question of insufficient training does not arise. They were deliberately deployed in the greater Kampala area to bolster the army in its efforts to take over civilian policing. The takeover by the army was designed to contain and dismantle the influence of the militarised police force that was suspected to have been prepared for the former police chief, Gen. Kalekyezi's personal political  ambitions. Though their legal status is unclear, these LDUs are under the command and control of the army. Their conduct directly reflects the conduct of the army. Make no mistake, in all the atrocities being committed, the army is hiding behind the LDUs. The situation is no different from the pre 2018 when LDUs had not been deployed.  If the UPDF is exonerated from the so-called killings, torture and extortion by the LDUs, then Obote's UNLA ought to be exonerated from the alleged atrocities on grounds that it had the poorly trained NYA.

The repeated apologies and rhetoric of reorganising and retooling of the LDUs by the army are nothing but the usual schemes of hoodwinking Ugandans. The only form of military training these LDUs have not had is piloting of jet fighters and helicopter gunships, operating Tanks, APCs and other motorised infantry vehicles. Otherwise, these are well trained soldiers only that they are being exploited by a rotten system by denying them incorporation into the mainstream army. They are well versed with weapon handling and that's why you have never heard of incidents where they have accidentally shot their colleagues or members of the public. Where they have shot civilians, it has always been deliberate and with the required accuracy. Remember, even during one of their pass-out sessions, Museveni picked some for his SFC.

Therefore, even if the LDUs are disbanded today, the atrocities by Museveni's security goons will continue just because they are state sanctioned and it's the norm. Otherwise, they are behaving in accordance with and doing what they are mandated to do by their deploying authority. In fact, Ugandans are yet to test their 'efficiency' and 'capability'. Otherwise, the torture, extortion and killings by the so-called LDUs has been here and is here to stay. What should preoccupy the thinking of Ugandans ought to be the question of who is the next victim. However, the good news is that since the problem of Obote's NYA was not solved by speeches and condemnations or going to the ballot box, even the same won't solve the carnage by the LDUs.

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Rehema
Patriot in Kampala,East Africa:Assalamu Alaikum

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