{UAH} MUSEVENI SENDS AWAY HIS KANGAHO BUT RECRUITS BAGANDA CHILD SOLDIERS

Written by CHANGE OF GUARDS

It is 1980 and the Vice President of the ruling Military Commission and leader of FRONASA, which was a faction of the national army, the UNLA, Yoweri Museveni is contesting for the presidency in the December 1980 general election.  He was also contesting for the parliamentary seat for Mbarara North.  At his residence in Kololo, he maintained a unit of his private army that was mainly comprised of Banyarwanda who had been rejected from the UNLA on account of being foreigners.  Among his family members at his residence was a 15 year old child called Andrew Kangaho who called Museveni's wife his aunt and was attending Buganda Road Primary School.  On the polling day, Kangaho was dressed in military uniform together with other six civilians and made to vote for Museveni at the Kamwokya Polling Station.

After miserably losing the elections, Museveni embarked on plots to launch his sectarian guerrilla war dubbed Bush War.  Together with his private army, he relocated to the Kampala suburb of Makindye at the house of Wycliffe Kazoora.  This home became the laboratory of his guerrilla war plans.  He issued a military uniform and a gun to the young Kangaho before tasking him with guarding the main gate as he engaged his private army in marathon preparatory meetings.  On the day of taking off for the attack on Kabamba Barracks, he removed both the military uniform and the gun from Kangaho.  Interestingly, the said young boy sneaked onto the truck that carried Museveni's fighters and hid behind the drums of reserve fuel. A short distance to Kabamba Barracks, Museveni discovered that the young boy Kangaho was among the fighters.

The now furious Museveni shaking his head, poured out his anger in Kiswahili;. "Nani emeleta huyu mtoto? (Who has brought this child?)." Amidst total silence, Museveni turned to Kangaho and asked him directly; "Wewe unaenda wapi? (You, where are you going?)" before warning whoever had brought that boy to bear all the consequences.  With no way out, they proceeded to attack Kabamba together with Kangaho.  After the attack on Kabamba, they proceeded to Kiboga where they attacked both the police and prison stations.  The following day, they were attacked by the Tanzanian soldiers and sent into disarray.  Around Bukomero, Museveni convened a meeting where he said; "That boy (Kangaho), stand up.  Remove your uniform and surrender the gun and go back to Kampala and return to school."  He was given a guide who safely led him to Kampala and he resumed school.

As Museveni's Bush War progressed, recruitment of Baganda child soldiers dubbed Kadogos, some as young as 10 – 13 years old, was the order of the day.  It even became fashionable for top Commanders to have these child soldiers as their escorts and bodyguards.  Andrew Kangaho went ahead to obtain a Bachelors  Degree from India and is one of the top regime beneficiaries in town.  While Museveni had secured the future of Kangaho, the future of hundreds of other Kadogos, more especially from Buganda, was irreparably destroyed.

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Rehema
Patriot in Kampala,East Africa:Assalamu Alaikum

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