By Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
Fellow Ugandans and, especially, the Bazzukulu. Greetings. Congratulations on a largely peaceful and happy Christmas. Nevertheless, I always marvel at how ignorance can be very dangerous. Take the case of ADF. These are People who delude themselves, working with confused People from other parts of the World, that they want to turn Uganda into a country ruled under Islamic Law (Sharia)!! Thereby, making fools of themselves but also causing a lot of unnecessary deaths and damage. In Ntungamo, we had a few moslems who lived peacefully with the other Ugandans. These were people like Bijega, Rutanywa-maizi, Kindimbo, Amisi Muganzi (muruka chief), Musa Kirwa (road foreman), Kapasi,etc. Some were our family friends. When the NRM came to power in 1986, Mzee Amisi Muganzi (who was, then, living in Kyazanga), cycled, on his bicycle, all the way to Rwakyitura to link up with his old friend, Mzee Amosi Kaguta, who, then, brought him to me, to congratulate us on our struggles. In Ntungamo, a few cows were kusharwa (cut the throat the moslem way) but the majority were Kushogoitwa (puncturing the jugular vein the traditional way). Nobody minded what the other did. They lived in harmony. The ADF to think that they can disrupt this harmony and impose sharia law on Uganda, is the height of disorientation. Only parasites can think like that; moreover, parasites who are very shallow. Our strong heritage has been here for the last 4 & ½ million years. Yes, we can benefit from elements of the new religions (Christianity and Islam), but to think that you can turn us into Europeans or Arabs, is the height of lack of seriousness. Therefore, the founders of ADF, supported by Mobutu and Bashir, were deceiving themselves to imagine that Uganda can be run as a sharia state. Moreover, they are parasites divorced from the Ntungamo society of wealth creators-cattle-keepers, crop growers, artisans and service providers. Our Moslems were mainly in services-shops, butcheries, hotels, etc.
When they started their treachery at Nakasero Mosque and Buseruka (Hoima), they were badly hit by the UPDF/ NRA. The remnants fled to Congo and linked up with Mobutu and Bashir. They thought those linkages would give them strength. Indeed, they were armed by Mobutu and Bashir and on the 13th of November, 1996, 1400 of them, all armed, attacked and overran Mpondwe for 3 or so days. The UPDF counter-attacked and 400 of them remained dead at Mpondwe. They fled to the mountains and used the mountains to kill civilians; but they were forced to flee back to Congo. The last attempt was in 2007 when 100 of them invaded the Semiliki National Park but only 17 fled back to Congo, 83 of them remained dead, in the Park. They planted some bombs in Kampala and killed some Sheikhs, but they were defeated and were only kept alive in Congo by the Government of President Kabila which allowed them to reside freely in Eastern Congo. They would kill Congolese, rob them, harvest and sell their cocoa, cut and sell timber, illegally mine gold and live as criminal warlords. Occasionally, some elements would sneak into Uganda and kill People- like the Sheikhs, Katumba’s daughter, etc. The NRM Government exercised strategic patience and we continued begging the Kabila Government to either get rid of these parasites from their country or allow us to help them do it. H.E Kabila was not interested. He was busy with external sponsors. The Congolese People of the East and we the neighbours did not matter. Dharau (okugaya). What can they do? We decided not to over-react but allow the situation to mature. It, indeed, matured by the People of Eastern Congo voting massively against H.E Kabila and for Fayulu. When H.E Tshisekedi came in, he, eventually, in spite of pressures from so many saboteurs, decided to allow us to help the Congolese with these parasites.
If these parasites did not also suffer from ignorance, it would have been clear to them that the moment the Congo Government allowed us to assist them in pacifying that area, attempts to fight are futile. The forests that they regard as safe havens, are the easiest for us to destroy them in. The other day, I shared with the readers names of some of the People that were killed in one attack. This week of Christmas, we have been carrying out attacks almost everyday. So many terrorists have been killed or have been injured. There are women who ran away after some of the earlier attacks. The PRO of the UPDF should arrange for those women to share their experiences with the other Ugandans. Regarding the devastating attacks of the past week, I will share with you the details of those killed when our sources give us the names. Otherwise the attacks were on targets at 131 kms, 142kms, from the border on the Bundibugyo side. In the meantime, showing real bankruptcy, the group of Njovu and Kamusu of 10 that killed the Lhubiriha Children, the two tourists and their Ugandan driver, burnt the Onion truck and killed one person on it, thought they could continue killing Ugandans with Impunity. Indeed, they killed one old woman in her home, killed 10 crop watchmen near Kibale forest and Christmas night killed one grandmother with two grandchildren. These were supposed to be operations that would force us to withdraw from the “ADF territory” of Eastern Congo. So sad. However, using forces in the rear, we have so far killed two of that group in the water of Lake Edward, captured their leader Njovu, killed one at Kasindi in Congo when they had crossed back into Congo, killed another two and injured Kamusu who had replaced Njovu but whom we presume to be dead although we have not seen his body and, then, yesterday killed another two and captured an SMG and an LMG from them, as they were running from killing the grandmother of Christmas. When the Kamusu group was attacked, we also captured two guns. We think two of the group may still be alive. In the meantime, we have reactivated the LDU forces in the area to deal with any elements fleeing the death in Congo trying to infiltrate in our massive forests and National Parks.
The writer is the President of the Republic of Uganda.
