News that Amama Mbabazi had been fired as prime minister has kept Ugandans'
tongues wagging and finger clicking excitedly since September 19. But for
the army and some government units, it has been a week of tension and
expecting the worst, as Benon Herbert Oluka & Edris Kiggundu report...
29 September 2014
A day before former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi was sacked, the UPDF's
elite units were placed on "stand-by class one," the highest level of
military alertness, The Observer has learnt. According to a respected
military expert, standby class one is where army units keep in their
locations, but are placed at the highest level of combat-readiness in case
of any attacks.
Military sources told The Observer that the order was issued through a radio
message to all "strategic units" on Thursday, September 18, saying it would
be implemented starting Friday, September 19.
Coincidentally, the radio message came into force on the day President
Museveni announced officially the removal of his long-time comrade Mbabazi
from his senior cabinet position. On the same day, Museveni left the country
for the USA, where he attended the United Nations General Assembly.
The UPDF's strategic units that are on standby class one include the Special
Forces Command (SFC), the Armoured Brigade, which is based in Masaka and the
Airforce. Others are the UPDF air defence unit in Nakasongola and the field
artillery unit in Masindi.
"When the army sends a radio message placing soldiers on standby, the order
stands until they send another message telling soldiers to stand down," said
the source, adding that the order was still being implemented by the time we
went to press - more than a week after the army issued it.
Although the radio message did not mention the reason for the high alert,
sources claimed it was instituted in anticipation of any threats from
Mbabazi supporters following his sacking from cabinet. However, UPDF
Spokesperson Lt Col Paddy Ankunda denied that strategic units had been
placed on standby alert.
"That is a creation," he said. "I would have known. I read the messages
[and] it is not there."
Mbabazi under siege:
A senior Special Forces Command officer, who declined to comment, argued
that placing the UPDF on "standby class one" is routinely done during
festive seasons, when Uganda is hosting major events and when the president
is out of the country.
"Whenever the president travels out of the country, the forces are put on
standby class one," the officer said.
The heightened security situation has resulted in the army adding another
twist to the public fallout between President Museveni and Mbabazi, two
close architects of a struggle that started in the early 1970s, which
brought Museveni to power and has kept him there for almost 30 years.
A week after Mbabazi was sacked, UPDF soldiers led by the Chief of Staff,
Land Forces, Brig Leopold Kyanda, raided his home in Kololo to "collect" the
soldiers who had been guarding the former prime minister's residence. Later,
it emerged that two of the guards, Ahmed Baluku and Simon Mawadri, were
arrested on arrival at the UPDF base in Bombo.
The home of Mbabazi's long-time driver, called Sam Matovu, a Warrant Officer
II in the UPDF, was also searched at 2am on Friday. Lt Col Ankunda declined
to comment on the fate of the arrested soldiers.
"I have no position yet on their situation," he said.
The army has also played a more public role in the past week, with senior
officers such as Brig Kyanda and Brig Charles Otema Awany, the chief of
logistics and engineering, present during Friday's announcement of plans to
welcome President Museveni from the USA.
Sources also told The Observer that Mbabazi is currently under 24-hour
surveillance, with the state monitoring his activities to analyse the next
moves of the besieged 65-year-old NRM secretary general. Security circles
have been awash with rumours that Mbabazi could flee the country, just like
former FDC President Kizza Besigye did in 2001.
On Saturday, Mbabazi released a brief statement on his social media page,
saying: "I understand that there are people out there who make it their
business to peddle falsehoods. I am in Uganda and have no intention of
'fleeing' the country for any reason whatsoever."
Fear in public service:
Meanwhile, tension, fear and panic have engulfed the public service and
government departments over an anticipated purge of people perceived to be
sympathetic to Mbabazi, The Observer has learnt. Close confidants of Mbabazi
and public officials, who requested for anonymity, told The Observer over
the weekend that the purge would likely affect ministries where the prime
minister worked or government departments where he held some strong sway.
During his 28 years of service in government, Mbabazi worked as director
general of External Security Organisation (1986-1992), minister of state for
Defence (1992-1997), minister of state in the office of the president for
Political Affairs (1997-1998), minister of state for Regional Affairs
(1998-2001), minister of Defence (2001-2006), Attorney General (2004 -2006),
minister of Security (2006-2011) and as prime minister (2011-2014).
"It [the purge] is not formal. But people are worried that they will be
sacked simply because they worked closely with Mbabazi... and some of our
bosses are overenthusiastic. They want to show Museveni that he is the only
person [in NRM] they pay allegiance to," said an official in one of the
government departments.
The official told us that some people might end up losing their jobs while
others might be shifted to less influential positions. The tension is most
palpable in the intelligence organisations (ISO and ESO), sources told us.
As the fallout between President Museveni and Mbabazi became apparent after
the Kyankwanzi retreat, sources told us, it became almost fashionable to
write briefs detailing Mbabazi's alleged mobilisation activities.
Our source claimed that intelligence officers who questioned the validity of
these reports were labelled Mbabazi sympathisers and are now living in fear.
Some have had to declare their loyalty to Museveni before their bosses.
Others have become more careful and have been forced to change their
after-work routine.
They are cautious about the places they go to, what they say or the people
they meet. Some now carry multiple phones and Sim cards, for fear of their
phones being tapped. Similar tensions obtain in some government-owned media
organisations, especially the electronic media. Sources claimed that the
current re-organisation at Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, for instance, is
aimed at neutralising suspected pro-Mbabazi forces.
In the changes made last week by the board, the former UBC TV manager, Tony
Geoffrey Owana, was demoted to head of Political Programmes and replaced
with Doreen Ndeezi. Sources told us that Owana is a suspected pro-Mbabazi
person. But UBC said in a statement released on Friday that the changes were
normal.
"... The management is in the process of refocusing the UBC network into an
efficient business unit. In order to achieve this interim goal the
management has deemed it appropriate to make some changes... As we draw
closer to the 2016 elections, Mr Tony Geoffrey Owana has now been
transferred to head all political programmes for the UBC network.
UBC TV shall now be managed by Doreen Ndeezi... With these new changes, the
public should expect UBC to provide them with quality programmes aimed at
educating, entertaining and informing the general public," the statement
read in part.
Even heads of government departments/institutions, believed to have been
seconded by Mbabazi to their jobs, are having sleepless nights, a source
told us. Some are worried that they could lose their jobs; others especially
in media-related institutions are trying to outdo themselves to prove their
loyalty to Museveni.
A minister who requested to speak under anonymity told us that this
perception [that there are pro-Mbabazi ministers] also exists in cabinet,
adding that it was largely a creation of the media. But the minister doubted
whether Museveni would use this as a basis to fire a cabinet member.
"A minister's role is to execute his tasks assigned to him or her by the
president. If you do your work well, I don't think you have to get worried
about being sacked," the minister said.
A senior army officer told The Observer at the weekend that the dramatic
withdrawal of Mbabazi's army guards on September 25 had attracted mixed
reactions, especially about the way it was carried out.
"There was no need to call the media [or] for all that deployment. For
what?" the officer asked. "This has given free publicity to Mbabazi."