Museveni sends Generals out of meeting with soldiers

President Museveni has met thousands of soldiers who recently returned from Somalia where they have been serving under the African Union peacekeeping mission (Amisom).

The meeting held last Thursday in Singo, Nakaseke District, however, began on a dramatic note when the soldiers told the President that they could not speak freely in the presence of their commanders for fear of retribution.

Sources that attended the meeting but sought for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter told the Daily Monitor yesterday that the President then immediately ordered the commanders present to leave. Among those asked to leave were Maj Gen David Muhoozi, the commander of Land Forces, Brig Charles Otema, the chief of logistics, Brig Diiba Sentongo who heads the General Court Martial, Brig Leopold Kyanda, the chief of staff Land Forces, Brig Charles Bakahumura who heads military intelligence and Col Felix Kulayigye, the UPDF chief political commissar.

The President, however, asked the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Katumba Wamala, to stay behind and listen to the soldiers. Our sources say once the commanders were out, the soldiers opened up, telling the President about mistreatment by their commanders. Among the resounding accusations, the Daily Monitor has learnt, were that soldiers had been underfed as top commanders sold their food while fuel meant for operations against Somali insurgents was also sold off.
 

Mismanagement allegations
President Museveni last month ordered the recall and investigation of over 20 soldiers, accused of mismanaging the mission’s logistics. Among those recalled was Brig Michael Ondonga, who was heading the unit of Ugandan soldiers in Mogadishu.

The soldiers, according to the sources, scrambled for the microphone as they told the President of how they had eaten rotten food while several times they had to go on patrol missions on empty stomachs. Others said their colleagues injured at the frontline would not be transported to hospital in time because of scarcity of fuel reportedly sold by their commanders to private companies in Mogadishu.

A furious Mr Museveni, according to sources, promised to punish whoever was involved in the scam, which he said threatened to tarnish the image of UPDF, a force credited for helping restore sanity to war-torn Mogadishu. He also asked the soldiers to write down all the complaints, promising to meet then again in the near future for a detailed discussion.

After meeting the soldiers, President Museveni then called an Army High Command meeting at State House, Entebbe before he flew out to Addis Ababa for the African Union summit. Details of the meeting were still scanty by press time.

The Thursday meeting was the first time in many years that the President, who is also Commander-in-Chief, sat down with ordinary soldiers and listened to their complaints face-to-face. UPDF spokesperson Lt Col Paddy Ankunda confirmed the meeting took place but said he was ignorant of its details because he was not present. “I can confirm there was a meeting but I do not know what was discussed because I did not attend. That (controversy over food selling) is not a new story but we are investigating and we will not leave any stone unturned,” he told the Daily Monitor.

During the Independence Day celebrations last Wednesday in Rukungiri, Mr Museveni said the major weakness of the previous government of Milton Obote was failure to control the military. The President’s Thursday meeting also came on the heels of reports that several soldiers upon return from Somalia were deserting the UPDF.

The UPDF in its earlier years had an open-air debate culture where soldiers would meet weekly (barazas) and their voice concerns. The practice is no more