5^th–11^th July 2010

By Timothy Nsubuga

Ofwono on the left

The ruling NRM government has hit back at the numerous claims that Col. John Ogole, he of the Luwero Triangle war, has been making in an exclusive interview series that is being run by Uganda Correspondent.  In a bid to straighten and or counter what he called “Museveni’s propaganda campaign” against him, Ogole broke his 25yr political silence three weeks ago when he, among other things, asked “who the real butcher of Luwero is”; prompting numerous responses from interested parties.Until now, Museveni’s NRM government had maintained a loud silence about Ogole’s claims; the very man Museveni had sought to extradite from Tanzania to face trial in Uganda.  In an email sent to Uganda Correspondent this week however, the NRM’s Deputy Spokesperson and Head of the NRM Communication Bureau Mr. Ofwono Opondo fiercely challenged Col. Ogole’s claims with his government’s own version of events.

Opondo said the claims by Ogole are neither new nor different from those made by former president Milton Obote [RIP], Akena Adoko [RIP], Aggrey Awori, Sam Luwero, Yona Kanyomozi, Edward Ruraganranga, and lately, by current UPC President Dr. Olara Otunnu.

“Our response remains the same that-yes there was a war in Luwero.  A war of political and national liberation started by the NRA/M led by Yoweri Musevei as a just war because UPC had sought to reduce our country into its fiefdom!  It rigged the 1980 [elections] using all known and unknown means including gerrymandering, prevention and physical elimination of opponents before, during and after elections. It unilaterally changed electoral rules and results in its sole favour, barred courts of laws from entertaining any election petitions and political grievances”; Ofwono Opondo said.

UPC, he said, rejected each and every plea by DP, UPM, Ugandans and the international community for a political dialogue to settle the election grievances and it [UPC] categorically said that it had “…military commanders and that whoever would start a war, the UPC will follow them to the bush and leave him or them there dead”. He also said UPC officially stated that it “…would forgive but not forget the past. It would start from where it had stopped in 1971” when Idi Amin overthrew it.

As if to hit back at Ogole’s claims about NRA’s responsibility for the killings in Luwero Triangle, Ofwono Opondo said at the time, UPC [had] descended into wanton arson, killing, robbery, looting, and pillage; taking with them war booty from Luwero Triangle to areas where most of the UNLA soldiers came from.  From the war zones, the NRM Deputy Spokesperson said, “…UNLA soldiers, and NASA intelligence operatives returned with women, old household items like cookers, fridges, windows, doors and iron sheets got from people’s homes”.

In the NRM government’s view, Opondo maintains, “…the Ogoles’ merely want to rationalise their extremes in Luwero Triangle to the presence of NRA.  They keep quite [about] why they [UPC and UNLA] behaved in exactly if not worse ways in others parts of Uganda like Jinja, Kampala, Tororo, Kabarole, Mbarara, Masaka, and Bushenyi where there was no war, and no NRA”. Read the NRM government’s full response by Ofwono Opondo published under the title “Ogole is a wanted man in Uganda” in the “Opinions” section [Editor].