Why journalist Ahimbisibwe deserves a big applaud

CHANGE OF GUARDS - Last week a New Vision Journalist Charles Etukuri was kidnapped from the corporation offices in Kampala by armed men in military uniform.  A search in all police stations revealed nothing prompting the management of the New Vision Corporation to apply for Herbeas Corpus in the High Court.  Consequently, the Internal Security Organization (ISO) set free Charles Etukuri without charges. 

It is not a surprise that upon release Charles Etukuri has embarked on a public relations drive.  He is portraying a picture of how safe and enjoyable his stay in what he calls the Safe House was.  He claims to have been handcuffed upon arrest, blindfolded, kept in a Safe House located in Kyengera, allocated own room with a mattress, given a phone to call his family and workmates to assure them of his safety, buy own food outside the safe house and read newspapers.  What he didn't tell us is if his pistol was returned or we may see him being court martialed for illegal possession of a fire arm.

Contrary to what we hear about the gruesome psychological and physical tortures that take place in these so-called Safe Houses, Charles Etukuri's experience portrays a picture of a long weekend retreat.  Safe Houses as secret torture chambers by the Museveni regime were introduced around the late 1990s by Gen. Henry Tumukunde when he was the chief of Museveni's intelligence outfits, CMI and later ISO. 

Ugandans lost their lives while others were permanently maimed in those Safe Houses.  Local and international human rights organisations condemned the practice but the regime pleaded that it was using them to fight terrorism.  It emerged that victims with all sorts of charges were guests in Safe Houses; from business rivalries, theft of chicken, phones, bad debtors, armed robbers, thieves, to political dissenters.  Under pressure the regime claimed to have abandoned the practice but in actual sense the practice of detaining people in these ungazetted places has been ongoing.

Last week another Journalist Rev. Isaac Baka who had been kidnapped by CMI operatives in an unidentified Safe House since four months ago emerged at Luzira Prison on remand over treason charges.  He claims to have been blindfolded and handcuffed throughout the four months.  His family members claim that his physical strength and general health condition had tremendously deteriorated.  Unlike Charles Etukuri who was on some kind of a public relations assignment, Rev. Isaac Baka tested the half menu of the Safe House.

Unknown to another Journalist Ahimbisibwe Bantinti Fortunate that Charles Etukuri was on an assignment and a change of loyalty ceremony, the former went on his social media wall to sympathize with the later.  He wrote a missive titled; WHY CHARLES ETUKURI'S ABDUCTION SHOULD BE A LESSON TO NRM VIGILANTES. 

Ahimbisibwe wrote; ".... years ago, I was young and naive and carried out assignments for state intelligence agencies.  I look back and say, some of this, I shouldn't have done.  My motivation was really to supplement my income because Journalists pay in Uganda was not too far away from that of teachers......... and there were many of us caught in this circus.  It is on one of these assignments that I recruited Charles Etukuri for a highly sensitive job.  This was his first assignment.  Although the mission aborted at the last minute, the information provided made a difference and we went on for various other missions.  This particular assignment involved capturing an army dissident who was being hidden by one of Uganda's former top Journalists who has since been recruited to provide lip service and also make noise for Museveni."

Ahimbisibwe went further to caution other moles thus; "Tables turn and the hunter becomes the hunted.  To all those carrying out nonsensical assignments for the establishment I advise you not to overstep the borders.  In NRM, everyone fights for their own survival.  I have since grown old and retired from these activities and I hope that this message will help some people to learn some of these cases."

Not considering the motivation behind his option to come clean, Fortunate Bantinti Ahimbisibwe deserves a pat on the back.  His action demonstrates a high level of courage and commitment to heal wounds through laying bare what went wrong.  The said journalist who was at the time being targeted and has since turned into a top Museveni regime bootlicker must obviously be Andrew Mwenda.  The dissident army officer whom Ahimbisibwe failed to capture must have been smarter than Mwenda, Ahimbisibwe and company and the regime’s intelligence outfits.  It would do more good if Fortunate Ahimbisibwe can go further and disclose the details of the specific assignments and the particulars of the victims.  Moreover, since he was not an active member of these intelligence outfits, he is not legally bound to safeguard their secrets.

Ahimbisibwe served under the New Vision Newspaper before crossing to a World Bank funded project under the Ministry of Education as a communication specialist before he left for further studies in the UK in 2015.  In 2006 while still with the New Vision he spearheaded a smear campaign over the main opposition leader Col. Dr. Besigye's academic qualifications.  Ahimbisibwe authored a damaging report in this regard in the Sunday Vision of 5th February 2006.  His efforts were reinforced by the appointment of sycophant former CMI Brig. Mayombo as the Board Chairman of the New Vision Corporation replacing the independent minded and founder William Pike. 

Around the same time the controversial online anti-Musevenism mouthpiece Radio Katwe named him as one of the top journalists working with the intelligence outfits.  Around August 2016 his social media was awash with a report that the Museveni regime was suspecting him to be the mysterious and controversial online regime critic TVO.  He vehemently denied thus; “whoever is saying this is dressing me in a goat’s skin so that the leopard can target me."  It was further alleged that while he attended further studies in the UK he was also doing state work for the intelligence outfits.   His colleague, the other senior journalist Emmy Alio was awarded with the position of Director General of External Security Organization after he excelled during Museveni's Congo military expedition.

While under normal circumstances it is okay for state security agencies to recruit agents from different quarters, it is also very common for despotic military dictatorial regimes to recruit cadres from different disciplines as agents for intelligence collections.  The Museveni regime has been targeting Journalists, Teachers, Lecturers, medical workers, Public Transporters, Students, Lawyers, Magistrates Judges and other Court Officials in its intelligence collection endeavors.

Journalists in particular are targeted because dissenting voices entrust them with their secrets but only to be betrayed out of greed.  Upon taking office as Minister of Security in July 2016, Gen. Tumukunde promised to create a good working environment with the press which he described as "good custodians of information of intelligence interest."  

This website (http://changeofguards.blogspot.ca) analysed that statement under the title; WHY GEN. TUMUKUNDE MAY NOT WIN OVER THE MEDIA - 17/7/2016.  We have heard of Cadre Judges and there is no doubt there are other regime cadres in different disciplines.  It is high time all such individuals followed Ahimbisibwe's example and come out clean because whatever the case at one time their role will be made public.  https://changeofguards.blogspot.ca/2016/07/why-gen-tumukunde-may-not-win-over-media.html

Bravo Ahimbisibwe Bantinti Fortunate.

INFORMATION IS POWER AND DEFIANTLY "HITTING ON THE HEAD" IS THE WAY TO GO