UGANDA: Behind Museveni's army brutal campaign on Lake Victoria

CHANGE OF GUARDS - "These routes on the lake prompted me to believe and realize that the government of the time had no control over the territory of Lake Victoria."

Museveni telling residents of Bukasa Island how he used L. Victoria to leave and enter the country during his Bush War - March 2018

Lake Victoria harbours Uganda's southern and south-eastern border with Tanzania and Kenya respectively. Owing to the location of the Capital Kampala on the shores, this makes the lake an area of strategic security interest. It has vast islands and landing sites whose main economic activity is fishing which contributes 3% of Uganda’s GDP.

During the reign of Iddi Amin, Lake Victoria was a location of high security interest owing to the presence of exiled dissident main bases in Tanzania and to some extent Kenya. In the early days of the anti-Iddi Amin struggle, a canoe carrying 85 dissident fighters belonging to Save Uganda Movement (SUM), who had taken off from the Tanzania side of the lake capsized a short moment after taking off. At one time the Iddi Amin regime appointed a former British soldier, Maj. Bob Astles as head of the Anti-Smuggling Unit whose major focus was on L. Victoria. Following the fall of Iddi Amin, Maj. Bob Astles was charged with murder of a 16 years old fisherman, Henry Musisi allegedly on 31st May 1977 at Kikoko landing site but was acquitted by the High Court in October 1981.

During Museveni's Bush War (1981 - 1986), L. Victoria was the major route that linked the fighters with the outside world. With Kenya having been the hub of the rebel's External Committee, Museveni and most of his top fighters often exited and re-entered the country via the same lake. Logistical supplies like the NRA radio equipment was smuggled into the country via Lake Victoria. A chain of fishermen, canoes, rebel contacts along the landing sites etc. were coordinated by now retired Brigadier Andrew Lutaaya. Being a port of Ssese Island, Andrew Lutaaya, like most islanders, was a master of the lake.

On page 144 of his Sowing the Mustard Seed, Museveni recounts: "I stayed with the boat boys and Kutesa on the Island until night fall. At around 10. p.m. we decided to hire a canoe. We landed 200 metres north of Kasenyi landing site where our boat boys knew a certain family nearby." It is during one of these treacherous journeys that after surviving a boat wreckage, Lutaaya gave the shivering Museveni a bottle of beer as a remedy. Years after coming to power Museveni rewarded some of these fishermen and contacts from Nsadzi Island with fishing nets, boats, engines, cash capital and motor vehicles.

Recently Col. Fred Bogere told The Observer that in 1981 after completion of military training in Libya, their group tried three times to enter the country from Kenya via Lake Victoria. After failing twice due to arrest by Kenya authorities and landing near Luzira Prison respectively, they succeeded on the third time when they landed in an area in Mukono that was under the control of Gen. Kyaligonza's Black Bomber.

In the mid 1990s, Museveni created an Anti-Smuggling Unit (ASU) headed by Brigadier Andrew Lutaaya whose major focus was Lake Victoria. He was arbitrarily replaced by Gen. Kalekyezi and the Unit renamed the Special Revenue Protection Services (SPRS). The unit was so brutal in the execution of its mandate that many citizens lost lives, property and a livelihood. The unit was more concerned with security monitoring than revenue protection.

With growing political dissent over Museveni's military dictatorship, he felt that some Ugandans may resort to use of arms to cause regime change. He created a Beach Management Unit (BMU) under the Police that was charged with monitoring security on the lake shores. In February 2017 he disbanded the BMU and replaced it with the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) under the army. Under the cover of fighting illegal fishing, the unit imposed a ban on fishing. It has been indiscriminately killing, torturing, illegally detaining, destroying property and ordering locals to vacate the fishing villages and landing sites. By July 2017 in Masaka area alone, over 1,000 had been evicted by the army from the fishing villages on grounds that they were not gazetted.

On 10th December 2017, 14 Members of Parliament from the fishing communities met Museveni and demanded the withdrawl of soldiers whom they accused of torture and general hostility. By January 2018 more than 10 arbitrary and gruesome killings by the soldiers had been recorded. On 9th February 2018, the Speaker of Parliament demanded for an explanation from the Ministry of Defence over the mandate of the army in fighting illegal fishing. This followed an appeal by the Mukono South M.P, Hon. Muyanja for relief aid to his displaced constituents after their 100 houses and property were indiscriminately set ablaze. It is reliably reported that the soldiers between fishermen and other local residents not involved in the fishing were affected.

The high-handed soldiers claim they have orders from Museveni to use excessive force. Ever since, no single soldier has been made to account. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Monitor, the Commander of FPU, Maj. Nuwagaba had this to say; “.... the law gives us leverage to charge you as economic terrorists. If you are caught, you will be treated like Kong." He went ahead to defend the brutality thus; ".... if one brings an axe to hit me, I will use skills to dislodge him. Some of them take alcohol. If you are not careful they can cut off your head. As a responsible UPDF officer how can I allow a person without a national I.D to cut me? Reasonable force cannot apply when a person is armed with a panga."

In April 2016 security agencies at the Uganda/Rwanda border turned back a group of 34 Rwandese nationals who were armed with speed boat engines and their fishing gear headed for Kiyindi landing site in Mukono. It was reported that already the estimated population of 600 Rwandese who had settled at Kiyindi were deeply involved in illegal fishing and other criminal activities. The development came inspite of the policy of free movement of nationals of EAC member states. In February 2018 Museveni and Kenya's Uhuru announced plans to set up a joint monitoring mechanism over the lake using radar.

"I was smuggling weapons through this borderline here. You should have scanners. We are working to put monitoring stations. We shall have a Lake Victoria monitoring plan too. We need eyes to see what is happening on Lake Victoria."

Reliable sources reveal that a cartel of "Mafias" are using soldiers from the FPU to push their rivals out of business.

INFORMATION IS POWER AND THE PROBLEM OF UGANDA IS MUSEVENISM.