Sam Njuba book reveals Museveni secrets

RIP: Sam Njuba's book was launched after his death

It was written by Besigye, says State House

Dead men tell no tales, goes an old English adage.

But in death, the former minister and national Chairman of the FDC, Sam Njuba, tells a gripping story about the war that brought President Museveni to power, and how the spoils were shared or – in his firm view –  squandered.

In a 320-page book, Njuba  reveals how he lived out “every single day” of his political life, his contribution to the 1981-86 National Resistance Army guerilla war, and  how he fell out with Museveni.

The book is titled The Betrayal, as Ugandans are taken for a ride again. It was launched at Njuba’s funeral last Tuesday.

Njuba gives a candid audit of Museveni’s leadership style, and a riveting insight into the workings of his post-war government.

Njuba’s eldest daughter, Stella, told mourners at her father’s burial at Nangabo in Wakiso district, that Njuba failed to print the book in his lifetime due to financial constraints.

“In recognition of his contributions, we decided, as his children, to bring his dream of having this book printed to reality,” Stella said, as she invited the retired bishop of Mityana, George Ssinabulya, to bless it. The first copy was bought by businessman Musinguzi Garuga at Shs 1m.

In the book, Njuba acknowledges that he took decades to write the book largely due to lack of materials, energy or providence.

“The original manuscript was collected and confiscated by the Kenyan police [May 1984]… the reproduced material again disappeared in London when I sought after a publisher,” he wrote.

He later came to look at these incidents as a real blessing rather than a setback. For he had an opportunity to reflect on the contents of his previous manuscripts, which gave rise to questions that resulted into an outright change of some of his earlier views.

During the liberation struggle (1981 – 1986), Njuba was the secretary of the external wing of the NRM. He says he was instrumental in recruiting youths into the rebel ranks.

He also coordinated their transfer to Libya for training and their transit to the jungles of Luweero. His contribution and that of others who were not recognized by earlier authors who published books on the NRM/A liberation struggle is what Njuba tried to bring to the fore in his book.

“Some writers, in their attempt to play heroism, ignored the major roles of many players and, either by omission or commission perverted some vital facts in the struggle. This cannot be forgiven, and it is criminal,” he wrote in the preamble.

He also directly attacks President Museveni for leaving him out of his (Museveni) book; Sowing the Mustard Seed, especially for his role in their trip to Libya to persuade former Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi to support their struggle.

“By the way, Museveni, in his book, Sowing the Mustard seed, conveniently left me out as a member of this trip when he gave an account of this same visit to Libya, and only mentioned Matthew Rukikaire and Ndugu Rugunda,” Njuba notes.

“Maybe I was not worthy of mention because we had parted company, but history must be honestly recorded without prejudice, irrespective of the actors involved; otherwise, analysts will doubt one’s integrity,” he adds.

In Njuba’s account of the June 1981 trip to Tripoli, he says he was specifically selected to join the team because Museveni wanted him to be his witness, though he later on discovered that Museveni wanted to portray to Gaddafi that his (NRA) struggle was not entirely of people from one region of the country.

“It was a cosmetic assembly. Yoweri Museveni wanted to portray an image of nationalism, since the others were all from western Uganda…,” Njuba said.

Exile in Nairobi

During the 1980 elections, Njuba was an active member of Museveni’s Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM). The duo worked together to found the Popular Resistance Army (PRA), later renamed National Resistance Army (NRA). When the rebel force launched its attack on Kabamba army barracks in 1981, Njuba felt betrayed that his colleague Museveni had not informed him.

“This was a deliberate attempt to sacrifice me and my family. Museveni did not care as long as his personal agenda proceeded as planned. I felt betrayed,” Njuba writes.

The betrayal Njuba speaks of results from the fact that rebels had used his car to visit places earmarked for the rebel camps. And he later discovered that by the time of the attack, Museveni had moved his family from John Kazoora’s house at Kabalagala, where they lived, and did not bother to inform him to relocate his family from Kawuku Ggaba.

After escaping death on three occasions following his 1980 arrest, Njuba says he started pondering his next move. He said he had three options; stay and die, flee into exile or join the armed rebellion.

“The February [6], 1981 attack on Kabamba came as surprise, but cracked my courage to stay in Uganda,” he writes.

Prof Ssajjabi

He moved to Nairobi, where he met a Ugandan insurance broker, Joseph Katende, who was later to link him up with Amama Mbabazi, Ruhakana Rugunda and Matthew Rukikaire, with whom they formed the NRM external wing. Because the Kenyan government was an ally of the Obote government, they adopted pseudo names to disguise their identity.

Njuba took on the name of Prof Yafesi Ssajjabi because his former student at Makerere Law School Amama Mbabazi had adopted the name of Dr Karyaburo. Njuba had also recruited another of his students Kale Kayihura (current police boss), who was sent to Libya for training. Kayihura was known as Rev Tebenda.

When Kenyan authorities started arresting Ugandan exiles, Njuba says members of the external wing forsook him and fled the country without alerting him. He later moved on to Papua New Guinea, where he secured a job as a university lecturer.

In Papua New Guinea, he met the late James Wapakhabulo whom he struggled to recruit into the struggle. Wapakhabulo was reluctant, because he perceived Museveni as a leader full of greed for power.

Wapakhabulo had been with Museveni at Dar es Salaam University, and his description of Museveni forced Njuba to question his own judgment. But he feared that history would judge him wrongly if he did not make his contribution to the struggle. He later on managed to convince Wapakhabulo, and soon they started to mobilize support for the rebel fighters especially in New Zealand and Australia.

Ethnic tensions

As the struggle progressed, there were rising concerns about the Bahima dominance of the leadership of the rebel outfit. Prof Yusuf Kironde Lule, who had become chairman of the NRM following a merger between Museveni’s PRA and Kironde Lule’s Uganda Freedom Front (UFF), would raise these concerns every time the two met.

“This, which I may loosely refer to as tribalism, is a thorn in the side of NRM. It has to be checked, else it may tear apart this country once again,” Njuba writes.

Maj Abraham Ssenkoma, a retired officer who served in the Uganda Army before the 1966 attack on Sir Edward Mutesa’s palace at Mengo, was identified to reinforce the rebel command structure. Ssenkoma, then an employee of the UN in Addis Ababa, was to deputise Museveni in the field command hierarchy but opted out after his attempt to join the rebel bases in Luweero was frustrated by some of his colleagues.

In various sections of the book, Njuba suggests Museveni wants to build an enduring, if narrow, ruling class.

“Museveni claims he is the only Ugandan with a vision for this country. He is resolute to build a class from his own ethnic group to lead Uganda, as the ruling clique forever,” Njuba writes.

Because of this fear, Njuba is not convinced by Gen David Sejusa defection. To Njuba, Sejusa, is a creation of Museveni.

“One will ponder and ask what of Gen David [Sejusa]? The answers are easy to guess. David is Museveni’s creation and is therefore, made to echo his statements irrespective of the truth,” Njuba writes.

Gen Sejusa, currently in exile in the UK, is Museveni’s tribesmate, whose agenda, according to Njuba, is pursuing a purely personal and selfish agenda, as he delves into their (Museveni and Sejusa’s) hatred of the Baganda.

He specifically accuses Museveni of being mischievous against the Baganda despite their goodwill and huge support extended to him during the liberation struggle. He says Museveni and his generals have accused the Baganda of being discriminative. He also offers a pointer into the decades’ long bad relations between Museveni’s government and Buganda kingdom.

“Museveni had his own mission and agenda. To him, anything that is an obstacle to achieving his desire must be crushed. It does not matter by what means.
“Because of his burning desire to rule forever and rule absolutely, Museveni sees the Kabaka and his subjects as stumbling blocks. Most Baganda don’t run to him for favours, nor do they worship him,” he writes, drawing readers into why he thinks Museveni continues to dole out financial hand-outs.

“In his view, if he is to have control over the citizens, they must be poor and submissive. It is his belief that in order to rule the people, they must look to none other than him as a fountain of survival,” he wrote.

In government

Njuba returned from exile on January 31, 1986 in the company of the late Dr Samson Kisekka, who was appointed prime minister, and Janet Museveni, among others. As he prepared to travel back to Nairobi to pick his belongings a few days later, he was informed that he could not leave the country without permission from the president because he had been appointed minister for Constitutional Affairs.

To Njuba’s surprise, neither the prime minister nor NRM Vice Chairman Al Hajj Moses Kigongo knew about the appointment. This he said, made him realise that the Museveni he knew had changed just a few days into State House.

“Nobody really sought to question the choice or selection of ministers as they were announced, because everybody believed in Museveni and trusted he practised what he all along preached – wide consultations. In fact, if he did consult someone before any appointments, it was a very small inner circle of his, possibly wife – a kitchen cabinet,” Njuba writes.

Njuba’s time in government, 1986 to 1993, enabled him to discover that Museveni’s style of leadership was not any different from that of Idi Amin. The only difference, Njuba notes, was that whereas Amin’s ministers feared to question his actions for fear of losing their lives, Museveni’s ministers avoided asking questions for fear of losing their bread.

“I recall one day, as we all woke up to the news that the president had appointed a one Cosmas Adyebo prime minister. I cannot remember to have seen him in Parliament. He was not conspicuous at all in the House before his appointment. I told a colleague this was a vote of no confidence in the existing ministers,” Njuba recollects.

Njuba and his cabinet colleague were later sacked. The book also gives an insight into what goes on behind the cabinet doors, where members are treated to embarrassing situations, largely because the president does not consult. He narrates two incidents. In One, Museveni, in his first government appointed Prof Musa mwene Mushanga as state minister for Defence.

The professor had not been consulted, but he honourably stepped forward to take oath to the amusement of everyone. It turned out later that Museveni in appointing Mushanga, he thought he had selected Amanya Mushega, a lawyer and an army officer.

Embarrassed

“When Museveni saw Prof Mushanga step forward, he noticed the error. He instantly mediated. He had chosen Mushega and not Mushanga. He was the only person who knew the correct appointee. Amanya Mushega was called to take his oath to the embarrassment of the leadership,” Njuba says.

The second incident was when Museveni appointed a Makerere University lecturer as state minister for Barter Trade. When Museveni heard the lecturer’s name, he assumed that he was the same man he knew in Tanzania in the 1970s. Because he had not consulted anyone, he was surprised to see a young man turning up to be sworn in, Njuba says.

He consulted those next to him about the lecturer’s youthful appearance. The lecturer later travelled to Cuba with Museveni, and because he knew nothing about barter trade, Museveni asked him to find his way out of cabinet, and on return, the lecturer resumed his teaching job at Makerere, recalls Njuba.

“Museveni plays his cards close to his chest. He takes no one’s advice. Even where he did not know a thing, he refuses to admit it. Before long, he came to believe that he knew it all. He is a super human. This is how dictators are made,” Njuba notes.

“There is total lack of the ideals of the struggle, and it makes me wonder why the war that claimed close to half a million people was even fought,” he says.

State House responds

Former FDC President Dr Kizza Besigye, addressing mourners at Njuba’s burial recounted those times in cabinet when Njuba would pull him aside to tell him that from the way Museveni was managing the affairs, he was fast moving away from the ideals of the struggle. However, Presidential Press Secretary Tamale Mirundi dismissed the book as utter rubbish, casting doubt whether it was authored by Njuba.

“Why should a dead woman leave a will [stating] that some of the children are not for her husband? Njuba had time to bring these issues out when he was still living,” Mirundi says.

“Anyone would want to produce a book and defend it. Why did this one wait until he is dead? Those are Besigye’s lies, it was authored by Besigye, not Njuba,” he adds.

Just in case the book is his, Mirundi says, Njuba should have also written about his failure to produce a constitution during his eight years of service as Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister.

“Does he explain why he failed to produce a constitution in the [eight–year] period he served as a minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs? He is the reason why NRM extended its term from four years to nine years,” he says.