Regional
Kampala Didn’t Love Rwigema Until He Was Dead
![image](webadmin/images/Fred_rwigema.jpg-20211114095924000000.jpg)
Last
week, in a lengthy
speech at the wedding of Gen Fred Rwigema’s daughter, Teta, President
Kagame finally put the record straight when it comes to the two decade-old
interference of the Ugandan authorities into Rwandan politics, and,
particularly, how they have tried to use the late Rwigema and his family as a
weapon against Rwanda.
President
Kagame said he had all along chosen silence because there were more important
and pressing matters requiring attention, and one has to choose his battles
wisely. However, at some point, one has to set the record straight because,
after all, Rwigema is one of us and doesn’t belong to those who want to claim
him.
One
way the authorities in Uganda have tried to use Rwigema is by singling him out
as the only Munyarwanda who is worthy of recognition in the liberation of
Uganda. They claim that the
contribution of Banyarwanda was minimal and insignificant “except for
Rwigyema.” It is in bad taste to dismiss thousands of people who risked their
lives, especially those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and fell in battle in
Uganda, by dismissing their contributions in order to score cheap political
points.
It’s
even more distasteful considering that the instigators of these cheap political
games never even cared about Rwigema when he was alive. As the NRA journalist,
William Pike, writes in his memoir, “Combatants: A memoir of the Bush War
and the Press in Uganda,” in 1981, when the army commander of the NRA, Gen
Elly Tumwine, was shot in the eye at the launch of the war in Kabamba, the
command of the rebels was taken over by Gen Rwigema. Tumwine remained in sick
bay until 1983 when he was taken to Nairobi for treatment where he remained until
January 1986 when the NRA captured power. During that time, Rwigema commanded
the war in the most difficult of times. His heroics and those of thousands of
Banyarwanda are directly responsible for the liberation of Uganda considering
that, for much of this period, Museveni was in Sweden with his wife and
children.
But
they credit Rwigema in death and not when he was alive. For instance, after
winning them the war they reappointed Tumwine, who for much of the war was in
Nairobi, as army Commander, while overlooking the man who had won them the war.
Even in 1987 when Tumwine was replaced with Salim Saleh, Rwigema was overlooked
for the second time. Imagine a deputy army commander they claim to have loved
so much that they bypassed him with someone who had deserted the battlefront
and then by his subordinate.
One
has to keep in mind the ethnic politics underlying Museveni’s actions (then and
now) to understand the motives behind the decision to overlook Rwigema’s
heroics. For instance, Bahima officers like Salim Saleh, Pecos Kutesa and
others had sworn never to salute Rwigema, who was their superior, a grave
violation in the army that was allowed just because the victim was a
Munyarwanda who they didn’t value as being worthy of respect even as he was
their senior.
After
denying Rwigema a position that he had earned, Museveni created a post called
Overall Operations Commander (OOC) that had no force behind it and assigned it
to Rwigema. In reality, Rwigema had no more oversight authority on operations
than he had over those who had refused to salute him. The OCC position was
simply an empty shell. Are these manoeuvres of a man who loved Rwigema?
They
didn’t like Fred because, unlike others, he was open about being a Munyarwanda
and didn’t accept their treatment of Banyarwanda as second-class members of the
NRA. In fact, if they
loved Rwigema at all they wouldn’t torture Banyarwanda.
When
Rwigema was alive, they only used him and often deployed him and Banyarwanda in
the hardest battles that they feared to send their own. Only in death have they
learned to “love” him and attempted to deceive his family into believing that
they have always loved him.
But
how can you love Rwigema’s family when you never loved Rwigema himself? The
authorities in Uganda are confusing their exploitation of Rwigema for loving
him. But who have they ever loved since those who have mistaken themselves to
be loved by the authorities in Kampala have often had to contend with the harsh
reality once their usefulness has served its purpose.
Rwigema
fits perfectly in this shameless behavior of theirs. As a result, they have
been crying over him more than the bereaved Rwandans who will always remember
his contributions and protect his family.
source: www.ktpress.rw