UPDF adventure in DRC a smokescreen for Museveni’s ulterior motives

The Ugandan army, or UPDF, recently announced that it captured Kambi Ya Yua, described as the “much revered” Allied Democratic Forces’ rebel camp in the thick eastern DRC forests.  According to the Ugandan military’s statement, the camp was home to more than 600 ADF terrorists and their families.  “The camp was captured with limited enemy resistance and there was no effect on the joint forces,” the statement read.

Despite the much celebrated victory by UPDF, the photos that accompanied the statement showed no evidence that any fight took place.

Usually, after such a fight in an enemy stronghold, pictures of a dismantled camp, and probably with a few causalities as well as ammunitions left behind, are shown. The UPDF only showed pictures of blue chairs, a few bananas (gonja) and solar panels as evidence that the enemy camp had been overrun! Typical of UPDF adventures against rebels.

Ugandans were not surprised with the capture of blue-chairs and gonja. It just reminded them of the capture of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel leader Joseph Kony’s Kaunda suit, back in 2002. Commenting on the Kony war, in January 2009, journalist Andrew Mwenda wrote: “First, it was his Kaunda suit, then his walking stick, later his military pips, now it is his guitar. Over the years, the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) has captured many of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army leader, Joseph Kony’s personal effects but never the man himself.”

Going by Mwenda’s observation, the capture of the ADF’s blue chairs, gonja and solar panels, is a trend of history repeating itself in the UPDF’s fight against rebels.

The Ugandan military’s press releases since the launch of “operation Shuja,” have left many Ugandans wondering what they are intended for. The statements have no concrete achievement.  One statement made by the UPDF spokesperson particularly left many speechless. “Two UPDF soldiers have died due to personal mistakes during the pursuit of the ADF rebels in DRC,” said UPDF Spokesperson Brigadier Flavia Byekwaso.

Ugandans reacted angrily to the statement that lacked empathy towards the deceased and their families.  Who doesn’t know that war is not a picnic?  If it is a cover-up for UPDF soldiers who die in action, there are better ways to do it. It is now common knowledge that whatever goes wrong in Uganda, Rwanda becomes the scapegoat.

Ugandan propaganda websites run by CMI agents like CommandPostUG, posted fake stories aimed at blaming Rwanda for invading DRC. One of the posts read: “Rwandan army @RwandaMoD reportedly trying to enter #DRCONGO through Gisenyi border.”

This author, however, was betrayed by lack of knowledge of the terrain of Gisenyi when readers easily identified that the   photo of RDF trucks was not taken from Gisenyi but a different location inside Rwanda eight years ago. The same CMI agents again were behind the violent Goma protests against “presence of Rwanda Police” which in reality was a hoax. In the tweet above, CommandPostUG tagged a Congolese youth movement known as,  Lutte pour le changement (LUCHA), specialized in holding protests, confirming close connection with Ugandan agents. 

What is true though is that the authors of the fake stories on the presence of Rwandan forces in DRC have one thing at the back of their mind – the fear of RDF.  

Through history, Uganda’s first military involvement in DRC was in 1965. On February 4, 1966, three ministers and Col. Amin (who later became the president of Uganda), were involvement in the gold and ivory scandal.  The Ugandan government covertly supported one Christophe Gbenye, who was leading a rebellion against the government in Kinshasa. There was division in the Ugandan cabinet then on the policy taken towards the rebels, which strained relations with the Congolese government.

Fast forward, UPDF's entry in DRC in 1999, resulted into the plundering of Congolese natural resources. In 2005, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Uganda had violated international law by occupying parts of Ituri province with its own troops and supported other armed groups in the area during the conflicts in the country’s mineral-rich Ituri province from 1998 to 2003.

Uganda lost the case and DRC’s lawyers initially argued for a reparation figure of $10 billion. For 16 years, Uganda has not yet paid reparations to DRC.

Reports by UPDF on the fight against ADF, show no evidence of any fight worth deployment of heavy weapons as well as airstrikes. The entire operation seems to lack strategy. It should be recalled that, in the past, the captured ADF leader Jamil Mukulu revealed that President Yoweri Museveni’s government actually supplied the rebels with logistics.

Can Museveni support ADF and then turn around to fight it? Museveni is a cunning man. What most political analysts agree on, is that Museveni uses ADF as a revolving door to enter the DRC for personal motives.