By Aggrey Baba“A man who has wrestled with lions does not fear a barking dog.” That proverb seems to have been crafted for no one else but Gen. Moses Ali, a man who has walked the tightrope of Ugandan politics and military survival for over five decades.
Born on April 5, 1939, in Atabo Parish, Pakele Division (now Adjumani District), Gen. Ali has gone from being a simple classroom teacher to a top army officer, a rebel leader, a minister, and even a survivor of an attempted assassination in 2001.
Speaking at Rubaga Cathedral during a requiem mass for the late AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi, Gen. Ali remembered how he survived an ambush in December 2001, the same style of attack that later killed Kaweesi in 2017.
The decorated General said that President Yoweri Museveni had called him to attend a Cabinet meeting in Kampala, but as he traveled from Adjumani through Pabo towards Gulu, gunmen opened fire on his convoy and bullets hit his vehicle’s roof, windows, and engine, but he and his team survived, thanks to the UPDF soldiers who were escorting him.
Before joining the military, Gen. Ali worked as a teacher after finishing his primary and secondary studies at Church of Uganda Primary School and Old Kampala SSS. In 1968, he left the classroom and joined the army. After training in Moroto, he became a 2nd lieutenant and later trained as a paratrooper.
He rose quickly and became one of the officers who took part in the 1971 military coup that removed then President Milton Obote. Idi Amin promoted him to major, then colonel, and by 1973, he was a brigadier and Finance Minister, and was also in charge of foreign exchange and played a key role during the 1972 expulsion of Asians.
But in 1978, Amin dropped him as Finance Minister. When Amin’s government was overthrown in 1979, Ali fled to Sudan where he helped form a rebel group, the Uganda National Rescue Front (UNRF).
In 1986, after the NRA captured power, President Museveni brought Ali back into government, and made him Minister of Youth and Culture, and later became Minister of Internal Affairs.
But in 1990, Ali was arrested and charged with treason and illegal possession of guns, was later jailed for two and a half years, but eventually cleared of all charges by the High Court in 1992.
He made another comeback in 1994, winning elections to represent East Moyo in the Constituent Assembly (Parliament). He also briefly served as chairman of FUFA (Federation of Uganda Football Associations).
Later, he was appointed Minister for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, and continued representing Adjumani in Parliament for many years.
Gen. Moses Ali has survived wars, political fights, prison, and even bullets. His story is one of bravery, luck, and long service to Uganda. Despite everything he has gone through, he continues to serve in government and remains one of Uganda’s longest-standing public figures.
As he told mourners at Rubaga Cathedral, “We thank God for saving us.” And truly, Uganda still has much to learn from a man like Gen. Moses Ali, who has lived through almost every chapter of our country’s post-independence history. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
