By Our Reporters
Like he did in his triumphant days as Uganda’s very powerful IGP, Gen Kale Kayihura has equally made news on his way down. Circumstances surrounding his dramatic arrest on Wednesday (some say Tuesday) have continued to provide fodder for all Uganda news rooms: be they print or electronic media. The debate appears almost unanimous with mostly his critics and adversaries relentlessly dancing on the grave of a clearly sinking Kayihura who until a few months ago easily passed for one of the most powerful Generals in contemporary Uganda. As citizens continue debating what has befallen him so far, we produce this news feature reflecting on fellow Generals that suffered the wrath of a very powerful Kayihura when he still called shots and had the President’s ear. We shall also have a rejoinder reflecting on other non-military/security actors who fell because of the strong political sword Kayihura wielded on his way up.
THE GENERALS;
Gen Silver Kayemba; He had been recommended by Gen Aronda Nyakayirima to the President as a potential IGP and this was sufficient to cause him being blacklisted by the Kayihura machinery as someone that had to be tackled at every opportunity. He subsequently suffered in ways that words can’t describe and his family and inner circle members must have jubilated the Kale down fall.
Leopold Kyanda; He was famously sent abroad by the President, his CiC, following a report Gen Kayihura wrote indicting him over a procurement corruption scandal involving some foreign equipment suppliers. This had been preceded by rumors that Museveni was considering firing Kayihura and replacing him with Kyanda. The two took their enmity and supremacy wars far to the extent of deploying spies in each other’s office to try to do espionage. The idea was to know what each was reporting to the President against the other. When Tumukunde became Security Minister, Kyanda worked with him more closely, including linking him to potential moles amongst Kale’s disgruntled aides. This annoyed Kayihura too much and Kyanda only survived losing his job and won back the President’s favor because the First Lady and First son Muhoozi Kainerugaba greatly valued him.
Charles Angina; In the aftermath of 2016 elections, Gen Angina suffered many setbacks including losing his Deputy CDF job. He also lost his Parliamentary seat where he had been representing the UPDF. His supporters claimed that all this happened because the H/E had been fed on fake intelligence about him hence the decision to sideline him from both Parliament and the CDF post. He was made Gen Saleh’s deputy in OWC which was considered less glamorous. Angina’s supporters remained angry that their man’s woes must have had a thing to do with Gen Kayihura’s overbearing influence on Mweshimewa. It was argued that it was in Gen KK’s interest to antagonize the President with all senior officers so that the man from Kisoro remains the only credible senior officer close to the President. Ironically being archrivals with Jessica Alupo, a babe Kayihura too hated, one would have expected Angina to be close buddies with KK but this wasn’t the case. KK’s problem somehow related to the President. It was like this; whereas every head of security organization, by the way including CGP Johnson Byabashaija, was entitled to write a weekly report for the President, there came a time when Museveni ignored all the others (never reading or acting on their reports) and only took Kayihura’s. Whereas others had to send their reports through the established protocol channels, Kayihura many times delivered his personally and immediately discussed it with the President who took immediate action on the recommendations therein. This won KK many enemies including fellow Generals that would never have any proof that he was the one accusing them to the President. In fact reliable intelligence sources say that many of the actions the President has lately taken to pacify the country of crime had been reported and recommended upon by then ISO DG Ronnie Balya but unfortunately his reports would never be read by the big man. Balya feared pushing hard lest he got misunderstood and fought by KK. When Tumukunde became security minister, he drew the President’s attention to many of these Balya reports. On reading them, the President was shocked and regretted why he hadn’t taken them seriously from day one. He summarized the highlights for the new ISO boss Kaka Bagyenda and asked him to re-investigate and Kaka’s findings have only validated observations and scenarios Balya had been building for the President years ago.
David Sejusa; Gen Salim Saleh admits his friend Tinye can sometimes be very unpredictable but also believes his fallout with the President resulted from exaggerated reports Kayihura often submitted about him alleging subversion. It will be recalled Sejusa is said to have made his good plans to upstage Museveni but all the allies he had created in the security agencies, including SFC were busted, exposed and reported to the President by Gen Kayihura who sources say was always threatened by Sejusa’s overbearing profile and personality. Gen Saleh too faults Museveni for taking as gospel truth everything KK reported to him about Sejusa. In fact after Sejusa’s alleged plans were thwarted by a group supervised by Kayihura, the General from Sembabule fled to exile from where he always attacked KK in his missives. At one time he appeared on BBC and belittled Gen KK saying he was too junior to be sent to arrest him on return at the Airport. Museveni reacted by giving his then faithful servant KK a higher rank, a thing that silenced Sejusa. Sejusa must have partied and taken his favorite whisky as the Kayihura down fall story unfolded.
Peter Erweru; He was the man who oversaw the anti-Mumbere operations in Kasese, a thing that gave him massive publicity and won him kudos from the President. Sources claim KK was naturally a very envious General and this praise by the H/E made him feel nugu for Erweru. In the days that followed, KK who had wanted police to lead the offensive tried to belittle Erweru by sending his PA Baroza to a top level meeting to which Erweru expected him to attend in person. Erweru showed his displeasure by chasing away Baroza. He walked out and rang KK saying “Gen Kayihura if you don’t have a more senior person we can as well have this meeting without police representation.” Having chased away Baroza, Erweru skipped Gen Kale and rung Asuman Mugyenyi (Director Operations) who came to the meeting without KK’s consent. Erweru subsequently spoke to the President and complained about the anomaly in the way KK had delegated.
Shaban Bantariza; When he got problems some years ago from Kyankwanzi (NALI) where he worked and was later accused of corrupt transactions, Bantariza was put to trial. And as that happened, he agonized while blaming his woes on the invisible hand of KK who was thought to be interested in deflating Shaban because of his previous strong relations with Sejusa. For a while, Shaban’s name was put on the list for the President’s action showing these are officers Sejusa was using to undermine the strength of the UPDF. Shaban too must have feasted at his Kireku home jubilating KK’s down fall. At media center, there are wars between Opondo and Shaban and the latter’s supporters always feared OO thinking he had KK’s backing.
Henry Matsiko; He marries former Presidency Minister Kabakumba Matsiko who one time stumbled on KK in State House corridors and assaulted him before other visitors. Kabakumba who was facing the storm of the UBC mast, which eventually cost her the cabinet post, had gone to State House to plead for Museveni’s clemency. As she waited for her turn, KK came to the waiting lounge and joined others who were waiting for the big man. She stood up and aimed her fists at KK accusing him of being the invisible hand behind her woes. KK kept quiet and Matsiko quarreled until she got tired. KK’s supporters later blacklisted Matsiko as a bad politician who had to fall (and indeed lost her Bujenje Seat) because, in their view, she was a Mbabazi mole. By extension, her husband Henry Matsiko never liked Gen Kale. In fact KK’s people at some point feared that Museveni would make Matsiko the IGP or at minimum transfer the crime preventers to be under his supervision in the UPDF when the campaign to clamp Gen KK commenced following the Kaweesi murder.
James Mugira; He was CMI boss when KK was IGP and KK’s camp invested in convincing Museveni that the eloquent lawyer was a Mbabazi mole along with late Gen Aronda. This was after rumors went around that Museveni was considering Mugira for a future IGP. The two openly clashed on the issue of terror suspects whereby Mugira’s CMI called reporters and unveiled the men at a time KK was at Naguru waiting for the same suspects. There was also another incidence when Mugira confined and disarmed one of the civilian Museveni supporters in his office requiring him to answer how he got the gun he was having in his possession. Apparently Jacqueline Mbabazi, who later christened KK Afande Teargas, had complained to Mugira in her capacity as the head of Luwero industries which manufactures ammunition for the UPDF. Kayihura, who clearly had a higher rank, rang Mugira on his mobile phone and said “I’m going to arrest you if you don’t release that young man in the next 15 minutes.” Mugira, who had already been falsely accused and demonized before the President in order to diminish his suitability for the IGP job, backed off and released the gentleman. Bad blood between the two remained and never relented up to this day and its very likely Mugira quietly jubilated seeing KK going down.
Charles Bakahumura; As CMI boss he had issues with Gen Kayihura and always feared him even in NSC meetings or even JOC. One time Museveni got reports of corruption and financial misappropriation in the AU mission in Somalia. He directed CMI to investigate the commanders involved. When he got the CMI report, Museveni rang Kayihura asking him to read and advise him on its essentiality. Kayihura came up with his own report accusing CMI, then led by Bakahumura, of covering up many things. KK’s report indicated that many of the corrupt dealings hadn’t been sufficiently reported to the H/E and this diminished the boss’ trust in Bakahumura. That was one case. Mzee also got reports that Bakahumura was very rich and his modest property in Kiwatule was photographed for evidence. On investigating Museveni discovered Bakahumura was actually operating on big loans from DFCU bank and IFC of the World Bank. On other occasion, Med Kaggwa’s UHRC working with the UN Uganda office organized a dinner at Imperial Royale Hotel where they invited Bakahumura to recognize him for transforming CMI from an organization famous for torture to one that treated suspects humanely. Unknown to Bakahumura, the organizers had invited the press. After receiving the award, Bakahumura begged to leave and reporters chased after him for a bite. To their dismay, the general declined and begged them not to publicize his award. It later emerged all this was because he feared Gen Kayihura would be unhappy and this would become the basis to accuse Bakahumura of hobnobbing with human rights organizations to undermine other security agency chiefs. This showed the extent to which Bakahumura, and many others feared Kale.
Henry Tumukunde; Even without writing much, his wars with Kayihura are well known because Tumukunde always complained about the ineptness of his work methods in public. It’s widely believed its Tumukunde who emboldened agencies like CMI and ISO to fearlessly take on Gen Kale resulting in his latest down fall. Tumukunde’s agencies were starved of funds as the President put all the trust and resources at Kayihura’s disposal. This Left conventional intelligence agencies idle and unfunded. Tumukunde, who is on his way back to cabinet where he will triumphantly serve, must be the happiest and as Kayihura was being interrogated at Mbuya, one of Tumukunde’s supporters was overheard saying “he has finally been put to where he belongs.”
Gen Proscovia Nalweyiso; She too suffered the Kayihura wrath and her woes manifested on many fronts. On the airwaves was Kayihura’s man Tamale Mirundi who always attacked and demonized her. Knowing KK is one of the few friends Mirundi would listen to, Nalweyiso many times would ring KK begging him to ask Mirundi to leave her alone. KK tried but many times he would fail to prevail on the media consultant from Kalisizo in Kyotera. One time Nalweyiso developed misunderstandings with Gen KK and days later she appeared on Top Radio where she criticized Gen Sejusa for being ungrateful to the President. She also bashed JPAM and the Monday that followed, a group of MPs renowned for being KK’s friends called a news conference demanding that Museveni punishes Nalweyiso for discussing partisan politics. Museveni had criticized Sejusa for the same and the MPs demanded the same standard is applied on Nalweyiso. This criticism that was widely broadcast across Uganda subdued Nalweyiso who had to ring Kayihura begging him to prevail on his MPs who had vowed to keep mounting pressure.
OTHERS;
Jenifer Musisi; As KCCA ED she directly suffered the wrath of KK and some sources even think that in attacking her relentlessly, Mirundi was working to appease his man KK. Kayihura supporters were unhappy Musisi would reach Mzee directly without having to go through KK. The other issue was that Musisi one time reported to Museveni police officers in KMP who were asking her for fuel and money each time they participated in KCCA-related enforcement yet police also has its own budget. This troubled KK as Museveni required him to explain. The other area of conflict related to Kitata who, with KK’s backing, always frustrated Musisi’s efforts to streamline the Boda business in town by having everybody registered. With police backing, Kitata would lead Boda demos to denounce Musisi, something that further complicated the ED’s relationship with KK.
Prince Kassim Nakibinge; He is the titular head of Muslims based in Kibuli whose clerics have always been very outspoken against government. This only changed when Kayihura became IGP and kept engaging them on the instructions of the President. In the process of working with Kibuli sheikhs very closely to pacify the hill, Nakibinge became uneasy especially when KK began meeting and working with some of them without his (Nakininge’s) knowledge. At some point, Nakibinge felt that some of these clerics were developing wings and becoming less obedient to him as their patron. He sought audience with Museveni and told him to ask Kale to stop meddling in Kibuli Muslim affairs. He accused him of beginning to play a divisive role. Kayihura learnt of this secret meeting between Nakibinge and Museveni and their friendship diminished to almost zero. At some point, one of Kayihura’s key assistants was recorded contemptuously calling Nakibinge a traitor who paid back the big man IGP by bad mouthing him to the President. This only escalated the fall out.
Singh Katongole; As a leading NRM politician in Rubaga district (it’s called so in NRM hierarchy), Singh belonged to the ruling party faction that was antagonistic to Abdul Kitata who then was a very powerful blue eyed boy of Kayihura. In the end, the Boda-Boda 2010 patron unleashed his political might, presumably with Kayihura’s full backing, and the result was the political demise of Singh Katongole who initially lost his MP Seat to Moses Kasibante before permanently sinking into irredeemable political oblivion. On confirming that Kayihura, the much dreaded giant, had finally been caged on Wednesday evening, Singh sat at his Lugogo-based Kati-Kati restaurant and began making celebratory phone calls.
Deborah Mbabazi; As Kampala RCC, this very prayerful lady is supposed to be the overall boss for security of the city besides chairing the district security committee. However, just like her predecessor Aisha Kabanda, Mbabazi hasn’t enjoyed her RDC Seat because of the never relenting hostilities from Kayihura’s vigilant groups the most notorious being Abdul Kitata’s Boda 2010. Veteran scribe Siraje Lubwama recalls an incidence when Kitata walked to the podium and grabbed the microphone from RCC Mbabazi and started addressing the crowd in one of the city markets. He blamed Mbabazi for calling a security meeting without first notifying him. Kitata also claimed her opponents had tried to use the RCC’s office, when Mbabazi still served in Rubaga, to prevent him from winning the race to become NRM Chairman Rubaga. Mbabazi would also be undermined by some of Kayihura’s DPCs skipping her weekly meetings or antagonizing her directives.
Beti Kamya; The other city public figure who suffered humiliation at the hands of rampaging Kitata, who was untouchable and always prevailed because of Kayihura’s backing, was Beti Kamya. The city minister embarked on mobilization to popularize Museveni and she identified defectors starting with Rubaga north where she lives and used to be MP. She identified a group led by Mrs. Kafeero. Through Kafeero, Kamya who had just become minister identified many other defectors and invited the President to launch the women groups near Mengo SS. Kamya was co-organizer but, because they hadn’t involved him, Kitata worked towards frustrating the function and even went to CBS radio vowing over my dead body. He dared say that, unless his permission was sought and obtained, his supporters would disrupt that Museveni public event so that the big man gets to see Kamya’s thinness in Rubaga. In the end, Kamya secured the SFC backing against Kitata’s policemen and prevailed but being who he is Kayihura, through Kitata, always looked forward to an opportunity to revenge. Now that he is fallen, adversaries like Beti Kamya, Debora Mbabazi and ex-RCC Aisha Kabanda must have slaughtered their chicken just to celebrate. Kabanda is even willing to testify against the brutality of Kayihura’s Kitata-led vigilantes who she says used to be hired to kill people for a fee for the years she was Kampala RCC.
Geoffrey Turyahikayo; He is the husband to Rubabo MP Paula Turyahikayo and he serves as the CEO for Rural Electrification Authority (REA), a multi-billion GoU and donor funded agency charged with taking electricity to villages. On failing to secure his loyalty, Gen Kayihura’s boys tried several times to get Turyahikayo lose his juicy job in the runner up to the 2016 elections. Coincidentally his contract was ending at the same time and intelligence reports were delivered to the President showing that Turyahikayo was a Mbabazi mole whose contract shouldn’t be renewed. The humble man from Kanungu was maliciously reported to the President and accused of selectively giving lucrative contracts to only Mbabazi proxy contractors. He really wept for some good months until someone got him audience to the President to whom he explained himself against malicious allegations the Kayihura machinery had levelled against him. Whereas he is apolitical and had nothing to do with JPAM politics, Turyahikayo was never going to be blackmailed into attacking his fellow Kanunguan unnecessarily because that isn’t his nature. He is never confrontational and the down fall of Kayihura must have sparked happiness in his Kyambogo-based household.
Ferdinand Mugisha; He is a very wealthy man with a company called Ferdisult Engineering which gets lots of contracts for rural electrification from REA. He also owns a recreation business on Lake Victoria after Mukono on an island called Mpata. At the height of the Museveni-Mbabazi fight, Ferdinand’s business empire greatly suffered as Kayihura boys sent weekly reports accusing him of being a Mbabazi proxy. They went as far as saying he was the proxy through whom Mbabazi was funding anti-Museveni operations within the NRM. The idea was to scare Turyahikayo to stop giving contracts to his firm. What made it even worse was the fact that the Mpata recreation facility was one place to which Bakiga friends namely Mbabazi, Rugunda, Mutebile, Nzeyi and others often retreated for weekend to relax and have family meetings. Charles Mbire, a former PA to General Saleh, would regularly join them to have the fun especially in the week after Christmas. The hostile reports to the H/E risked scaring away all these big name Kampalans from Ferdinand’s lakeside recreation facility. He too must have felt relieved with the Kayihura downfall.
Kasule Lumumba; Unlike Ferdinand Mugisha and Turyahikayo who never fought back partly because they lacked the machinery to effectively do so, the NRM SG is one figure who never allowed being stepped on by the Kayihura network. To begin with she became SG at a time Kayihura was very powerful: he had just been tasked the sole responsibility to annihilate JPAM and buy off all his campaigners ahead of the NRM conference. But she wasn’t Kayihura’s candidate because the IGP’s men even used to claim she was a Mbabazi mole and always referred to her history in PAFO which in 2006 became FDC. The Kayihura camp candidate for the SG job (remember for the first time M7 was to appoint) was Rose Namayanja. This wasn’t because they loved her that much. It was because they had to have somebody to use or front against Lumumba and they even took delegations to the President marketing Namayanja while decampaigning Lumumba as unsuitable. In the end she took the job, a thing the Kayihura camp didn’t take lightly. They carried on with parallel activities causing Lumumba to sometimes wonder why the IGP’s office saw her as a rival yet they aren’t supposed to be involved in partisan politics. There was even a rumor Kayihura was the President’s dangerous substitute for the SG job in case Lumumba didn’t perform well. Whereas he was IGP, Kayihura practically did everything meant for the SG and all this would be justified to Museveni the NRM chairman as aimed at politically finishing off JPAM. Eventually when she got the opportunity she paid Kayihura back. Long after the 2016 elections, Lumumba learnt of two senior police officers who were disgruntled with Gen Kale. These were Mohammad Kirumira and Andrew Felix Kaweesi. They had lots of grievances and Lumumba gave a shoulder for them to lean on. After understanding their problems, Lumumba linked up with PPS Molly Kamukama (they are strong allies) and the two separately got meetings with Museveni to whom they reported everything. Getting Kaweesi wasn’t hard because they are both Catholics and the clerics, who had always wished to get Kaweesi Museveni audience, saw Lumumba as God sent opportunity. As for Kirumira, they linked up mostly in Jinja during the Kagoma by-election campaigns where Kirumira (then Buyende DPC) had been deployed. He closely worked with Lumumba and even advised her to be careful with any other DPCs Gen Kayihura would deploy claiming they were up to some mischief to politically humiliate her to the President in case the opposition candidate won. The fact that Lumumba and Speaker Kadaga (a good friend of Kale) supported different candidates in Kagoma only made Lumumba more afraid and vulnerable to the intelligence Kirumira was feeding her on. The fact that Maj Edith Nakalema (a Kale blue eyed girl) was in State House fighting new PPS Molly Kamukama (a Lumumba pal) only made things more complicated for Kale whose Nakalema was eventually thrown out.
Molly Kamukama; Before becoming PPS she coordinated Museveni’s campaigns from her office in Mbuya which many saw as rivalling Kayihura’s political command center that was based at Naguru. This is the very place which Besigye stormed on the voting day resulting into his confinement at home for months. Whereas they both worked for the same President to get reelected, lots of mistrust and animosity existed between them. From the polling all the way to when the final result was announced, Molly’s group secured space at Serena hotel from where they monitored the results as they trickled into the EC tally center at Namboole and Kayihura’s men considered this Serena effort to be an act of hostility since their Naguru office was considered to be doing the same thing. Even when Molly became PPS, Kayihura’s fears never subsided. Even when she had friends with many of his younger DPCs, Kayihura never warmed up to Molly Kamukama. He always had paranoid towards her. She was also a long term friend to Felix Kaweesi whose controversial murder the military through CMI continues to probe into. She passionately hated Edith Nakalema who for many years was perceived as KK’s ear and eyes in State House.
MANY OTHERS;
In the non-military category, there are many other actors that took Kayihura to be the cause of their political demise and they have never forgiven him up to this day. It’s their conviction that, through his man called Remy Twino (a commissioner of police for Parliament), Kayihura used his closeness to the President as of 2016 to decampaign them in favor of his proxy candidates. This is how critics explain the political demise of Daudi Migereko, Jessica Alupo, Asuman Kiyingi, Kabakumba Matsiko and others who were falsely accused of being Mbabazi candidates. Ruth Nankabirwa, who eventually became GCW, considers herself a survivor because she too was on Kayihura’s political hit list of political leaders whose 2016 reelection the Kayihura political network worked hard against. Amama Mbabazi is another Kayihura victim whose story is well known and doesn’t need much repeating here.
Sam Kutesa: Whereas he was too big for Kayihura to recklessly take on, Kutesa was also politically scarred by the Kayihura machinery and in his case it was in 2010-11. He comfortably secured reelection as Mawogola County MP but his efforts to frustrate Theodore Sekikubo and anoint his own man Patrick Nkalubo for Rwemiyaga MP Seat fell flat because of Kayihura’s active involvement. Following the chaos Sekikubo caused the day he beat up election officials and kicked basins during NRM primaries, Museveni intervened by sending a team of investigators to establish whether his boy Sekikubo had been fairly defeated by Kutesa-backed Nkalubo. The secretive investigating team was headed by Kayihura aided by now Gen Wilson Mbadi who was then ADC to the President. Their report exonerated Sekikubo and indicted SK for being the invisible hand behind the chaos because he was imposing unpopular Nkalubo onto the voters. Basing on that report, Museveni intervened and reinstated Sekikubo as the NRM flag bearer and this greatly angered SK whose protégé Nkalubo even tried to take the big man to court protesting interference in Sembabule elections. In the end the storm settled but SK never stopped licking his political wounds that Kayihura-backed Sekikubo inflicted on him. For comments, call/text/whatsapp us on 0703164755.
