By John V Sserwaniko
In the first week of January 2015, the now fallen Gen Elly Tumwine led a reluctant David Sejusa aka Tinyefunza to Entebbe State House. The idea was to deescalate the feuding that had been on between Sejusa and President YK Museveni since May 2013 when Tinye authored a dossier accusing his CiC of clandestinely working towards installing his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba as the next President of Uganda.
Sejusa, who as of 2013 was serving as the powerful coordinator of intelligence services, also accused the State of plotting the liquidation of key government officials who were perceived as resentful of the MK project. He named these to be Aronda Nyakayirima who then was the CDF, then Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and himself. Using his powerful office, Sejusa directed then DG ISO Brig Ronnie Balya (over whom he had supervisory powers) to investigate the impending assassination of the trio.
The story of the leaked Sejusa letter was widely covered angering Museveni to the extent of shutting down Red Pepper and Monitor newspapers which had initially broken the story. Chief trouble causer Sejusa fled the country to London asserting there was a plot to blow him up by a carefully constituted hit squad. He later on sneaked back into the country in the late 2014 before eventually being herded into State House Entebbe in the first week of January 2015 for some de-escalation talks with Gen YK Museveni.
As we now know, the State House meeting was brokered by Gen Elly Tumwine who kept saying a war between Sejusa and YK Museveni would never produce a clear winner. He saw it as a lose-lose situation and insisted the two NRA bush war comrades must talk once again and find some way to co-exist in Kampala without going to war.
INSIDE THE EBBE MEETING: Having interacted with sources that were thickly involved in the Tumwine effort, Mulengera News presented the following story as part of our ongoing flashback series:
DETAILS: The January 2015 meeting between President Museveni and Gen David Sejusa aka Tinyefuza had many surprises. This is according to sources privy to the full story as it unfolded. We have spoken to multiple sources, including those that were part of the process from that Saturday evening when Gen Elly Tumwine unexpectedly pulled up at Sejusa’s house in Naguru, riding in a convoy of three heavily guarded State House vehicles.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
As early as 8am that fateful Saturday, an army of local and foreign journalists gathered at Sejusa’s home where his then aide Moses Bigirwa (also DP youth leader not a General of sorts in NUP) was at hand to receive them. As they pensively congregated in small groups, some meters away from Sejusa’s gate, which was being surrounded by the military, Sejusa’s lawyer and friend (also Radio1 Spectrum panelist) David Mushabe joined them.
Moments later Mike Mabikke, another Sejusa lawyer and key strategist, also joined them. The thickening crowd of reporters, lawyers, friends and relatives that kept gathering emboldened hitherto very terrified boda cyclists from nearby boda stages to also come and park around. Reporters would occasionally engage security operatives in friendly arguments as they struggled to prevent them from taking pictures or coming near the General’s home.
After military personnel (red tops) assured reporters and lawyers nobody would be let in, some reporters melted away, leaving behind others with lawyers who kept saying “they are going to let us in.” As persistent journalists hang around, waiting for an opportunity to be let in, a young man walked out of Sejusa’s gate. Apparently he was going to the shops to buy some groceries for the family. According to neighbors, who were peeping from the storied houses to witness dramatic events at Sejusa’s home, this was the first time in many days that anybody was being allowed to walk out of Sejusa’s home.
“You see my friends [the journalists] what your pressure has yielded. For the first time since Friday, somebody is being allowed to go to the shops and buy some groceries for the General,” Mabikke said as the young man walked to the shops.
TUMWINE ARRIVES:
Unaware who was arriving, some security personnel tried to block Tumwine’s motorcade to establish who it was but backed off immediately on seeing it was Tumwine, the NRA pioneer army commander in 1986. It was some minutes past 1pm (this was Saturday). They opened for Gen Tumwine and he entered Sejusa’s compound. When he entered the house, Sejusa who was seated in his living room perusing the day’s newspapers refused to embrace him saying: “Why are my lawyers being blocked from meeting me? They have been locked out since Friday. Why me? Why are you people doing this to me? What did I do to UPDF?”
Tumwine who had noticed Mabikke and Mushabe stranded at the gate, walked back and ordered the mean-looking military personnel to let them in. The two Generals then hugged and greeted each other as Mushabe, famous for his sense of humor, cracked some jokes. Tumwine removed and wiped his spects and shed some nostalgic tears before putting them (spects) back. He looked at Sejusa and said “comrade why is all this happening?”
Sejusa menacingly looked at him, seemingly angry as he struggled to hold back tears of anger and resentment. An equally nostalgic Tumwine kept saying: “It can’t be; I and you must talk.” He also jokingly complained as to why the belligerent Sejusa had been snubbing his phone calls in the preceding days. “Maybe you don’t have my line anymore,” he joked as Sejusa laughed him off saying “this thing is very complicated.”
After exchanging pleasantries, Tumwine revealed what had brought him. He told Sejusa “I know you are angry and have been shunning all the emissaries the President has been sending to you but I’m here to beg you as a senior comrade to reconsider because Gen Tumwine, Gen Sejusa, Gen Saleh and President Museveni are senior people of this revolution. What is that we can’t talk about? You have quarreled with him [M7] but he is still our commander-in-chief.” He jokingly told Sejusa “I’m here to demand that I go with you to meet him. It’s courtesy and respect and there is nothing to lose. We can all be winners. I can assure you Gen Sejusa all this is going to end.”
Sejusa then moved to the next room in his expansive Naguru mansion to have more private consultations with his lawyers Mabikke and Mushabe after which they returned telling Tumwine: “I have accepted for your sake to go and meet him.” Sejusa also rang and consulted his more senior lawyer Ladislaus Rwakafuzi who was absent having previously left to see his doctor.
Rwakafuzi, who for years had been running up and down doing Sejusa’s legal-related errands, had that January weekend woken up not feeling well. The lawyers encouraged Sejusa there was no ham going for the meeting since Museveni appeared to have softened and offered to concede almost all his conditions and demands he read to the press in justification of why he wasn’t traveling to Rwakitura for the earlier meeting. Gen Sejusa had kept convening news conferences to publicize Museveni’s clandestine efforts to mend fences with him.
The above referenced concessions included having an open meeting with his lawyers and other people as opposed to secretive private talks of only two people. Tumwine also told Sejusa a lot of “unnecessary confrontation” wouldn’t have happened if both sides hadn’t mismanaged the proposed talks by appearing to speak a lot in the press. To him it was wrong for especially Ofwono Opondo and Presidential Press Secretary Tamale Mirundi (Museveni publicists) to make media remarks derogatory of Sejusa which could have hardened his attitude towards the meeting.
Whereas Mirundi had likened Sejusa to a trapped rat at the mercy of Museveni, Opondo maintained that financial collapse (call it poverty) had prompted Sejusa’s return from the London exile. Sejusa told Tumwine he had a right to answer back to “prevent my people from being confused by Opondo’s false accusations.”
JOURNEY TO E’BBE: Sejusa refused to sit in any of the State House vehicles Tumwine had come with insisting to sit in one of his sister’s cars. The 6 vehicle convoy then snaked out of the Naguru home and headed to Entebbe. As they set off, Sejusa became reluctant telling Tumwine he didn’t want to go to State House and be made to spend the whole day there waiting for Museveni who had been on Capital Gang that same Saturday morning.
“Comrade that won’t happen. I can assure you the president is already in Entebbe having finished the talk show and there won’t be any waiting before you meet him,” assured Tumwine who was occasionally calling State House perhaps to update Museveni to ensure everything was okay. Because they had police lead cars, the convoy reached Entebbe within less than 30 minutes.
Sejusa told Tumwine he didn’t want to be undermined and despised by SFCs at State House Entebbe gates and Tumwine ensured his delegation members weren’t subjected to embarrassing body checks which routinely happen to Museveni’s visitors for security reasons. And on being ushered into State House, the Sejusa delegation members were ushered in the waiting room where one of Museveni’s staff served them drinking water as they waited to be called in. Before they could even begin sipping on the water, someone came and signaled them to join the Principal upstairs. Museveni was on 4th floor waiting.
He was unusually very respectful because he referred to Sejusa as General throughout. “I had never seen Mzee act respectfully and speak with much caution like I saw on that day,” recalls a former State House assistant who has since retired. On seeing Sejusa, Museveni stood up and greeted his guests, using his hand to signal or direct each one of them where to seat.
He occasionally cracked jokes to lighten up the mood in the room which overlooks Lake Victoria and Entebbe Airport. The jokes failed to liven up Sejusa who remained stiff and angry for much of the meeting. The two Principals introduced their delegations. Sejusa introduced his two lawyers (Mabikke and Mushabe) and Museveni introduced his two then younger power brokers Janet Anyine and Micheal Katungi. The two had been travelling to London pleading with Sejusa to return home.
Museveni told the meeting these two were his emissaries who first signaled him about Sejusa’s determination to return home in late 2014. He said they worked with a 3rd young person whose identity he didn’t reveal because he/she was absent. Museveni said he brought these two (Anyine and Katungi) to demonstrate his willingness to act transparently in resolving this matter the way Sejusa has been demanding.
The other remarkable thing at that meeting was that Museveni never referred to him as Sejusa. He jokingly insisted he was Tinyefuza wondering if there is anybody who wouldn’t understand who he was referring to. Museveni also thanked Tumwine for his arbitration skills and Sejusa for trusting his old comrade. He also introduced Brig Ramadhan Kyamulesire who is the Chief Legal Services in UPDF. He said Kyamulesire was here to ensure the Sejusa matter, especially his desire to be retired, was properly worked on without being mismanaged.
“I’m leaving for an upcountry tour but Brig Kyamulesire will handle,” Museveni repeatedly assured Sejusa who at earlier media briefings had vowed not to fall for the CiC’s antics again. Museveni said he wasn’t ill-intentioned towards Sejusa or any other historicals as earlier media reports had portrayed. “You see I even received your application to be retired and it’s here,” Museveni said as he waved it to Sejusa and others in the meeting. He said the process shouldn’t be as complicated as Sejusa’s media outbursts had indicated.
TOO MUCH PRESSURE: Museveni told the meeting he was under too much pressure from all corners because of the heat the Sejusa matter had created. “He was clearly desperate with never ending conflicts. He seemed tired of confrontation which was becoming too much within the NRM concerning Mbabazi and now Sejusa in the military. He seemed to be genuine in saying it’s time to stop confrontation for dialogue. He looked overstretched with fire fighting and we all felt sorry for him,” reminisces an influential Presidential assistant now retired.
Museveni added that Gen Sejusa’s media outbursts were creating unnecessary anxiety in the country yet this was a very simple issue to resolve. He pleaded with members at the meeting to help him keep the Sejusa issue out of newspapers. When his turn to speak came, Sejusa said he wouldn’t deny that he has been addressing reporters but gave his reasons. He said firstly he had a right to speak back after government publicists namely Mirundi and Opondo went on the offensive aimed at “demonizing” him among his supporters.
“I have a constitutional right to clean my name and that is what I have been doing and will continue to do if they don’t stop distorting what I stand for,” Sejusa told Museveni-boldly looking him in the eye with his arms raised. Sejusa ranted on questioning why Museveni tolerated Opondo lying to the world that State House bought his air ticket to return home to end his London exile. “It hurt me because you also know it’s not true,” Sejusa told Museveni who explained he was determined to keep this matter private from the word go and was happy Anyine & Co never leaked that information.
A clearly remorseful Museveni told the meeting even Gen Nalweyiso (Brigadier at that time), whom he ordered to facilitate the trio to travel to London to engage Sejusa, never knew why money was being released to them. Not done, Sejusa went after Museveni directly. “But there was also this story in the Red Pepper and Kamunye. That you said I’m a drug addict full of marijuana in my blood and you suggested assigning your Dr. Diana [Atwine] to disinfect me of too much marijuana. Really such language doesn’t enhance dialogue and good faith because you know very well that isn’t true,” Sejusa accused Museveni directly insisting that story must have been prompted by state operatives.
Museveni swiftly denied saying: “How can a whole commander-in-chief say something like that? How can the whole of Gen Museveni work with Red Pepper to put something like about Gen Tinyefuza?” Museveni said the task to get the Sejusa matter from newspapers had to be done by both his side and Sejusa’s side. That gentleman’s agreement or understanding partly explains why it were his lawyers rather than Sejusa himself who briefed reporters late Saturday night at his Naguru home upon return from the 45 minute meeting with Museveni.
Before the 45 minutes meeting ended, Museveni explained the pressure he was under. “Gen Tinyefunza [a serving military officer] is out speaking and many in the country are asking is he above the law? How come nothing is being done to him? That pressure is really not good. It’s something that can be avoided,” Museveni explained himself during the meeting. Sejusa said he had no problem. He was ready to remain quiet to allow the process for his discharge to be done but told Museveni he remains wounded with the falsified manner in which government spokesman Opondo had painted him.
He insisted Museveni needs to do something to clear his name. It was then that Museveni called in his journalists of PPU. Museveni addressed them on the distortions Opondo’s outbursts had created about Sejusa. As his media crew recorded and took pictures, Museveni explained that he was willing to fund Sejusa’s flight “but Gen Tinyefuza refused that saying he was a rich man capable of facilitating himself.” Museveni kept referring to Anyine and Katungi as emissaries through whom he got all this information.
He also revealed how, while on a trip to Abu Dhabi, he learnt of Sejusa’s readiness to fly into the country on a day he hadn’t even communicated to the system. “I learnt from my intelligence that Gen Tinyefuza was coming and I rang Brig Balya and asked him to be at the airport to ensure Gen Tinyefuza isn’t harassed,” he said. He also told the meeting he was sure (not having been in the know of the communication channel that was ongoing through Anyine) some overzealous security operatives at Entebbe would arrest Sejusa which is why he dispatched Balya. Museveni also dismissed reports that he had bribed Sejusa.
SHOWING GOOD FAITH: Museveni said he was saying all this to demonstrate honesty and good faith with which he was approaching the Sejusa issue. He told the meeting he didn’t want to be dragged into whether there is need for Sejusa to be prosecuted or not. He said all that was now secondary and it’s not something he wanted to be part of the conversation. He also told Sejusa that Brig Kyamulesire was in the meeting to get direct instructions to proceed working on the retirement process of Sejusa who had been crying out wondering why everybody else (that wishes) was being retired but his matter was being treated differently.
When Sejusa complained about the unnecessary anxiety the military deployments had caused to his family members and neighbors, Museveni (who appeared uncomfortable being dragged into that deployment) asked Brig Kyamulesire to move out and ring CDF Gen Katumba Wamala asking him to ensure the military was immediately withdrawn from Sejusa’s home. He was asked to remain in touch with Gen Katumba and only return to the meeting after confirming the men had left.
The PPU were also asked to take pictures which the two parties agreed would be helpful in diffusing anxiety and tensions Sejusa’s outbursts were beginning to create. At the end of the meeting, Museveni stood up-following his visitors who found other Museveni assistants waiting to lead them to the parking. Museveni looked at them until they disappeared into the long corridor. That he also stood somewhere in the window and looked at them until they disappeared into thin air in the direction of Kampala.
Gen Tumwine remained part of the Sejusa entourage back to Kampala. On arrival at Naguru, Sejusa told his lawyers “mukulikeyo [well be back]” and entered his two storied house to sit on the balcony with Tumwine. The two Generals, who had known each other for more than 35 years, held a meeting from that time (around 5pm) up to past 7pm. As they discussed, the lawyers briefed reporters in the compound, telling them very little on grounds that an understanding had been reached to scale down on media wars.
PEOPLE AT THE MEETING
Janet Anyine: She used to work with a research organization called Public Opinions, based at Dewinton road near Parliament and National Theater. She hails from Mbarara and was until late 2014 a diehard supporter of Amama Mbabazi along with Adam Luzindana. She was the administrator at public opinions but the pro-Mbabazi NRM poor youth forum members expelled her citing betrayal. She was at some point rumored to be eyeing Mbarara woman MP Seat which then was being held by Emma Bona. She is also a childhood friend of Adam Luzindana who for a long time had been the face of Mbabazi campaign.
Brig Kyamulesire: He was the chief of legal services in UPDF and used to sit on the army’s promotions and Commissions board which is charged with retiring officers and men in UPDF. As a lawyer, he was also the secretary to the board meetings and, notwithstanding the political considerations of the CiC, his advice weighed a lot on who got retired or blocked. His opinion was for instance key in emboldening the army leadership’s stand against Henry Tumukunde’s earlier application to be retired.
His name was also regularly cited in the run up to 2011 elections when more than 10 middle rank officers cried foul after then CDF Gen Aronda blocked their applications to retire and go for elective politics. One of these was Lt. Patrick Kasumba whose bid to run against Kabakumba Masiko was frustrated basing on Kyamulesire’s legal opinion that there was a way the CDF would block his retirement and get away with it. His opinion was also quoted for authority during the debate on whether it was possible for Aronda to join partisan politics (read cabinet) without retiring from UPDF.
Critics used to despise his legal opinions the way the legal fraternity despised then Attorney General Peter Nyombi. In his late 70s, Kyamulesire comes from Masindi and was among the 10 UPDF representatives in the 8th parliament. He was among those who left the house without ever saying anything, perhaps to comply with the requirement to be mere listening posts. In Masindi he was generally not very liked because critics felt he wasn’t sufficiently using his big positions in the military to help unemployed and poverty-stricken Banyoro youths to access opportunities. He also was in the military of previous governments, including Lutwa’s, before NRA took over.
Mabikke: The former Makindye East MP hails from Wakiso and had been an icon in the opposition politics since time immemorial. He was also a practicing lawyer having returned to the law school in mid 2000s. He is the founding UYD Secretary General and had been close to Sejusa since 2006 when his ally Nasser Sebaggala became Kampala Mayor. Even when Sejusa was in exile, fighting efforts to remove him from Parliament, Mabikke was his lawyer along with Mukasa Mbidde. He was as of 2015 a key strategist in the Sejusa scheme of things and intended to ride on the Sejusa momentum to reclaim his Makindye East MP Seat in 2016. His law firm offices used to be at Kisozi Complex near Watoto Church and not very far from All Saints Church-Nakasero.
Mushabe: Perhaps in his late 50s, Dr. Mushabe hailed from Sembabule just like Sejusa. He was among the 20 top lawyers Sejusa had assembled to defend his right to be discharged from the military. His offices used to be on Impala house, opposite KCCA and near Christ the King Church. In Sembabule he belonged to the camp actively opposed to then UN president Sam Kutesa. He even stood against him in 2011 but didn’t win. In Kampala, besides the law firm, Dr. Mushabe used to be a KIU university lecturer for law and was also a political analyst or panelist for Radio1’ Spectrum which he used to host. Bestacled Mushabe also used to host Issues at Hand political program on WBS TV. He was very close to Sejusa-perhaps more than anybody else. Others at the meeting were Museveni, Tumwine and Sejusa who don’t need much elaboration. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [whatsapp line], 0779411734 & 0200900416 or email us at [email protected]).
