|
"That is an insult to the UPDF, to say that we can keep a whole battalion
in an area for just $ 25,000," Wapakhabulo said. That, as the saying goes,
is just the tip of the hippo's nose. When Wapa seizes on it, he is merely
diverting attention from the ugly body of the beast.
We shouldn't doubt the UPDF's capacity for making
losing deals (Bichupuli choppers, etc) whose logic can only be explained by
individual beneficiaries. Cost-benefit analysis isn't the Ugandan army's
strong point or institutional objective, as has been proven time and
again. Across northern Uganda, even village urchins know of UPDF
officers (some are dead but others are still alive), who were busy running guns,
smuggling stolen fuel, and generally looting the resources of Sudan years before
they dreamed up their Hollywood-esque thuggery/adventurism in D.R.
Congo.
vukoni
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 5:31
PM
Subject: ugnet_: UGANDA'S CHIEF MILITARY
INTELLIGENCY THREATENS UN
Mayombo
promises action against UN
By Richard M. Kavuma
Chief of
Military Intelligence Col. Nobel Mayombo has said he is considering
taking
action against the United Nations for tarnishing his name.
Mayombo, one of
the Ugandan army officers facing a travel ban and financial
restrictions
over alleged plundering of Congo's natural resources, said the
five-member
UN panel used forged documents to implicate him.
"I am studying how
individuals can respond when they are persistently
defamed especially by a
body that is supposed to be of international
repute," Mayombo told a
Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference at
Workers House in Kampala
yesterday.
"My public record is known and it is beyond reproach," Mayombo
said.
Government would wait for the report of the Porter Probe before
commenting
on allegations against specific UPDF officers, said James
Wapakhabulo, the
minister of Foreign Affairs.
Army Commander Maj. Gen.
James Kazini, Reserve Force Commander Lt. Gen.
Salim Saleh are among the
officers allegedly involved in 'criminal networks'
of plunder and tax
evasion in war-torn eastern Congo.
In May 2001 government established a
commission of inquiry under Justice
Porter to find out whether Ugandan army
officers plundered the Congo. This
was at the recommendation of the UN
panel in its first report.
Wapakhabulo, who also is third deputy prime
minister, said Uganda was the
only country in the region to take up the
UN's advice.
He said the report had several positive aspects such as
recognising that the
Uganda government was not involved in plundering the
Congo. He said where
nationals or companies of countries such as Rwanda and
Zimbabwe were
mentioned, the state also often surfaced.
Wapakhabulo,
however, generally dismissed the report, accusing the panel of
relying on
hearsay.
He gave the example of the Protocol d'Accord allegedly signed by
Mayombo in
which UPDF was promised $25,000.
"That is an insult to the
UPDF, to say that we can keep a whole battalion in
an area for just $
25,000," Wapakhabulo said.
The
Mulindwas communication group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in
anarchy"
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus
Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.404
/ Virus Database: 228 - Release Date:
10/15/2002
|
