By Daniel K. Kalinaki
June 10, 2003 - Monitor
| Uganda�s new army commander, Maj. Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, was the best man at Rwandan President Paul Kagame�s wedding in 1989, The Monitor can reveal.
A source that spoke to The Monitor in Kampala yesterday said that the two are still on very friendly terms. �There is no reason to believe otherwise; they are still friends,� the source said. The kasiki (stag party) took place at the Kasisira, as the former House of Entertainment at the Crested Towers was called then. The after-party was held at the Colline Hotel Mukono. Maj. Gen. Kagame was still part of the Ugandan army at the time, heading a desk at the then Directorate of Military Intelligence. Part of the deal then was that Maj. Gen. Kagame would in turn be the best man at Maj. Gen. Nyakairima's wedding. But by the time the new army commander and Linda took their vows, his buddy had left Uganda in 1990 to lead the RPA in Rwanda. A senior source in Kigali told The Monitor that Maj. Gen. Nyakairima�s appointment was well received in Kigali, in part due to his close friendship with President Kagame. The Rwanda government generally disapproved of the outgoing army commander, Maj. Gen. James Kazini following fighting between the two armies in Kisangani, DR Congo, between 1999 and 2000. Maj. Gen. Kazini was the then commander of Uganda's Operation Safe Haven from his base in Kisangani. Maj. Gen. Kazini, who was then in Military Police, reportedly ordered the shooting of Maj. Gen. Kagame's relative � a security operative implicated in armed robberies and kidnappings. Maj. Gen. Kagame reportedly kept a grudge because he had reportedly pleaded with Maj. Gen. Kazini to spare his relative to no avail. Maj. Gen. Kazini's removal as army commander was thus bound to cause celebrations in Kigali. More so because it is Maj. Gen. Kagame's former buddy who is now in charge of the UPDF. |
� 2003 The Monitor Publications
Do you Yahoo!?
Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM).
