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72. During the next two days, I held meetings with the officers and men who had survived. As President Nyerere had said, an accident happened because it was believed that there were armed men around Jinja raised by Museveni and because part of the UPC army had been forcefully handed over to men who were after glory and not the Liberation of the people of Uganda. 73. The Deputy Director of Intelligence had lied when he said at the Tabora camp that 300 men were required for special training connected with the war against Amin. From the Tabora camp, the 300 men were taken to a camp in Musoma on the shore of Lake Victoria. On arrival, the men were paraded and addressed by the deputy Director. The address was full of venom against the President of the UPC. He told the men to forget the past and accept reality. The reality, according to the deputy Director was that Amin was going to be removed and a new Government was to be established in Uganda by the TPDF and composed of men who had no relation with the UPC. The deputy Director told the men that leaders of Uganda's Government which was to replace Amin had sent representatives to lead the men to Jinja. He then introduced Robert Sserumagga as the leader of the representatives and who also addressed the men in the same vein as the Deputy Director. 74. After the parade, on that first day at the Musoma camp, the 300 men staged a mutiny and demanded to be returned to Tabora. The officers and the platoon commanders and 50 men were arrested and taken to jail by armed Tanzanians. In jail, the men were given no food for two days. The rest of the men who were not in jail were also given no food for two days; on the third day the men in jail were released and rejoined the main group. In the evening, the 300 men were taken to Musoma Port where they boarded two ships. Next day, at about noon they were ordered to disembark and were again paraded and addressed by the deputy Director and Sserumagga. They were then given some food and ordered to board the two ships. On the fifth day in the forenoon, the men were ordered to disembark, paraded and addressed by the deputy Director and Sserumagga who both bid the men farewell. When the men boarded and the two ships set to sail for Jinja, neither Sserumagga nor two of his colleagues joined the men on board. 75. There is what is called Kagera Channel in Lake Victoria which flows to the Jinja Bridge. When the two ships from Musoma reached the channel in the early afternoon with the bigger ship in the lead, the smaller ship began to wobble dangerously, and then it capsized when those in the bigger ship were watching. The men on board the smaller ship were thrown into the strong current and were drowning as the men in the bigger ship were watching. There were 120 men on the smaller ship; only 9 survived, rescued by the bigger ship. Even the men in the bigger ship developed nausea and trauma. I visited 43 men who were in hospital. Join with part four The
Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" |
