*To some this is old news, to me and others, it is new !!*EXCLUSIVE: Gen Sejusa Resistance Coalition Movement Crumbles Jul 22, 2014 44 Viewed admin <http://chimpreports.com/author/admin/> Be the First to Comment <http://chimpreports.com/25476-exclusive-gen-sejusa-resistance-coalition-movement-crumbles/#disqus_thread> [image: sejusa_159699194]
A few weeks after stepping in London last year, Sejusa formed what was known as Free Uganda (FU). The group would later hold talks with Citizens for the Defence of the Constitution (CDC) boss, Col John Ogole thus leading to the birth of Freedom and Unity Front on October 9, 2013. The founders hoped the new organisation would “enable Ugandans involved in the liberation struggle to transcend tribe, cynicisms and all the old tendencies which caused disunity among the people of Uganda.” However*, Chimpreports* now understands the coalition force has broken up due to “high levels of mistrust, suspicion and tribalism.” Gen Sejusa said in a statement on Tuesday that while “a lot has been achieved in terms of progress of the struggle in general terms” under the coalition arrangement, “there have been a number of challenges which have become increasingly difficult to surmount under the current FU / CDC unity arrangement.” Sejusa cited the death of Lt. Col John Ogole this year. “There was never any integration of the operational structures of FU and CDC as such. Hence the operations have been more or less cooperative than unitary. However, with the passing of Col Ogole, many things even those not necessarily operational have become unclear. This is beginning to be disruptive,” said Sejusa who was recently declared a deserter by the UPDF. The former Ugandan spymaster who participated in the NRA liberation war further pointed out that overtime, “there has cropped up some key ideological differences between the Unity parties, for example, the question of how to relate with other opposition groups. Should we be part of the larger liberation effort or pursue an exclusionist agenda where everything must rotate around FUF. To what end would this be?” He added: “How do we treat and ultimately relate with those people who keep abandoning the regime progressively and even others who may still be stuck in the NRM and UPDF but who serve the resistance in other forms? Even on the important question of who is the enemy in Uganda? For instance, is UPDF as an institution the enemy etc? Because for Free Uganda, the question of defining the enemy correctly is of huge ideological significance and should not be glossed over.” *Analysis* While Sejusa intends to portray his rift with opposition forces in Diaspora as hinged on ideological differences, well placed sources say majority of Museveni’s enemies did not trust him as a sincere agent of change. This was mainly because of his past strong relationship with Museveni. “Sejusa fought with Museveni in several wars until they captured Kampala. Their families have been close for decades. When they disagreed Sejusa later apologised to Museveni and returned to army ranks. Such a man who does not live by his word cannot be trusted by opposition forces in Diaspora,” said a source who preferred anonymity so as to speak freely. According to Eric Kashambuzi, an extremist opposition politician in Diaspora, “FUF was set up by Sejusa to help him convert from military to civilian life; but he soon realized he could not convert. He abandoned it and formed a coalition of military organs because fighting and torturing people is all he knows.” Kashambuzi says Sejusa must first understand what opposition forces “have been doing in the Diaspora where we reside and between us and Ugandans at home. We have called on Uganda security forces; the youth; gender; spiritual leaders; civil society organizations to join with us. What Sejusa is doing is just repeating what we have started and he wants to claim credit.” *Character traits* This website also understands that during meetings with opposition figures in London, Sejusa exuded arrogance and regularly despised his colleagues especially those without military background. “Sejusa should join with us instead of trying to lead. Sejusa is a novice in the Diaspora and can’t lead experts. We have demonstrated; we have written; we have used the radio to reach Ugandans at home and abroad. Sejusa has nothing new to contribute. His FUF got off to a bad start when a Ugandan woman was thrown out of the meeting launching FUF. The manifesto had no strategy of what it would do after capturing power by force,” added Kashambuzi. Recently, renegade UPDF Colonel, Samson Mande, slammed Sejusa for being a hypocrite and working towards the fragmentation of the opposition structure. “Besigye won in 2006. Why doesn’t his best man Sejusa join him to recover his victory like Mugisha Muntu did?” wondered Mande, who is also in exile in Sweden after his rebel group, People’s Redemption Army (PRA), was annihilated from the jungles of Ituri, DRC, in the early 2000s. Mande’s remarks came against the backdrop of Sejusa’s claims that Besigye had won the 2006 presidential election with a 69 percent and that intelligence agencies which were involved in the rigging of the exercise had to twist results so as to give Museveni a 59 percent win. “Instead Sejusa who admits to have been one of those that robbed Besigye’s victory launches another political party to compete with him instead of joining the FDC in their bid to recover the lost victory,” Mande charged. *Atrocities* Sources said Sejusa failed to win the hearts of Museveni’s rivals in Diaspora because of committing atrocities especially among northerners when he led military operations against Joseph Kony’s rebel movement. In December last year, a Kampala human rights activist and intellectual property lawyer, Monique Wyatt, took the audience by surprise when she rose to her feet during the function held at The London School of Economics before blasting Sejusa for committing heinous atrocities against the Acholi at the peak of the LRA insurgency. “You committed genocide against the Acholi when you commanded anti-insurgency operations in Northern Uganda,” Wyatt slammed the fugitive army General before she was forced out of the meeting. It is alleged During Operation North in 1991, General Sejusa placed the entire Northern Uganda under security lockdown before detaining and torturing civilians suspected of collaborating with LRA leader, Joseph Kony. Thousands died in concentration camps. Sejusa, who belongs to the Hima clan just like President Museveni, faces similar challenges as Rwandan fugitive General, Gen Kayumba Nyamwasa. In South Africa, most opposition leaders have never forgiven Nyamwasa of Tutsi origin for his highhandedness in crushing the Hutu rebellion in Northern Rwanda and DRC after RPF seized power in 1994. Kashambuzi argues that by forming a coalition of military organs so soon after launching FUF could only signal that FUF has collapsed before taking off. “That is what we had predicted. Sejusa thought by hiring professors from US and UK would help but they have not. Reading books is one thing. Using the knowledge to design a good programme another,” he added. *Sejusa explains* According to Sejusa, when Free Uganda originally met on 29 June 2013, many leaders and several groups, some in exile and others from Uganda, many things were discussed and the general theme was – “how do we work together to bring about change in Uganda.” He added: “In regard to the question of Means, we needed to harmonise the means through which to bring about liberation. There was also the critical need to unite all groups, so that we form a critical mass of the liberation forces. It was in this spirit that many cooperation arrangements were agreed with various groups.” He further pointed out that since the establishment of Freedom and Unity Front, ideological differences have resulted in different approaches within FUF to the question of a collective National Vision and how to provide a linkage with those gallant Ugandans who are facing the brutality of the regime each day. Sejusa revealed that another problem has been the lack of constructive discourse between the two unity partners and with the rest of citizens about the question of the ‘means’ to liberate Uganda. “The Question of the Means to achieve liberation is a crucial one to the overall drive of the Struggle. This entails the means themselves, but also how to harness and operationalise those means effectively and productively – meaning that those engaged in ground operations are fully facilitated and supported,” he added. It remains unclear whether Sejusa wanted a quick or slow military action against Museveni. “But crucially the harmonisation of the Means through which to bring about liberation has not been attended to satisfactorily, as was envisaged at the very beginning of the journey of unity in the struggle,” said the former Ugandan spy chief. Sejusa said in addition there have been differences in the approaches by the two entities (FU and CDC) on matters relating to strategy and tactics. “For example, on the question of how much attention do we give to on-the-ground operations, in comparison to mobilising members living in the Diaspora. There are other issues of deference in approaches and perceptions that have cropped up within Freedom and Unity Front, but which we do not intend to discuss here in public. In view of the above, it has been found necessary to put an end to the unity arrangement between Free Uganda (FU) and Citizens for the Defence of the Constitution (CDC). Consequently, Free Uganda has been reconstituted and all its structures activated.”
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