Amin's soldiers ignored Entebbe raid warning

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By Joshua Kato


In the early hours of July 4, 1976, some 39 years ago, Israeli commandos carried out a daring raid on Entebbe International Airport. This week, 39 years later, Sunday Vision will run an exclusive series of stories about the raid, starting Friday, through Saturday to Sunday.

A few days before the raid, Palestine terrorists had hijacked an Air France plane, full of mainly Israelis and forced it to land at Entebbe. Several officers of the Uganda Army had received intelligence about the attack, but failed to act on it.

The first intelligence came from Col. Gad Wilson Toko who was in Nairobi. Toko, an officer of the Uganda Army, was tipped off by a friend in the Kenyan government the moment the Israelis landed in Nairobi, where they had stopped over before proceeding to Entebbe. The second tip came from Maj. Gen. Isaac Lumago, Amin’s ambassador to Lesotho.

Idi Amin and Mustafa Adrisi were away in Mauritius, attending an Organisation of African Unity summit and had returned hours before the raid.

The man in charge of the country while Amin was away, Col. Isaac Maliyamungu, was a man of limited education. His ability to analyse threats was questionable. It would appear the challenge was too big for Maliyamungu (Swahili for 'God’s money').

He did nothing about the intelligence, describing them as gasiya (Swahili for 'rubbish'). It was a fatal mistake. Had he taken the reports seriously, the Israelis would have found a different battle game.

But then why did the terrorists pick Uganda as their final landing port? The reasons were easy to find.
 

The car which was used during Operation Thunderbolt at Entebbe in 1976

Amin had openly expressed his support for the Palestinian cause.

In a provocative typical fashion in 1972, he conducted a simulated invasion of Israel, in full view of foreign journalists. In a grand display involving helicopters, tanks and infantry, Amin demonstrated how he would lead his forces to capture the Golan Heights, the Syrian territory occupied by Israel.

“Victory over Israelis,” he punched the air at the end of the mock manoeuvre.

The Israelis were not amused by these antics. This week, the New Vision will run an exclusive series of stories about the raid, starting Friday, through Saturday to Sunday.

New Vision correspondent Joe Nam visited Israel and interviewed Col. Moshe Betser, a veteran of the operation, and brings you the hitherto untold details.

The final part of Col. Betser’s fascinating revelations will be published in the new-look Sunday Vision on June 28.



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