Was Kayanja in his right mind?
Jun 11, 2005
SIR — It sounded like a joke of the year on Friday when I read that the Director General of ISO, Col. Elly Kayanja forcefully took over a stall of the National Agricultural Research Organisation at the ongoing Jinja Agricultural show.
SIR — It sounded like a joke of the year on Friday when I read that the Director General of ISO, Col. Elly Kayanja forcefully took over a stall of the National Agricultural Research Organisation at the ongoing Jinja Agricultural show.
This is unacceptable! President Yoweri Museveni has really tried to tame the army which has made Uganda a free country to live in.
Days are gone when armymen took the law in their hands, were untouchable and were seen as frightening human beings. NARO should file a suit against him for theft and harassment. The army court marshal should do something otherwise history is surely repeating itself!
Barbara Muliika
Kampala
SIR — Col. Elly Kayanja on Wednesday forced his way into a NARO stall at the Jinja Agricultural show ground. This is a very serious matter with damaging political implications.
A UPDF colonel who behaves like a thug ought not to be in the UPDF, to begin with. Kayanja is attending a senior army officers’ course in Jinja but I wonder whether he has grasped anything from the course or whether he knows what being a senior officer entails. Was he in his right mind? But to me, the spotlight is on the commander-in-chief who is the appointing authority. Is this the professionalisation of the army we have been hearing from President Museveni?
After what Kayanja has done, (and he has done other weird things before) would it be good judgement to keep him in the position he holds? The man is an embarrassment and a menace to public peace and by extrapolation, UPDF soldiers are above the law! If such a senior officer can behave so cheaply, what will the privates and corporals do?
Kayanja can afford to buy a lorryful of mangoes, so why did he have to grab the NARO ones and even assault the stall caretaker?
The question that inevitably springs to mind is, would you feel safe with a soldier like Kayanja as your neighbour? If not, what is the essence of entrusting him with such a sensitive office?
The bush war, we are told, was won with the cooperation of civilians who trusted the NRA. Can civilians trust Kayanja? Of course it can be explained away by the usual spin doctors but nobody can be fooled. The writing is on the wall — all is not well in the UPDF.
Allen Kakooza
Masaka
This is unacceptable! President Yoweri Museveni has really tried to tame the army which has made Uganda a free country to live in.
Days are gone when armymen took the law in their hands, were untouchable and were seen as frightening human beings. NARO should file a suit against him for theft and harassment. The army court marshal should do something otherwise history is surely repeating itself!
Barbara Muliika
Kampala
SIR — Col. Elly Kayanja on Wednesday forced his way into a NARO stall at the Jinja Agricultural show ground. This is a very serious matter with damaging political implications.
A UPDF colonel who behaves like a thug ought not to be in the UPDF, to begin with. Kayanja is attending a senior army officers’ course in Jinja but I wonder whether he has grasped anything from the course or whether he knows what being a senior officer entails. Was he in his right mind? But to me, the spotlight is on the commander-in-chief who is the appointing authority. Is this the professionalisation of the army we have been hearing from President Museveni?
After what Kayanja has done, (and he has done other weird things before) would it be good judgement to keep him in the position he holds? The man is an embarrassment and a menace to public peace and by extrapolation, UPDF soldiers are above the law! If such a senior officer can behave so cheaply, what will the privates and corporals do?
Kayanja can afford to buy a lorryful of mangoes, so why did he have to grab the NARO ones and even assault the stall caretaker?
The question that inevitably springs to mind is, would you feel safe with a soldier like Kayanja as your neighbour? If not, what is the essence of entrusting him with such a sensitive office?
The bush war, we are told, was won with the cooperation of civilians who trusted the NRA. Can civilians trust Kayanja? Of course it can be explained away by the usual spin doctors but nobody can be fooled. The writing is on the wall — all is not well in the UPDF.
Allen Kakooza
Masaka