Fall of Amin: A commander’s grief
Apr 10, 2009
ON an assignment to handle the war at the border, Col. Bernard Rwehururu narrates the goings-on in his book, Cross to the Gun, writes <b>Anne Abaho</b>.
ON an assignment to handle the war at the border, Col. Bernard Rwehururu narrates the goings-on in his book, Cross to the Gun, writes Anne Abaho.
At Sanje near Bigada Parish where I established my tactical headquarters, I found everything in chaos. Though many recruits had been brought in for training, none had been going on. There was no established command structure, no way of differentiating recruits from the hardened soldiers.
Intelligence reports of Tanzanian troop positions were passed to our superiors in Masaka, never taken seriously. With the few resources, we fortified defences at Mutukula Prisons and trained recruits. I had brave young lieutenants and captains.
But the Tanzanians had a BM Katyusha artillery, which later came to be known as Sabasaba in Uganda. We did not know what it was and it affected the morale of troops.
After hitting Mutukula for over two months, the Tanzanians crossed into Uganda.
Mutukula
They attacked Mutukula and Minzilo from the east, near where River Kagera joins Lake Victoria.
On January 21, 1979 10:00pm, in a heavy downpour, we started exchanging fire. It was difficult for the troops to distinguish the sound of small firearms from that of a Katyusha or a 160 millimeter pounder.
The firing raged on throughout the night. Despite the rain, I was sweating profusely.
As the fighting intensified, I unsuccessfully tried to get in touch with the Chief-of-Staff. No one picked the phone. I tried Amin, who promised us heavy air support and reinforcements. That was the best news that lifted the spirits of the soldiers.
We opened fire with Yugoslav made assault rifles, mowing down hundreds of Tanzanians. Intercepted messages revealed that they needed ten lorries to transport the dead and the wounded. By the end of the first battle after six hours, they had overrun Mutukula.
By 11:00am, when the guns fell silent, both sides had run short of ammunition and soldiers on either side were too exhausted to embark on any bayonet fighting.
We lost 14 soldiers and two sergeants were captured.
We agreed to withdraw to Sanje and wait for the promised reinforcement.
At around 4:00pm, a helicopter landed in our position. I sighed with relief and inquired about the reinforcement. Brig. Taban Lupayi revealed that the force had been dispatched to reinforce us but was conducting a field firing exercise in Lukaya, about 120km from Mutukula.
I confronted him on why the soldiers were wasting ammunition on trees when there were hundreds of enemy troops dislodging us. He ordered the troops to advance and relieve us.
Kalisizo
After less than a week of fighting, troops of the First Infantry Regiment, who had replaced us at the front line, arrived at our barracks with their equipment. They had abandoned Sanje to the advancing enemy. Lt Col. Abdallatif told us the fighting was too heavy to bear. We were dumbfounded. We all looked at the colonel, with half empty bottle of Uganda Waragi in hand, with contempt. At his withdrawal, the enemy took over Sanje, then Kalisizo.
Kalisizo’s swift fall meant that the enemy was on the outskirts of Masaka.
Masaka
In impromptu meeting to discuss how to defend Masaka, each unit was given roles.Before we could move into our new areas of responsibility, mortar and rocket fire started landing in our barracks, forcing us to rush to the slopes of Boma Hill near the hospital and prison.
There was no threat of an enemy air raid so I decided to employ a 23 millimeter gun in ground roll.
Since all the hills had been strategically occupied, we knew that the valley in Masaka, a pineapple garden, would be easy to defend. By then, bitter divisions had cropped up within the army.
The enemy attacked through Kitovu, Nyendo and the pineapple garden, all of which were behind our backs, before descending on Masaka.
We knew that we were out numbered. So when the charge was made through the mayor’s pineapples, to the east of Masaka on the way to Nyendo, on Kampala Road, I withdrew my troops for safety. A stampede followed as soldiers fled. I lost control.
The soldiers later matched towards Kampala and captured the city in April 1979
At Sanje near Bigada Parish where I established my tactical headquarters, I found everything in chaos. Though many recruits had been brought in for training, none had been going on. There was no established command structure, no way of differentiating recruits from the hardened soldiers.
Intelligence reports of Tanzanian troop positions were passed to our superiors in Masaka, never taken seriously. With the few resources, we fortified defences at Mutukula Prisons and trained recruits. I had brave young lieutenants and captains.
But the Tanzanians had a BM Katyusha artillery, which later came to be known as Sabasaba in Uganda. We did not know what it was and it affected the morale of troops.
After hitting Mutukula for over two months, the Tanzanians crossed into Uganda.
Mutukula
They attacked Mutukula and Minzilo from the east, near where River Kagera joins Lake Victoria.
On January 21, 1979 10:00pm, in a heavy downpour, we started exchanging fire. It was difficult for the troops to distinguish the sound of small firearms from that of a Katyusha or a 160 millimeter pounder.
The firing raged on throughout the night. Despite the rain, I was sweating profusely.
As the fighting intensified, I unsuccessfully tried to get in touch with the Chief-of-Staff. No one picked the phone. I tried Amin, who promised us heavy air support and reinforcements. That was the best news that lifted the spirits of the soldiers.
We opened fire with Yugoslav made assault rifles, mowing down hundreds of Tanzanians. Intercepted messages revealed that they needed ten lorries to transport the dead and the wounded. By the end of the first battle after six hours, they had overrun Mutukula.
By 11:00am, when the guns fell silent, both sides had run short of ammunition and soldiers on either side were too exhausted to embark on any bayonet fighting.
We lost 14 soldiers and two sergeants were captured.
We agreed to withdraw to Sanje and wait for the promised reinforcement.
At around 4:00pm, a helicopter landed in our position. I sighed with relief and inquired about the reinforcement. Brig. Taban Lupayi revealed that the force had been dispatched to reinforce us but was conducting a field firing exercise in Lukaya, about 120km from Mutukula.
I confronted him on why the soldiers were wasting ammunition on trees when there were hundreds of enemy troops dislodging us. He ordered the troops to advance and relieve us.
Kalisizo
After less than a week of fighting, troops of the First Infantry Regiment, who had replaced us at the front line, arrived at our barracks with their equipment. They had abandoned Sanje to the advancing enemy. Lt Col. Abdallatif told us the fighting was too heavy to bear. We were dumbfounded. We all looked at the colonel, with half empty bottle of Uganda Waragi in hand, with contempt. At his withdrawal, the enemy took over Sanje, then Kalisizo.
Kalisizo’s swift fall meant that the enemy was on the outskirts of Masaka.
Masaka
In impromptu meeting to discuss how to defend Masaka, each unit was given roles.Before we could move into our new areas of responsibility, mortar and rocket fire started landing in our barracks, forcing us to rush to the slopes of Boma Hill near the hospital and prison.
There was no threat of an enemy air raid so I decided to employ a 23 millimeter gun in ground roll.
Since all the hills had been strategically occupied, we knew that the valley in Masaka, a pineapple garden, would be easy to defend. By then, bitter divisions had cropped up within the army.
The enemy attacked through Kitovu, Nyendo and the pineapple garden, all of which were behind our backs, before descending on Masaka.
We knew that we were out numbered. So when the charge was made through the mayor’s pineapples, to the east of Masaka on the way to Nyendo, on Kampala Road, I withdrew my troops for safety. A stampede followed as soldiers fled. I lost control.
The soldiers later matched towards Kampala and captured the city in April 1979