Dream come true for Museveni driver
LIFE may never be the same again for George Walwanyi, the brave peasant from Mbale who saved President Yoweri Museveni’s life 30 years ago.
By John Eremu
LIFE may never be the same again for George Walwanyi, the brave peasant from Mbale who saved President Yoweri Museveni’s life 30 years ago.
After 16 years of longing to see the most powerful man on the land, Walwanyi has finally been summoned to the State House following yesterday’s New Vision story on how bureaucrats had frustrated his attempts to meet his old buddy.
“The President read the story this morning (yesterday) and has instructed me to bring the man to him in November when he is free from his current engagements in the north and abroad,†Third Deputy Prime Minister James Wapakhabulo said yesterday.
“The President said the story was very good and reminded him of the second name of the person who turned a truck for him in 1972. Museveni said he had always wanted to meet the man but could only remember one name, George,†he added.
Wapakhabulo, who is also foreign affairs minister and formerly chief of foreign relations under the Museveni-led Front for National Salvation (FRONASA), said Walwanyi had not approached him personally and he would be arranging to meet him anytime.
Walwanyi, who fought alongside the FRONASA guerrillas who attacked Mbarara barracks in 1972, helped turn the truck in which Museveni escaped amid hellfire from dictator Idi Amin’s soldiers.
Museveni has always told the public how he drove a truck in first gear from Mbarara to Mutukula on the Uganda - Tanzania border, in a hasty escape.
Walwanyi, 60, chose to return home and lead a civilian life when Amin was overthrown in 1979.
However, when Museveni came to power in 1986, he said he had been trying to meet him, not to ask for assistance but to relive those memorable times of comradeship.
He said he had sent several verbal and written correspondences through the relevant authorities in Mbale right from the era of Special District Administrators (SDAs), District Administrators, Central Government Representatives and now Resident District Commissioners but nobody appears to have informed Museveni.
“I talked to James Magode Ikuya and Jack Mawumbe Mukhwana when they were here. I talked to Hassan Wasswa Galiwango. Recently, I talked to Hajji Abbas Sseguya, the current RDC. It seems they do not take me seriously, or they have problems forwarding my case,†he said.
Under the command of the then young Museveni, Walwanyi recalls how for two days they had been attempting to attack Mbarara Army Barracks with rudimentary weaponry, but had been easily beaten off because Amin’s soldiers inside the barracks had taken better cover.
LIFE may never be the same again for George Walwanyi, the brave peasant from Mbale who saved President Yoweri Museveni’s life 30 years ago.
After 16 years of longing to see the most powerful man on the land, Walwanyi has finally been summoned to the State House following yesterday’s New Vision story on how bureaucrats had frustrated his attempts to meet his old buddy.
“The President read the story this morning (yesterday) and has instructed me to bring the man to him in November when he is free from his current engagements in the north and abroad,†Third Deputy Prime Minister James Wapakhabulo said yesterday.
“The President said the story was very good and reminded him of the second name of the person who turned a truck for him in 1972. Museveni said he had always wanted to meet the man but could only remember one name, George,†he added.
Wapakhabulo, who is also foreign affairs minister and formerly chief of foreign relations under the Museveni-led Front for National Salvation (FRONASA), said Walwanyi had not approached him personally and he would be arranging to meet him anytime.
Walwanyi, who fought alongside the FRONASA guerrillas who attacked Mbarara barracks in 1972, helped turn the truck in which Museveni escaped amid hellfire from dictator Idi Amin’s soldiers.
Museveni has always told the public how he drove a truck in first gear from Mbarara to Mutukula on the Uganda - Tanzania border, in a hasty escape.
Walwanyi, 60, chose to return home and lead a civilian life when Amin was overthrown in 1979.
However, when Museveni came to power in 1986, he said he had been trying to meet him, not to ask for assistance but to relive those memorable times of comradeship.
He said he had sent several verbal and written correspondences through the relevant authorities in Mbale right from the era of Special District Administrators (SDAs), District Administrators, Central Government Representatives and now Resident District Commissioners but nobody appears to have informed Museveni.
“I talked to James Magode Ikuya and Jack Mawumbe Mukhwana when they were here. I talked to Hassan Wasswa Galiwango. Recently, I talked to Hajji Abbas Sseguya, the current RDC. It seems they do not take me seriously, or they have problems forwarding my case,†he said.
Under the command of the then young Museveni, Walwanyi recalls how for two days they had been attempting to attack Mbarara Army Barracks with rudimentary weaponry, but had been easily beaten off because Amin’s soldiers inside the barracks had taken better cover.