Pulkol, the benevolent critic
May 19, 2004
HE walks with a swift stride and paces about when talking on his mobile telephone
By Henry Mukasa
HE walks with a swift stride and paces about when talking on his mobile telephone. His smile is seemingly natural and his handshake firm, even to strangers like me.
He is David Pulkol, former Director General of the External Security Organisation (ESO).
As ESO chief, most of his operations were outside Uganda but when he moves along a street, crowds glance over to catch a glimpse of a young man who suddenly rocked the political scene by lambasting the regime he served with overzealous loyalty.
Pulkol has never paced the streets of Kampala to look for a job. When he finished his Bachelors’ degree in social work and social administration in June 1984, he was retained at Makerere University as a teaching assistant.
He got a scholarship to London school of economics where he did a Masters degree in economics between 1985 and 1986.
On return he was taken on as a lecturer but just as he was settling down to embark on his dream-teaching career, President Yoweri Museveni called him to join cabinet.
He reluctantly took on the appointment that indelibly changed his career, outlook to life and catapulted him to the prominent position where he basks today.
“I thought my calling was in lecturing people who would manage society tomorrow. I thought I should be allowed to pursue that career. I thought that would be my contribution to society. I wanted to be a professor, not a Lieutenant General,†Pulkol recalls.
In January 1987 president Yoweri Museveni invited Pulkol, among other people, to Mbale state lodge to discuss issues of Karamoja and national development.
“I could articulate issues and I think he (Museveni) saw potential in me... and he wanted me to join government as a commissar, I said, ‘sorry what’s that?’ As a 26-year- old graduate, with no serious political ambition or background; apart from being a class monitor, prefect; head of boy-scouts brigade and scripture union, Pulkol could not appreciate the suggested appointment.
And when he said he had mastered economics, the president opened another door of opportunity, to head a company for the army which he too turned down. The president asked him to submit a list of other six Karimojong to be appointed in government, which he did minus his name.
On March 28, 1987 as Pulkol turned around in his bed, listening to the then only station in the country, Radio Uganda, he heard that he had been appointed deputy minister for water and mineral development, along with nine others.
Instead of running to state House to take oath, Pulkol ran up northeast to consult his friends and elders. He had thought his refusal would suffice. He contemplated exile but Bishop Longino reminded him that “God works in mysterious ways.†Two weeks later, Pulkol was sworn in as minister.
“Politics in Uganda had become such a dirty game. No young man would then wish to waste his life away in politics,†he recalls. But president Museveni being a master at political cards, convinced him. Museveni reportedly told him that since he knew what was wrong with national politics, the more reason for him to join and rectify it.
“For him it was a transition period of only four years (1986-1990); that when he goes to keep his cows in Mbarara I would also go to teach in the university,†says Pulkol.
After holding the portfolio of deputy water minister, he went on to become deputy education minister and later to ESO where he had two four-year terms.
On the surface life seems to have been so good and God so kind to Pulkol, a man from the pastoral tribe of the Karimojong. But the son of Moses Mudong and Easter Angella, born in an animal camp, laments that, “life has not been
Christmas to me.â€
He talks about his humble beginnings, scarcity of basic rights and transhumance for over 45 kilometres to the nitty-gritty of the social afflictions he endured.
He recounts that during his childhood there was not enough to eat, rats nibbled his feet, lice infested his hair while jiggers found home in his toes. With less social amenities, he says, disease is rampant and when he counts the cattle raids he survived in the region where rustling boarders to culture, he lifts his heart to God.
‘When I say am a son of a Karimojong, it’s not to say that, am a warrior as its misrepresented; but to depict somebody who has survived and grown out of marginalisation: A person who has defied all odds, oppression by man and nature.â€
Karamoja is arid with little pasture and water yet the natives are cattle keepers. This demoted them to a nomadic life for years.
Pulkol names president Museveni as his hero and mentor and pleads he must be accorded the enviable status of father of the nation; to bask in the glory the South Africa apartheid hero Nelson Mandela is savouring. He urges the president to father ‘the orphaned nation, Uganda.’ He is against the third term and he has of late been outspoken on the subject.
As such Pulkol could be described as a loving critic of Museveni or is it the Movement — taking a hard line stance against proposals to scrap article 105 of the constitution interpreted as attempts to hand Museveni another term as president.
“I coined the ‘no change’ slogan during the 2001 elections because there was no need for change according to the constitution but now it’s appropriate for the citizens of Uganda to say in chorus, ‘time has come’,†he says.
His biggest regret since joining politics is that, “many leaders in Africa fail to resist the trappings of power.†He says people who ‘build a Berlin wall’ around a president blur his vision on realities in society. He blames ‘praise singers and opportunists’ for misleading his hero (Museveni) into abandoning his ideals he used to preach in 1986.
“The question I have been asking is, If the Museveni of 1986 ever met the Museveni of 2004, will they actually be able to recognise each other or one would actually arrest the other?†he said.
Born on November 21, 1959, Pulkol went to Lotome Boys and Kangole boys schools in Bokora county for primary education and sat for his PLE in 1974. Between 1975 -1978 he went to Moroto High School before joining Makerere College School from 1979-81 for advanced education.
To Pulkol, College school was an impetus because he wanted to be within the university and says “while other students were fighting to join campus, I was defending staying there.â€
The 1979 liberation struggle left scars on Uganda as it did to Makerere College. The saba-saba (anti-aircraft guns) that devastated most buildings in the city centre hit one of the school hostels. Pulkol together with six other students who had no parents within town were accommodated in a dungeon under the stage of the main hall.
The father of six, says such hardships have helped shape his approach to life.
Pulkol’s phone in silent mode rings endlessly but he ignores it and gives me all the attention. Afterwards he answers several callers and says it’s ‘new friends trying to find out whether am safe.’
He advises that those in positions of leadership must never desert the common man and tread carefully not to fall from a mountain (power) cliff.
“I come from the Karimojong who live in mountains, we fear heights! When you are in power life is Christmas. Politicians must not become the law but submit themselves to law,†he said.
He said politicians ‘must walk the talk’ because those who distort their character will suffer from ‘organisational psychosis!’
Although he admits that most of his friends, especially former workmates, have deserted him, the sacked ESO boss says that he does not feel the pinch of unemployment. He said with the education handed to him by his parents he is eking a living.
He is offering consultancies for agencies in Namibia, Lesotho, South Africa, US and within East Africa. At home he is an associate member of PAFO and its consultant.
He admits his critical utterances are unpleasant to many ears in government and believes he would be called many names “in order to tarnish my un-tarnishable name†but clings on the hope that “objective criticism will not be confused with subversionâ€.
But would the man said to be nursing ambitions to contest for the highest office in the land take a shot at the presidency to cap his political career?
“That is speculative talk,†he quips.
“What I’m doing now is not unfolding any manifesto but unpacking issues. My role is to elevate the level of debate about the transition,†he says.
HE walks with a swift stride and paces about when talking on his mobile telephone. His smile is seemingly natural and his handshake firm, even to strangers like me.
He is David Pulkol, former Director General of the External Security Organisation (ESO).
As ESO chief, most of his operations were outside Uganda but when he moves along a street, crowds glance over to catch a glimpse of a young man who suddenly rocked the political scene by lambasting the regime he served with overzealous loyalty.
Pulkol has never paced the streets of Kampala to look for a job. When he finished his Bachelors’ degree in social work and social administration in June 1984, he was retained at Makerere University as a teaching assistant.
He got a scholarship to London school of economics where he did a Masters degree in economics between 1985 and 1986.
On return he was taken on as a lecturer but just as he was settling down to embark on his dream-teaching career, President Yoweri Museveni called him to join cabinet.
He reluctantly took on the appointment that indelibly changed his career, outlook to life and catapulted him to the prominent position where he basks today.
“I thought my calling was in lecturing people who would manage society tomorrow. I thought I should be allowed to pursue that career. I thought that would be my contribution to society. I wanted to be a professor, not a Lieutenant General,†Pulkol recalls.
In January 1987 president Yoweri Museveni invited Pulkol, among other people, to Mbale state lodge to discuss issues of Karamoja and national development.
“I could articulate issues and I think he (Museveni) saw potential in me... and he wanted me to join government as a commissar, I said, ‘sorry what’s that?’ As a 26-year- old graduate, with no serious political ambition or background; apart from being a class monitor, prefect; head of boy-scouts brigade and scripture union, Pulkol could not appreciate the suggested appointment.
And when he said he had mastered economics, the president opened another door of opportunity, to head a company for the army which he too turned down. The president asked him to submit a list of other six Karimojong to be appointed in government, which he did minus his name.
On March 28, 1987 as Pulkol turned around in his bed, listening to the then only station in the country, Radio Uganda, he heard that he had been appointed deputy minister for water and mineral development, along with nine others.
Instead of running to state House to take oath, Pulkol ran up northeast to consult his friends and elders. He had thought his refusal would suffice. He contemplated exile but Bishop Longino reminded him that “God works in mysterious ways.†Two weeks later, Pulkol was sworn in as minister.
“Politics in Uganda had become such a dirty game. No young man would then wish to waste his life away in politics,†he recalls. But president Museveni being a master at political cards, convinced him. Museveni reportedly told him that since he knew what was wrong with national politics, the more reason for him to join and rectify it.
“For him it was a transition period of only four years (1986-1990); that when he goes to keep his cows in Mbarara I would also go to teach in the university,†says Pulkol.
After holding the portfolio of deputy water minister, he went on to become deputy education minister and later to ESO where he had two four-year terms.
On the surface life seems to have been so good and God so kind to Pulkol, a man from the pastoral tribe of the Karimojong. But the son of Moses Mudong and Easter Angella, born in an animal camp, laments that, “life has not been
Christmas to me.â€
He talks about his humble beginnings, scarcity of basic rights and transhumance for over 45 kilometres to the nitty-gritty of the social afflictions he endured.
He recounts that during his childhood there was not enough to eat, rats nibbled his feet, lice infested his hair while jiggers found home in his toes. With less social amenities, he says, disease is rampant and when he counts the cattle raids he survived in the region where rustling boarders to culture, he lifts his heart to God.
‘When I say am a son of a Karimojong, it’s not to say that, am a warrior as its misrepresented; but to depict somebody who has survived and grown out of marginalisation: A person who has defied all odds, oppression by man and nature.â€
Karamoja is arid with little pasture and water yet the natives are cattle keepers. This demoted them to a nomadic life for years.
Pulkol names president Museveni as his hero and mentor and pleads he must be accorded the enviable status of father of the nation; to bask in the glory the South Africa apartheid hero Nelson Mandela is savouring. He urges the president to father ‘the orphaned nation, Uganda.’ He is against the third term and he has of late been outspoken on the subject.
As such Pulkol could be described as a loving critic of Museveni or is it the Movement — taking a hard line stance against proposals to scrap article 105 of the constitution interpreted as attempts to hand Museveni another term as president.
“I coined the ‘no change’ slogan during the 2001 elections because there was no need for change according to the constitution but now it’s appropriate for the citizens of Uganda to say in chorus, ‘time has come’,†he says.
His biggest regret since joining politics is that, “many leaders in Africa fail to resist the trappings of power.†He says people who ‘build a Berlin wall’ around a president blur his vision on realities in society. He blames ‘praise singers and opportunists’ for misleading his hero (Museveni) into abandoning his ideals he used to preach in 1986.
“The question I have been asking is, If the Museveni of 1986 ever met the Museveni of 2004, will they actually be able to recognise each other or one would actually arrest the other?†he said.
Born on November 21, 1959, Pulkol went to Lotome Boys and Kangole boys schools in Bokora county for primary education and sat for his PLE in 1974. Between 1975 -1978 he went to Moroto High School before joining Makerere College School from 1979-81 for advanced education.
To Pulkol, College school was an impetus because he wanted to be within the university and says “while other students were fighting to join campus, I was defending staying there.â€
The 1979 liberation struggle left scars on Uganda as it did to Makerere College. The saba-saba (anti-aircraft guns) that devastated most buildings in the city centre hit one of the school hostels. Pulkol together with six other students who had no parents within town were accommodated in a dungeon under the stage of the main hall.
The father of six, says such hardships have helped shape his approach to life.
Pulkol’s phone in silent mode rings endlessly but he ignores it and gives me all the attention. Afterwards he answers several callers and says it’s ‘new friends trying to find out whether am safe.’
He advises that those in positions of leadership must never desert the common man and tread carefully not to fall from a mountain (power) cliff.
“I come from the Karimojong who live in mountains, we fear heights! When you are in power life is Christmas. Politicians must not become the law but submit themselves to law,†he said.
He said politicians ‘must walk the talk’ because those who distort their character will suffer from ‘organisational psychosis!’
Although he admits that most of his friends, especially former workmates, have deserted him, the sacked ESO boss says that he does not feel the pinch of unemployment. He said with the education handed to him by his parents he is eking a living.
He is offering consultancies for agencies in Namibia, Lesotho, South Africa, US and within East Africa. At home he is an associate member of PAFO and its consultant.
He admits his critical utterances are unpleasant to many ears in government and believes he would be called many names “in order to tarnish my un-tarnishable name†but clings on the hope that “objective criticism will not be confused with subversionâ€.
But would the man said to be nursing ambitions to contest for the highest office in the land take a shot at the presidency to cap his political career?
“That is speculative talk,†he quips.
“What I’m doing now is not unfolding any manifesto but unpacking issues. My role is to elevate the level of debate about the transition,†he says.