Let the jets be bought, we need them badly
FOLLOWING the revelation that the Government had procured the sophisticated Su-30mk2 Russian jet fighters, our commentators as usual have accused the Government of making wrong expenditure.
By Obed Katureebe
FOLLOWING the revelation that the Government had procured the sophisticated Su-30mk2 Russian jet fighters, our commentators as usual have accused the Government of making wrong expenditure.
The Government denies any such deal. Supposing it was true that the Government had bought the jets and were denying the deal for security purposes, it would be unfair to blame them on the decision to invest in the protection of the citizens.
Opiyo Oloya, in his article, “Uganda does not need the sophisticated Russian jets,†The New Vision April 14, argued that such superior jets will be of no consequence to the UPDF.
He went on to equate the move to selling a family inheritance to buy a Mercedes Benz limousine only to park it in front of the leaking grass thatched hut in the village. “It provides a feature attraction for the curious villagers, but is inoperable because there is no petrol to run it, and no roads to run it on,†he wrote.
Oloya further argued that after all the UPDF managed to chase the rampaging LRA terrorist rebels out of the northern Uganda by engaging them with its infantry units. He said that instead such an amount of money (324m pounds) should be used to improve the general welfare of Ugandans.
Another social commentator and a journalist, Gawaya Tegulle, made a sad observation on the same topic and argued that Uganda does not need such jets. “Like Japan, Uganda should invest in peace, not war,†Monitor April 10.
Let me first inform Oloya that it is not true that it is the infantry units of the UPDF that chased away the LRA terrorists in northern Uganda. On the contrary, it was the superior air power unleashed by the UPDF’ that condemned Kony to the jungles of the Central African Republic (CAR).
Much as the infantry units did great work, it was largely due to the airborne power by the deadly gunships that pounded LRA relentless in every corner of their hideouts in northern Uganda, without giving them a moment of rest. That is why they quickly had to relocate to Garamba National Park in DR Congo.
As a result, LRA leader Joseph Kony lost most of his top commanders. President Museveni has said it was not until he went against the advice of the donors to increase the defence spending and procured the gunships, that Kony and his rogues were driven out of Uganda.
The LRA had mastered the knack for running around in the inhabited bushes of northern Uganda, eluding the UPDF fire power.
Oloya argues that since most neighboring countries have low calibre fighter jets, there is no logic in Uganda having such hi-tech jets because none of our neighbours pose a serious security threat. Oloya got it wrong.
In preparation to challenge your enemy (in the vent of aggression) you do not only prepare to match his capacity, you have to prepare much better such that you outwit your adversary.
Besides, Uganda cannot sit back and relax when the “Sudan factor†is not yet sorted out. LRA captives who were recently, captured from the CAR, said the government of Gen. Bashir still supports the LRA.
Recently, the Khartoum government used to bomb parts of northern Uganda with fighter jets because we did not have much aerial power to stop them. If it is true that we bought the SU-30mk2 fighter jets, all that bullying would be history.
The confederation arrangement between the government of Southern Sudan and the Khartoum regime seems to be on its weakest point, and the indications are that there is a possibility of another war.
The two parties have failed on the border demarcations and the sharing of the oil proceeds. In the event of war, Uganda will be brought into the quagmire.
For any serious leader to think of providing the general wellbeing of his people, he must first secure them against instability.
Northern Uganda is lagging behind, not because the Government did not have enough resources to help them be at par with the rest of the country, but because the LRA terrorists made it impossible for the Government to do so.
It is also wrong for Oloya to say the American aerial throbbing of the Al-Qaeda terrorists in both Iraq and Afhaganistan has not solved the Al-Qaeda question. What the American aerial bombing first did was to break the backbone of Al-Qaeda by removing the sponsors and trainers from the leadership of these rogue regimes.
The war in both Afhaganistan and Iraq is in its second phase that requires some patience and another set of contingent effectiveness. Even if the Al-Qaeda were to be allowed to reorganise (which will not happen), it would take them hundreds of years to have the capacity they had 10 years ago.
As a final point, if Oloya is so concerned that the Government will spend 324 million pounds on buying these jets, I wonder if he can quantify the loss caused by the insurgencies in Uganda in the last 20 years. It is in the range of billions of pounds. Remember, most of these rebels were sponsored by our neighbours.
The writer works at the Uganda Media Centre
FOLLOWING the revelation that the Government had procured the sophisticated Su-30mk2 Russian jet fighters, our commentators as usual have accused the Government of making wrong expenditure.
The Government denies any such deal. Supposing it was true that the Government had bought the jets and were denying the deal for security purposes, it would be unfair to blame them on the decision to invest in the protection of the citizens.
Opiyo Oloya, in his article, “Uganda does not need the sophisticated Russian jets,†The New Vision April 14, argued that such superior jets will be of no consequence to the UPDF.
He went on to equate the move to selling a family inheritance to buy a Mercedes Benz limousine only to park it in front of the leaking grass thatched hut in the village. “It provides a feature attraction for the curious villagers, but is inoperable because there is no petrol to run it, and no roads to run it on,†he wrote.
Oloya further argued that after all the UPDF managed to chase the rampaging LRA terrorist rebels out of the northern Uganda by engaging them with its infantry units. He said that instead such an amount of money (324m pounds) should be used to improve the general welfare of Ugandans.
Another social commentator and a journalist, Gawaya Tegulle, made a sad observation on the same topic and argued that Uganda does not need such jets. “Like Japan, Uganda should invest in peace, not war,†Monitor April 10.
Let me first inform Oloya that it is not true that it is the infantry units of the UPDF that chased away the LRA terrorists in northern Uganda. On the contrary, it was the superior air power unleashed by the UPDF’ that condemned Kony to the jungles of the Central African Republic (CAR).
Much as the infantry units did great work, it was largely due to the airborne power by the deadly gunships that pounded LRA relentless in every corner of their hideouts in northern Uganda, without giving them a moment of rest. That is why they quickly had to relocate to Garamba National Park in DR Congo.
As a result, LRA leader Joseph Kony lost most of his top commanders. President Museveni has said it was not until he went against the advice of the donors to increase the defence spending and procured the gunships, that Kony and his rogues were driven out of Uganda.
The LRA had mastered the knack for running around in the inhabited bushes of northern Uganda, eluding the UPDF fire power.
Oloya argues that since most neighboring countries have low calibre fighter jets, there is no logic in Uganda having such hi-tech jets because none of our neighbours pose a serious security threat. Oloya got it wrong.
In preparation to challenge your enemy (in the vent of aggression) you do not only prepare to match his capacity, you have to prepare much better such that you outwit your adversary.
Besides, Uganda cannot sit back and relax when the “Sudan factor†is not yet sorted out. LRA captives who were recently, captured from the CAR, said the government of Gen. Bashir still supports the LRA.
Recently, the Khartoum government used to bomb parts of northern Uganda with fighter jets because we did not have much aerial power to stop them. If it is true that we bought the SU-30mk2 fighter jets, all that bullying would be history.
The confederation arrangement between the government of Southern Sudan and the Khartoum regime seems to be on its weakest point, and the indications are that there is a possibility of another war.
The two parties have failed on the border demarcations and the sharing of the oil proceeds. In the event of war, Uganda will be brought into the quagmire.
For any serious leader to think of providing the general wellbeing of his people, he must first secure them against instability.
Northern Uganda is lagging behind, not because the Government did not have enough resources to help them be at par with the rest of the country, but because the LRA terrorists made it impossible for the Government to do so.
It is also wrong for Oloya to say the American aerial throbbing of the Al-Qaeda terrorists in both Iraq and Afhaganistan has not solved the Al-Qaeda question. What the American aerial bombing first did was to break the backbone of Al-Qaeda by removing the sponsors and trainers from the leadership of these rogue regimes.
The war in both Afhaganistan and Iraq is in its second phase that requires some patience and another set of contingent effectiveness. Even if the Al-Qaeda were to be allowed to reorganise (which will not happen), it would take them hundreds of years to have the capacity they had 10 years ago.
As a final point, if Oloya is so concerned that the Government will spend 324 million pounds on buying these jets, I wonder if he can quantify the loss caused by the insurgencies in Uganda in the last 20 years. It is in the range of billions of pounds. Remember, most of these rebels were sponsored by our neighbours.
The writer works at the Uganda Media Centre