Amin’s VP complains of neglect
Feb 09, 2010
THE ailing former Vice-President, General Mustafa Adrisi Abataki, yesterday broke his long silence and lamented about being shunned by longtime friends and the Government.
By Steven Candia
THE ailing former Vice-President, General Mustafa Adrisi Abataki, yesterday broke his long silence and lamented about being shunned by longtime friends and the Government.
Two years ago, Adrisi, who served as vice-president under Idi Amin, was flown to Kampala and admitted to Mulago Hospital for various ailments. He was later discharged.
Since then, he has stayed near Kampala in the house of a longtime friend, Jennifer Lawal, in Kazinga, Bweyogerere.
In an interview with The New Vision yesterday, the 88-year-old man who moves with the aid of a walking stick, lamented that he has been shunned at the most trying time of his life, adding onto his misery and loneliness.
Taken ill in October 2008 with internal goiter, diabetes, high blood pressure and ulcers, Adrisi, who maintains that he served the Government diligently, said no government minister, Arua home area MP or even a friend has paid him a visit.
“I used to have friends, some of them army generals like me, but none of them, including ministers and MPs, have come to visit me,†Adrisi said.
He, however, added that only the state minister for transport, Simon Ejua, visited him once and promised to return but did not.
The only regular visitor, he recalled, was Maj. Gen. Ali Bamuze of the defunct UNRF II rebel group, who served in the Uganda Army. Arua RDC Maj. Ibrahim Abiriga has visited him twice, he disclosed.
“Such friends and government officials should not waste time coming to my burial if they cannot visit me when I am alive,†the octogenarian said.
“Even the President in the past used to call me frequently when he would be coming to West Nile but has not been doing so lately. May be he has not got information about my plight.â€
Speaking in the Aringa dialect through a translator, his 35-year-old son Yusuf Abale, Mustafa had lots of praise for the doctors at Mulago Hospital.
“The doctors of Mulago have taken special care of me. Together with my wife, Sauda, they have enabled me live to this day,†he said.
Leaving on a monthly pay of sh1.5m, Adrisi said he has to split the sum between his hefty medical bill and two families — one in Arua and another in Kampala.
Due to his financial situation, Abale said, his father has occasionally failed to get treatment in time.
Adrisi has to return to Mulago Hospital every three weeks for a review of his health condition.
“At times, he goes hungry when things get tough,†Abale added.
Adrisi served as Amin’s deputy between 1977 and 1978. In 1978, he was involved in a car accident and was flown to Cairo for treatment.
He told the commission of inquiry that investigated abuses by Amin’s security forces between 1972 and 1986, that Amin could have stage-managed the accident to kill him.
He also told the commission set up by the NRM administration that although he had served as vice-president, he knew nothing about the national constitution.
THE ailing former Vice-President, General Mustafa Adrisi Abataki, yesterday broke his long silence and lamented about being shunned by longtime friends and the Government.
Two years ago, Adrisi, who served as vice-president under Idi Amin, was flown to Kampala and admitted to Mulago Hospital for various ailments. He was later discharged.
Since then, he has stayed near Kampala in the house of a longtime friend, Jennifer Lawal, in Kazinga, Bweyogerere.
In an interview with The New Vision yesterday, the 88-year-old man who moves with the aid of a walking stick, lamented that he has been shunned at the most trying time of his life, adding onto his misery and loneliness.
Taken ill in October 2008 with internal goiter, diabetes, high blood pressure and ulcers, Adrisi, who maintains that he served the Government diligently, said no government minister, Arua home area MP or even a friend has paid him a visit.
“I used to have friends, some of them army generals like me, but none of them, including ministers and MPs, have come to visit me,†Adrisi said.
He, however, added that only the state minister for transport, Simon Ejua, visited him once and promised to return but did not.
The only regular visitor, he recalled, was Maj. Gen. Ali Bamuze of the defunct UNRF II rebel group, who served in the Uganda Army. Arua RDC Maj. Ibrahim Abiriga has visited him twice, he disclosed.
“Such friends and government officials should not waste time coming to my burial if they cannot visit me when I am alive,†the octogenarian said.
“Even the President in the past used to call me frequently when he would be coming to West Nile but has not been doing so lately. May be he has not got information about my plight.â€
Speaking in the Aringa dialect through a translator, his 35-year-old son Yusuf Abale, Mustafa had lots of praise for the doctors at Mulago Hospital.
“The doctors of Mulago have taken special care of me. Together with my wife, Sauda, they have enabled me live to this day,†he said.
Leaving on a monthly pay of sh1.5m, Adrisi said he has to split the sum between his hefty medical bill and two families — one in Arua and another in Kampala.
Due to his financial situation, Abale said, his father has occasionally failed to get treatment in time.
Adrisi has to return to Mulago Hospital every three weeks for a review of his health condition.
“At times, he goes hungry when things get tough,†Abale added.
Adrisi served as Amin’s deputy between 1977 and 1978. In 1978, he was involved in a car accident and was flown to Cairo for treatment.
He told the commission of inquiry that investigated abuses by Amin’s security forces between 1972 and 1986, that Amin could have stage-managed the accident to kill him.
He also told the commission set up by the NRM administration that although he had served as vice-president, he knew nothing about the national constitution.