Saleh will deliver credible report

By Moses Balyeku

ON August 11, this country received the depressing news of the crash of three UPDF MI-24 helicopters in Kenya. 

The helicopters were on their way to Somalia where UPDF is carrying out a noble duty of fighting the Al-Shabaab. In a bid to get to the root cause of this incident, President Yoweri Museveni appointed Gen. Salim Saleh, to head the investigations.

Shockingly, when the choice of Saleh was made, some politicians questioned his potential to carry out the task. It is not surprising that there are people who still question the capacity of UPDF generals and more so, Gen. Saleh. 

This is not the first time such undermining statements have been made in reference to NRA or UPDF. Actually, in his book, ‘Sowing the Mustard seed’ Museveni makes reference to what is similar to what is happening today. 

He explains that neither UPC nor the Tanzanians ever believed that he would go to the bush, fight and win the war. 

They thought the presence of Tanzanian forces, and the fact they could easily be reinforced from Tanzania, would be sufficient to deter him and his NRA group. Amidst all skepticism, victory was achieved five years after. 

Therefore, those doubting Saleh should reflect on the above and other more complicated tasks the UPDF and in this case Saleh has accomplished.

It is also wrong for a section of people to continue making blame games against the leadership of the UPDF and our Kenyan neighbours over these crashes. 

Such actions are unfair particularly at this moment when the truth concerning the cause has not been officially unearthed. From a natural justice point of view, we should all wait for the Saleh report and talk from an informed position. 

For that matter, we must take heed of Chairman Mao Tsetung’s famous quote in which he advises that if someone is not equipped with facts, he or she has no right to speak.

As Ugandans and Africans in general, we should also borrow a leaf from the Western world in regard to their crisis management styles. Obviously, they have suffered more upsetting chopper crashes but in face of such disasters, they painstakingly wait for the outcome of the investigations in order to make sophisticated comments. 

And even when debating such reports, they don’t go on accusing one another for the mess but just advise objectively on what can be done to prevent or mitigate any future occurrence.

Take the case of the United States. In August, seven of its soldiers and four Afghans died in a Black Hawk helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan. This sad incident came a year after insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter, killing 30 American troops, mostly elite Navy SEALs, in Afghanistan’s central Wardak province. With those incidents at hand, the US government set up special investigations to establish what went wrong. 

The Americans have remained patiently, waiting for the outcome of the above investigations. However, this is radically different from how some of us behave when faced with a crisis. We tend to become ‘experts’ overnight and immediately kick-start the blame game.

With the chopper crashes, we should also take into account that the institution of the army is such a sensitive one, where outcomes of investigations may not necessary be made public. 

I am of the view that if some of the findings of the Saleh report may jeopardise our national security and war in Somalia, they shouldn’t be made public so that the principle of ‘need to know’ prevails. This is exactly what the US government did when it refused to give details of the mission of its helicopter, a UH-60 Black Hawk that had crashed in Afghanistan.

United States has not been alone in concealing vital and sensitive information in the face of such helicopter crashes; when the Turkish helicopter crashed into a house near the Afghan capital, Kabul, on March 16, killing 12 Turkish soldiers on board and four Afghan civilians on the ground, the Turkish military refused to divulge the secrets that surrounded the crash. 

Interestingly, even members of the Turkish opposition appreciated this decision. They concurred with government that in case of exposure, it would compromise the Turkish soldiers who are still pursuing terrorists in Afghanistan.

Therefore, much as Ugandans are waiting for Saleh report, they must be inoculated that it is not a must that all its findings should be made public. For the sake of our country, we should take note that full disclosure of sensitive findings is harmful to our security as the war on terrorism is still ongoing in Somalia.

In fact, as we leave the issues of the crashes to the skilled generals to give the much needed solution, let us focus on how the families of the slain soldiers are going to be looked after.

The writer is the Jinja West MP and NRM Chairman, Jinja District