Tribute: Aronda left a powerful legacy

  TRIBUTE TO A GENERAL  


By Joshua Kato

Like a snail moving from point A to point B leaves a mark on its path, General Aronda Nyakairima has, in the same way, left a mark in this world.


He rose through the lowest ranks of the army, to the top as Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and for the last two years, as Minister of Internal Affairs.

General Aronda Nyakairima died on Saturday aboard a flight from South Korea to Dubai on his way home.

The highlight of his career came in 2003, when he was named army commander, replacing Major General James Kazini. In 2005, he reached the pinnacle of this journey, when he was appointed the first Chief of Defence Forces of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).

Things had changed for the better in the UPDF, ever since he became Army Commander and later CDF more than two years ago. Nyakairima was the sixth army commander ever since the National Resistance Army (NRA) captured power in 1986. He made history because he was the first CDF and also served longest as commander of the army.


Improved army welfare
 

true

According to people who have worked with him, it is no surprise that Aronda was successful.

“He was naturally organised. He was calm, even under the most extreme circumstances, yet as fearless as a lion when the need arose, those are the characteristics of a good soldier,” one of his aides, says.

Aronda made a study of the reasons why the war in the north was not ending. Issues of motivation of soldiers have been dealt with in the best way possible.

“There were many photos of soldiers in combat wearing tattered uniforms,” an officer says. Soldiers are now smarter and many of them live in better environments.

“We are now given four uniforms each year, instead of the two that we were getting before he was appointed,” observed a lieutenant. Another said: “Our salary, arrives on time these days.”

Such improvements are seen across operational areas like in Somalia and the Central African Republic and the Sudan where soldiers are well supplied.


Construction of barracks

During his tenure as army commander, several barracks were constructed, including Kakiri, Kalama and Kasenyi. This was the first concerted effort to try and rid the army of the infamous mama yingiya pole (unipots) that had become characteristic of the army.

Nyakairima emphasised training as the basic step to modernise the army. Kimaka Senior Command Staff College in Jinja, an internationally recognised military academy, was established. The first in-take of students, who included senior army officers, has formed the basis for army restructuring. Heavy training was undertaken by most of the specialised units, including Artillery and Air Defence in Masindi, Armoured warfare at Kalama and the Air Force at Entebbe.

Efforts to weed out ghosts were hurried up and all units are clean now. This means that the right number of soldiers is deployed. “These days, the standing order is that there should be regular reports about the strength of each unit, before and during the course of deployment. Casualties are immediately reported, as are defections,” says a UPDF soldier, based at the Artillery and Air Defence Unit, Masindi.

By cleaning the procurement process of the UPDF, Nyakairima and the army establishment have made sure that the best equipment is acquired. Among key acquisitions during Nyakairima’s reign are brand new fighter jets from Russia — the SU-30s, new Main Battle Tanks, and modern air-defence equipment. Cases of junk equipment for the army have not been heard for 12 years now.


In the trenches
 

true
Aronda decorating President Museveni upon his (Museveni’s) promotion to the rank of General in 2004

Perhaps one of the innovations that he has ably supported to help soldiers is the army savings and credit co-operative society, the Wazalendo, through which soldiers have saved, borrowed and developed themselves.

In early 2013, during a visit to Hima barracks, he talked about helping soldiers produce food for both consumption and sale.

“We want to create an entire production unit in the army. It will help improve the standards of living of the soldiers,” he said. When he moved into internal affairs, he again took the same dream of helping the Prisons department become the leading producer of food in the country.


Into internal affairs

Before Nyakairima moved to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was an office for scandals. The national ID project was failing to take off, while getting a passport at the passport office had turned into a dream for most Ugandans.

However, two years later, the national ID project is being rated as a big success and getting a passport is now much easier. He removed the middlemen who ‘linked’ passport applicants to officers in the passport office for a fee.

Additionally, he introduced a system where a person can get a passport in one day without using middlemen.


Over 33 years as a soldier
 

true

Nyakairima joined the bush war in 1982 right from Makerere University, where he had studied political science. In the bush, he, then in his 20s, had several responsibilities. For example, at one time he was involved in urban subversion under a squad famously known as the Black Bomber.

At one time, he was under the command of Maj. Gen. Matayo Kyaligonza. This squad used to operate behind enemy lines. Nyakairima and others, including Brigadier Elly Kayanja, used to attack Uganda National Liberation Army units within and on the outskirts of the city with devastating effect. After the war, he attended a basic officers’ course in 1989.

Later, he was sent to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas US, where he did a course in strategic studies. He also attended one of the most reputed academies, Nasser Military Academy, in Egypt.

Nyakairima’s friends say he used to read a lot, especially about military strategy, a lot of which he computed and applied in the UPDF. He could explain off-hand why mambas, tanks and choppers should be deployed at the same time or why they should not. For example, while commanding officer of the mechanised division, he came up with a concept paper on which the creation of new formations within the mechanised division was based.

His concept saw the separation of the Armoured Brigade, which mainly comprises anti-personnel carriers (APCs) such as Mambas and Buffalos from the mechanised division that is composed mainly of battle tanks. He was also one of the architects of the new command structure of the UPDF. By the time he left, these units were bigger and better equipped.

“The armoured and mechanised units have Aronda left a powerful legacyperformed well in Somalia because they provide the vanguard of the support tasks there,” a UPDF officer says.
 

true
Aronda with UPDF soldiers serving in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in 2011

Some of his friends say that he considered northern Uganda his home. Perhaps this is because he attended secondary school at Kitgum High School in the 1970s.

As a student, he interacted with the local population, learnt their language and even understood their cultures. It is these virtues, especially the language that he has employed to improve the image of the UPDF in the north. There is no doubt that the image of the army before the eyes of people in northern Uganda has improved in the last few years.

Previously, it was difficult to hear civilians from there praising the army.

The improvement of the image, is as a result of the creation of a de facto information desk, specifically for the north through the directorate of information in the UPDF. There is a UPDF spokesman for every division, brigade and region in the country and UPDF spokesmen for units serving in Central African Republic and Somalia.

Nyakairima was motivational. During a few months of his appointment as army commander and then army chief, he visited virtually every army unit in the country. He talked to the officers and listened to their problems.

Nyakairima was at the frontline most of the time, lying in the trenches with his men. His last assignment was in Somalia last week, when he visited Ugandan troops. There is nothing that can motivate a soldier than knowing that his chief commander is with him in the line of fire.