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Radio Katwe can confirm to readers that Flight Lieutenant Bosco Opio of the UPDF airforce died this week after the MiG-21 plane he was flying crashed during operations against the Lord's Resistance Army in northeastern Congo. The exact cause of the crash remains unknown.
Lt. Opio was from Soroti, in Teso and had just got married in 2007. He died several days ago but Uganda's newspapers have been very slow to report Opio's death. Whether it is because of the holiday season or some other reason like "going to the breweries" as one reader put it in yesterdays letters, we don't know.
Parents have lost a son, a wife her husband and Uganda has lost a citizen, a trained pilot and a fighter plane but the Museveni government does not want the truth to be known.
It reminds us of what one of our sources told us about Uganda's casualties in Kisangani around 1999. Like this one, that war was fought in Congo and also unlawfully prosecuted in contravention of the Uganda constitution. Like it is now, the Uganda government did not want Ugandans to know how many soldiers had died in the clashes with the RPA army of Rwanda.
Ugandan journalists were forced to estimate the number of deaths in Kisangani from the number of gunshots which were fired in the air at their burial sites. Ugandan soldiers die like dogs, quietly dumped in unmarked graves like rubbish and quickly forgotten.
The official media are highly vulnerable to government pressure. This is why we continue to thank those Ugandans who support Radio Katwe and see the need for this website. It is also your forum to tell whatever you know about what is happening in Uganda to the best ability, without fear or favour.
Readers Comments:
27 Dec 2008
1.
Radio Katwe,
the death of Bosco Opiyo, the bomber pilot reminds us of Amins era, in which most of the pilots were killed on Amins ordes rather than enemy forces.
Lt. Col. S-Guweddeko was picked from a drinking spot in Wandegeya and shot dead.
Capt. Nalumoso's fighter jet was shot dowm somewhere above Mityana on a training exercise as Amin watched.
Ft.Lt . Kabunga was shot infront of his wife in Entebbe by State reseach agents .
By the time Amin was deteated by TZ, more than half of his air-force pilot and engineers were dead or living in exile.
Amin who could did not have any fellow nubians as pilots was always suspicious of the force. Museveni is doing the same, by appointing his fellow mulaalo who does not know anything about flying to be in charge of an airforce in a serious operation.
Bosco Opiyo is not a mulaalo. But he was flying about with bombs above Musevenis son and cousins. He was under strict monitoring by Musevenis personal intelligence.
When Museveni talked about the gadgets that intercept the pilots communication, that is what he was refering to. Bosco Opiyo was under watch. He, together with other non-bahima air-force staff were under suspicion for planning to drop their bombs over the command H.Q in South Sudan. He was a danger that had to be eliminated.
More "accidents " should be expected. Watch out!
Concerned Citizen.
Radio Katwe Manager replies:- We need to correct a few details in the letter by Concerned Citizen. Amin was not a Nubian. His mother was Lugbara and his father was a Kakwa.
Two, Guweddeko was a Brigadier at the time of his death, not a Lt. Colonel. The story of how Guweddeko died and who was involved is a complicated one, but it had nothing to do with Amin, according to our most knowledgeable sources.
There was a dispute between Guweddeko and Lt. Colonel Farouk Minawa over a woman. Minawa was the director of the State Research Bureau. Other sources which we have also heard from allege that Guweddeko was a collaborator with Yoweri Museveni in Museveni's plot to overthrow Amin's regime in 1977 and to frame the Protestant Archbishop Janani Luwum. But there is no conclusive evidence yet.
We are still trying to follow the latter lead.
From what we have got from the State House analyst and how he explained the photos of Muhoozi at the operation site, we can now see that Museveni used this operation to demonstrate that his young loyalists like Muhoozi, Col. Rwakitarate, Brig. Mugira and others have come of age and he is preparing them to take over the army and phase out the older officers like Ivan Koreta and Katumba Wamala.
That is why State House made a point of getting their operatives in the Daily Monitor to do a profile of the officers who led the operation as if to focus the spotlight on them and we start getting used to them as "war heroes".
2
Dear Editor RK
I would like to point out a minor error in your editorial comment of 27/12/08 Airforce pilot Lt. Bosco Opio dies in crash. Pilot Bosco Opio actually hails from Ongino in Kumi District and not Soroti as you reported. And as it is, this happens to be at my backyard and I will be attending the burial tomorrow. There aren't any details filtering out regarding this mishap in the Congo but I will share with you whatever little information I do find.
Allow me to join all well meaning Ugandans in mourning yet another unnecessary death, in my opinion, and convey my condolences to pilot Opio's immediate family, relatives and friends and his comrades in arms.
We do understand that very insensitive and selfish people are putting you men and women of UPDF in harm's way in Somalia, DRC, Sudan & CAR. You are issued with inferior equipment to do a very difficult job. And going by the president's own admission, Kony was able to "log onto" the pilot's communications! This one will be hard to sell to my Ngora village mates.
For you pilots still out there be very afraid to hop on those knocked together scrap-heap planes. All this is because of very bad military procurement procedures and in my opinion this is treasonable.
This is to you legislators -- isn't it in the Uganda Constitution that before any deployment of our soldiers outside Uganda that a case for this is put forward in parliament for approval? If that is in the affirmative, isn't it the case that His Excellency Yoweri Museveni considers all of you irrelevant? Or are you in that deep slumber and only woken up to vote "properly"?
Honourable MPs you do not need to be rocket scientists to figure this out!
Yours truly,
Ekutu-Kwap
Ngora
3.
why didn't M7 train his son to fly his junk planes?
When it comes to high paying jobs in the army M7 appoints
his bahima kinsmen, but other people when it comes to
operating his junk rusty war machines.
Who will save Uganda
from M7? Ugandans are realy crying and I hope one day God
will answer their cries
J Kika
4.
Dear editor, may I also put some light on the current operation in Congo. We who fought along side Congolese side in the last war are aware of their capabilies. These guys are not good fighters at all we fought Ugandans and Rwandes very well, we managed to stop them from capturing Kinshasa so when I heard that these very people are fighting Kony I knew that it would fail totaly.
Aluma UK
5.
Dear commrades I write 2 u for the first time via satellite in the DRC some 200 miles from in.
But I want to tell u that the UPDF commandos before take off coming to Congo these guys were drunk. Some couldnt even leave the air craft. But this is to say that after reporting back to the comand and control centre they were complaining of grass itching them when bathing. This is very unusual for commandos to compplain about grass itching them. Are they really commandos?
They said they are very skilled but really being drunk and grass itching then it was "Operation Lightening Guitar".
29 Dec 2008
6.
Radio Katwe,
your correction about Brig. Smurts Guweeddeko's rank at the time of his death is noted. But there is nothing complicated about the way he died. Saying that he was Musevenis agent or that Amin had nothing to do with his death is just another way of letting killers off the hook. It might mean that Amin never killed anybody, something many of us will not buy.
If you must know a bit more on this story, Guweddeko was picked up by Lt. Kayongo, a former Nankasa dancer with Heartbeat Of Africa. That Officer had talked to Amin about Guweeddeko two days earlier. Amin knew what was going to happen to Guweddeko because he told Kayongo to go and "do a Kakonge" on Guweddeko. That Kayongo become famous after beating one Minister Kakonge to pulp over a woman in Namuwongo. It was Amin himself who recruited Kayongo and made him a Lt. in the army.
You must know that Kayongo was also killed later.
About Amin not being a nubian, its difficult to tell sometimes. Some Kakwas are also nubians. Some Batooro are nubuias. There are some Baganda that are also nubians. So Amin was a nubian as Museveni is a muhima. at least by upbringing.
Regarding Museveni's strategy to let his son and cousins use LRA as a training the whole operation become a thunder flop.
So much for all the exotic military academies.
Amin was a killer, period. But this reputation provided cover for other killers to go undetected.
What we are saying is there are many "true" versions of Guweddeko's fate, depending on who you talk to. Maybe you could help readers and write an article of what you know one of these days?
We agree that the focus on ethnicity is misleading. A criminal is a criminal, whether Kakwa or Musoga. Did Nubians or Lugbara have a tribal meeting and send him that you go and kill people in our name?
-- Editor
7.
Dear R.K.,
It has now been 100% confirmed by a source in Kampala that the Ugandan pilot killed in Operation Lightning Thunder in DRC, Lt. Bosco Opio, of Ongino, Kumi district, was actually brought down by an anti-aircraft weapon.
8.
Radio Katwe,
my main point was that Amin was responsible for killing some of is airforce staff. About that, there is no doubt.
In the same connection, I am accusing Museveni of doing the same to Lt. Bosco Opiyo, for similar motives. Lt. Bosco was shot down by friendly fire. Even if, one day, someone says that Lt. Bosco was corraborating with Kony, or that he died at the hands of other killers who wanted Museveni to look bad, one fact will remain: Museveni does not trust anybody in the army except a few Balaalo.
You may say that the balaalo never sat down to send him to kill in their name, but its logical to assume that they dont see anything wrong with the nepotistic manner in which he operates.
Concerned Citizen
The issue we need to address is this: if we say Museveni uses nepotism which is wrong, should it not be wrong for us to use it too, or it is wrong only when Museveni does it?
Museveni has made it fashionable to use the word "balaalo" and to some extent it is accurate because that is how the man operates. For him it seems the world is divided into "balaalo" and the rest, so no wonder he tends to trust only them around himself.
Some may claim they (balaalo) support his methods but is that a fact or just someone's opinion? Who has taken a poll and counted? It may be more reasonable to say that the number of balaalo favored by Museveni is so, so small compared to all balaalo, most of whom have nothing to do with his corrupt government. And also don't forget that among the so-called balaalo are also his fiercest critics and the people in most danger.
There are also non-balaalo who defend Museveni to their last breath so how shall we classify them?
Much as some Ugandans will understand the narrow scope of terms like "balaalo" or "Nubian" as used in this context, a good number may not because the term is vague and misleading, and that may lead us to unecessary distractions while leaving our main problems unsolved.
We should reject not just the man but also his methods.
These people are common criminals and our objectives should include bringing them to face the full force of the law sooner or later.
Editor
9.
Dear editor may I take this chance to say why this monster M7 has not helped the Congoless people from the attacks as they say that Kony is on the run. This has exposed them to the world that they can not even protect the civilians from Kony as I have information that 5 planes have been shot down just within a short period what if this operation will last for another twenty years? As I can see they are unable to finish Kony with such masive army, let them just accept it. But they are putting a brave face. The poor Opiyo who lost his life for these monsters will never be returned back including other pilots and many foot soldiers who have perished in this silly so called opperation. I would like to ask the master to go to the front line so that he can face the fire of LRA. I challenge him now let him do it if he thinks that the bullet is his friend.
Yours Aluma UK
10.
Editor,
the non-balaalo who support Museveni to their last breath have a name, they are called "climbers". Mukura, Bidandi Ssali and others may explain this better. Even Kiiza Besigye was recently told that he is not among the "for us" class.
Mr. Editor, the usage of the "balaalo" term should not confuse your readership. Its a classification term. In Amins days, the "ruling class" was known as "Nubians". In Obotes time, it was mostly "the ba-choli" even if Obote was not Acholi plus the fact that his most trusted Ministers come from all tribes. With Museveni, is it just a co-incidence that all his forces and secret agencies are headed by only members of a banyankore sub-tribe aka, balaalo / bahima?
Even during the time of Jesus, not all Jews belonged to the same class. There were arrogant ones, greedy ones, humble ones, fair ones and there were corrupt ones such as Judas. So, if there are some balaalo that are opposed to Museveni, we know them. They are not going to have their sons working near Museveni. Ask Mzee Gureme or Bonifance Byanyima if you think I am kidding.
NB : thanks for paying attention to my remarks. I appreciate the responses and hope that I am not taking too much of your space and time on such a simple issue.
Happy 2009!
C.C
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