Re-produced article.
I wouldn’t consider any politician serious if they don’t pay attention to regional politics and go ahead and hold out as potential and competent leaders. Not to pride in myself but also to ask; is it selfishness or self-love for one to blow their trumpet, especially if no one bothers to do so?
For purposes of self-love and self-confidence, I will blow my trumpet for being a keen follower of both regional and global politics but also for being in position to share my hard-earned information with my readers especially classified matters, incidents and appointments that are risky to share. It is with this reason that I wish to share with you the common characteristics of Kipyator Nicholas Kiprono Arap Biwott, aka Arap Moi’s “Hitman” and Uganda’s Col. Emmy Katabazi, the Deputy Director Internal Security Organisation (ISO).
Born in Elgyeyo Marakwet in 1940, Hon. Biwott was the youngest among the generation of Kenya’s ‘Ex-Men’, who at a time had dominated Kenya’s politics and economy under the fierce Kenyatta, with majority of whom born in 1930s. You can’t talk about Kenya’s “Ex-men” of 1930’s without mentioning names like Tom Mboya and Grace Ogot both born in 1930, Mwai Kibaki and Robert Ouko both born in 1931, John Michuki and Simon Nyachae both born in 1932, Martin Shikuku born in 9133, David Mwiraria of 1936, the famous Wangari Maathai of 1938 among other great leaders of the day.
In 1971 at the age go just 31, President Kenyatta identified and recommended a young Biwott to be Arap Moi’s personal assistant a role that many Kenyans consider to have been Moi’s hitman that would leave many Kenyan politicians in tears while to the contrary Moi would benefit from the assignments as executed by Biwotte and all attempts of promoting Moi’s political ambitions.
Nicknamed by many as the master of the “Master of Rules” in Kenya’s politics, Biwott would bloom in the shadow of the Alliance Mangu-Makerere Axis, whose story sets canon to date. For example, he was praised for helping Moi to unclamp the grip of a hegemonic elite who had held captive the state and Kenya’s economy.
Despite being Moi’s favourite, the public considered Biwott as a monstrous persona spawned by his role as Moi’s vicar and so is Col. Emmy Katabazi. He would or rather still moves the rules of politics in the shadow of power, resets them and while at it, moves the centre through mis-intelligence or intelligence.
All in the name of blessing his appointing authority but most importantly for personal survive as a political animal with the soviet based spying training and ideology as planted in his head by the late Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddaff in early 2000. I am sure Katabazi must be the happiest for being a Col, a ranker that his army God father Gaddaffi had.
The reason why I have compared Col. Emma Katabazi to Nicholas Biwott is because both of them have a lot in common save for one being a military officer while the other being an economist. For example, Moi appointed Biwott to manage the political elites in Kenya while Mr. Museveni appointed Emma Katabazi to manage them in Uganda but most importantly to manage the unpopular “Banyakigezi-Bahororo Movement” a secret movement within a Movement known to me and very few others.
I know this sounds new to my readers. To say; this was a very extra confidential Movement within a Movement of prominent Banyakigezi that deemed themselves as the most suitable group to replace Museveni.
This movement spirit has been evident with Rt. Hon. Amama Mbabazi and Gen. Henery Tumukunde respectively.
According to my sources, these people had been well positioned in big government institutions like the Finance ministry with their Emmanuel Mutebire as governor Bank of Uganda a position most Bakiga still consider as theirs and have been in Museveni’s ears since his death persuading him [Museveni] to replace their son with another Mukiga.
In fact, for avoidance of annoying the Banyakigezi, Musveni has deliberately refused to appoint Bank of Uganda Governor most likely until after 2026 elections. A move that aims at keeping my dear Bakiga hopeful until further notice.
We all remember Ms. Kahirimbayi whose signature was just dropped from the Uganda currency notes recently, the Kivengere family etc. The other government institutions that had been occupied by Bakiga elites were security related ministries.
For example, Hon. Amama Mbabazi was the longest serving official_ first as the External Security Organisation (ESO) head, later as cabinet Minister for Defence not forgetting his role as the Government Attorney General and the influence he had in the appointment of officer of the bench.
On the other hand, was Brig. Henry Tumukunde as the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) head and later as the cabinet minister for Security among other Banyakigezi serving in different capacities like in the Judiciary.
Going back to Uganda’s Biwott [Col. Emma Katabazi], he is another specie I consider rare both in character, reasoning and creativity. Just two years after NRA captured Kampla in 1988, this non bushman though a quick thinker thought of how he would be relevant to the powers that be.
By this time Museveni was as desperate as an orphaned antelope following the collapse of most of the state institutions but most worrying to Museveni was how to orient young people specially students that had been indoctrinated with the Obote’s leftist theory as declared by Obote in the popular 1969 “Move to the Left” during the Nakivubo Declaration.
Being an ardent follower of global politics, a young Katabazi saw an opportunity that no any other young person had seen at a time. Like I stated inter alia, Katabizi’s quick thinking made him to found Uganda National Students Union (UNSA) in December 1988 with a handful of students from across Uganda to replace National Union of Students of Uganda (NUSU) which was UPC leaning or rather UPC students’ wing.
This students’ association was registered as a not-for-profit entity on 13th August 1993 until later when it was incorporated into the education ministry from where it was swallowed beyond resurrection. To Museveni this was a big relief especially in terms of dealing with young people both in mobilising and (Dis)organising them to his advantage.
For that matter if you were wondering of who compromised and delivered Uganda’s students to Museveni, don’t look any further rather than looking for Emma katabazi aka Museveni’s Biwott.
KATABAZI FOUNDS UNSA.
When Katabazi founded UNSA December 1988, he made it more-less a movement wing based in secondary schools, universities and higher institutions of learning a move that has literally not changed since. To Museveni_ Katabazi was a genius who had-not gotten an opportunity to show-case his brilliance.
Years later the UNSA’s idea spread like wild fire and was made formal under an Act of Parliament.
As such every student in Uganda must subscribe to this body at a fee of at least UGX 5000 as of 2005 when I was in A level. About what this money does, most likely Katabazi and Museveni understand better.
Like any other university student student Katabazi’s campus life came to an end he needed to look for survival just like many of us who hail from poor backgrounds. Thankfully to Museveni’s militarisation of everything which introduced kyamukyaka (basic military drills for civilians) from where it is believed that Emmy Katabanzi got an opportunity to attend a two weeks drill and passed out as youth cadre amongst other few graduates at a time.
Initially Mr. Museveni had introduced this basic training to weed-out civilians’ phobia for guns. May be Katabazi, too, had a gun phobia and considered attending these short drills, which later yielded lots of fruits as we shall see.
While attending the said training, Katabazi accumulated enough social capital to the extent that when the government was appointing District Internal Security Officers (DISO), Katabazi scooped a big office as DISO Kampala District.
We shouldn’t forget that by the time Katabazi became Kampala DISO between 2000-2001 he was relatively a green civilian with mere basic skills of assemble, cock and shoot/fire a gun fwa. To say he was a civilian with permission to access a gun as DISO.
Powerful and physically strong despite his not_ too worrying height just like mine, Katabazi looked assertive, smart and intelligent and would hold out as a UPDF captain even when he had never attended any professional military training by the year 2001.
Thanks to his confidence. Having been appointed as the Director General of Internal Security Organisation (ISO) Brig. Henry Tumukunde he discovered that Uganda’s DISO like Katabazi, Rwomushana, were not half-backed but rather organically raw, whose intelligence was bound to drown the country.
As such, he gave a directive that every graduate who had served as an intelligence officer be trained and equipped with basic military skills, re-appointed or deployed in security agencies and structures.
That is how the likes of Hon. Simon Mulongo, Charlese Rwomushana, Dan Bashisha, currently at the NRM secretariat and a brother to the Mitooma woman MP_ Juliet Bashisha among others were recruited into ISO. If you remember the lady that was trending on social media slapping a traffic officer, I am sure that the Bashisha name isn’t new may be her sense of self-importance and entitlement is because she hails from the Bashisha family!
To Katabazi, the news of their invitation to the formal ISO training was like Jesus’ second return. According to my sources, when this message hit his ears, being a good Mukiga, I am sure he must have ordered for his traditional brew.
As if this wasn’t enough, he spent the whole night in a bar showcasing his drinking and dancing skills seemingly singing hoozana, hakuna mangu Kama wewe…yaahwe…yahwe…with kibonge chanini combined! Had it been now, definitely he would have sung Kasongo mbonawewo, mziki nangai: in Pastor Bugingo’s voice! Or better still; Shifra and Ooozambe! And may be afande y’ekabya nti mmee..
Anyways I can imagine how it feels when such an opportunity knocks. You wish you didn’t have a door so that it just enters!
To take you back a bit, Katabazi together with Henry Makabayi, Opio Sunday and others started Revolution Committee Movement (RCM) an organisation that aimed at “corning” Gaddaffi through promotion of his [Gaddaffi] Philosophy of “Third Universal Theory” and the Green Book.
It is through this organisation that Libyan cultural centre secured Katabazi, a very fancy office at Collin House in Kampala city. Through this organisation, Katabazi and team either convinced or confused Col. Gaddaffi that they would promote his philosophy through women and youth.
It was with this reason that the “naive” and desperate Gaddaffi gave millions of dollars to Katabazi and his colleagues in a disguise of empowering women and youths.
It is alleged that Katabazi asked Gaddaffi to give him money to procure thousands of sewing machines and that he would give them to women and youths for free in addition to setting up training centers.
Additionally, Gaddaffi sent resources to construct training premises whose money was allegedly diverted and / or diverted by the RCM leaders who are believed to have bought personal property in the areas of Bunga and Ggaba respectively between 2001-2007.
KATABAZI REPORTS AT KASENYI MILITARY TRAINING SCHOOL
As indicated earlier, Katabazi had been Kampala DISO as a kyaka mukyaka “KOMANDO” Not commando! Following Brig. Henery Tumukunde’s orders, just like Charles Rwomushahna, Simon Mulondo, Dan Bashisha, and others Katabazi, arrived for the military drills in Kasenyi not far away from Kampala city.
Funny to note when the lorry carrying these trainees commonly known as “Kurutus” a word that was created from recruits, the instructors were shocked to see “afande” Katabazi whom they had interacted with as a DISO but most annoying he [Katabazi] would hold out as a UPDF Captain an act that caused him trouble.
If there is anything that annoys any trained soldier, it is saluting a civilian. It annoys them as if their hands drop off upon saluting a non-trained citizen.
“…Siyo uyo kijana arikuwa najeyita kapitano wa jeshi…lewo atakula kuku wa pusi kabisa… Said the Kasenyi instructors on seeing Katabazi. Literally to mean; Isn’t this the chap that was holding out as an army captain? Today, he will eat the cat’s waste!
I gather that the instructors made fun of Katabazi through their training technics of piringita call it rolling, and frog jump in the first weeks of introduction to the camp.
With his bald head jumping off a lorry as a luggage of less value to attend the ISO training was Katabazi, of course, with our usual suspect Rwomushana at the same training were ready to kick start their training.
Months later towards the end of the training the training camp commandant conducted a parade with the records team from Bombo from where he asked the yet to pass out recruits on whether they wanted to continue as civilian ISO operatives or be given UPDF numbers and be incorporated into the regular forces as officers and men or preferred remaining cilia under ISO.
Guess what, Mr. Rwomushana did! Like a guilty kitten that has poured the masters’ milk Rwomusha excused himself for a short call that later turned into a longer call and returned to the camp good days later upon confirmation that the Bombo records team had left.
This is how Charles Rwomushana dodged and narrowly but intentionally missed out on becoming a UPDF member. If you hear how Rwomushana talks on media houses, you may think he is a Navy Seal commando, yet he chickened out and more-less aborted from the real army.
To his colleagues, Rwomushana won himself a title of the greatest coward of all time (GCAT) rather than the Greatest of all time (GOAT)!
KATABAZI BETRAYS HIS MASTER AMAMA MBABAZI
I am sure that my readers know that there are very few secrets I can’t access as long as I choose to mine them. Firstly, as a resilient and consistent author and activist with a very trusted social capital among those who are in the corridors of power or were once there but also as a son to the NRA fighter.
So, when I choose to write about something, trust me, I do so with authority in the company of well researched information, and I pledge to continue doing so until I breathe my last.
Time check, 2015, Mbabazi is rumored to have fallen out with his boss_ Museveni, his dear wife allegedly poisoned by the powers that be we hear through a hot and very sweet Pizza which rumors say; she shared with someone too big and special to suspect, taken to Israel capital Terraviv for treatment etc.
I am not too sure of these allegations that some people in the corridors of power believed that Mbabazi’s strength and political ambitions could only be tamed by incapacitating him or his dear wife through a long illness as a strategy to keep both too occupied fighting for life and subsequently become politically impotent.
It was a hard time for Mr. Museveni than he could imagine losing a comrade of Mbabazi’s stature. Anyways, Mr. Museveni is a sitya Danger type of a person!
Whether it was an “Act of God” as a defense in contract law states and provide, what we can say whether true or otherwise is that Jackie fell ill, that Mbabazi spent most of his precious time looking after his dear wife Hon. Jackie than he spent looking for votes, and so were his resources. What is also factual is that poison isn’t a new thing in this NRM error.
In fact, even Parliament raised it. What is also factual is that Mr. Museveni and Hon. Mbabazi had fallen out by 2015. And a rumor that Hon. Jackie Mbabazi was poisoned isn’t a secret either. What is a secret to some is the name of he who poisoned her and may be the different “why”? from what I mentioned above.
Sadly, the more campaigns drew closer the more Jackie felt ill, and this left Mbabazi in a dilemma of choosing between his darling’s life and the presidency.
Definitely, any sane being would choose saving a life and let go of the juicy office. With this situation, Amama turned to his Banyakigezi allies that included among others Charles Rwomushana and Emmy Katabazi to do the fire fighting and damage control.
Had it not been the later arrest of Katabazi by his current boss, Mbabazi’s presidential campaigns would be remembered for having been headed by Uganda’s most annoying and inconsistent spies comprising of David Pulkol former External Security Organization (ESO) Director, Charles Rwomushana “former” ISO operative and Emmy Katabazi another ISO operative.
What an un trustworthy and inconsistent team! Anyways, what do I know poor Norman when all these were recruited by their former boss who also doubles as the chief spy!
I remember quite often when I would be invited as a youth of value at Rt. Hon. Mbabazi’s home in Kololo to give my non-partisan view and analysis of Uganda’s political landscape and the bigger wings of that time were Katabazi, Rwomushana, David Pulkol who never got even an inch away from executive flasks full of spiced milk tea whose hot, flavored and gentle evaporating vapor would make you feel some bit of absolute power. My dear, these so-called strategists had their time at Mbabazi’s Kololo home!
Do you remember the Banyakigezi Movement in a Movement? This was their official time to shine. While all this was happening Museveni’s other loyal operatives would suffocate him with intelligences intel about Katabazi’s role in Mbabazi’s camp.
For purposes of getting out Katabazi out of Mbabazi’s camp Museveni ordered that he goes for cadet training in kaweweta-Oliva Tambo Leadership School from where he would become a Lieutenant and stop posing as a captain amidst 2015 campaigns.
To Katabazi, this wasn’t enough because he saw his boss Mbabazi as the next president therefore Museveni’s move of sending him to a cadet course wasn’t satisfactory enough to bar him from mobilizing for Mbabazi.
He sneaked private phones and continued campaigning for Mbabazi among the trainees, unaware that he was being monitored. Months later, he was arrested and tried in the court martial for participating in subversive activities.
By the way, every when you hear that a certain military officer is in court over subversive activities, just know that such an officer intended to overthrow Museveni.
During Katabazi’s long stay in Makaindye military detention, Museveni asked his protocol to bring him this big headed Mukiga for a dialogue. Upon arrival a confident Katabazi was asked why he was bitter with the establishment to the extent of working with Mbabazi and he openly replied to the president on how he was disappointed of not being promoted yet some ill experienced Bahima were being promoted rapidly.
About these promotions, Katabazi narrated to the president that ISO operatives were the least remembered in terms of promotions. Additionally, he told the president that he was ageing but had no house. His other request to Museveni was that he shares his power with Mbabazi, which Museveni couldn’t wait for him to even complete.
Going by this meeting, Museveni promised to promote him only if he could trade all he knew about his master Mbabazi in exchange of a juicy rank and appointment, buy him house later but declined ever to share his power with Mbabazi.
He promised to reach out to him soonest after his course, and he immediately sent him to a course from where he would get promoted upon completion.
Because my character is to give credit where it’s due, I will be unfair, not to mention that Katabazi was one of the best ten students in that intake.
In the next episode, I will bring to you;
-Katabazi’s state of the art home and high-end Primary school in Makindye
-His role in the arrest of political prisoners, including Besigye.
-How his wife Jacqueline wants the Rubanda woman MP seat.
-His role in the Kisoro recently concluded by-elections where his wife comes from and had camped there to rig for the NRM candidate on ethnic baseline. About this, I will inform you of how Mr. Museveni talked about religion and ethnicity based on some other counterintelligence pinning Katabazi’s involvement and special interest in this election.
-Did you know that Hon. Mateke is the God father of the Hutu Movements in the region, while Katabazi, though a Mukiga, is an Anti-Hutu group because of his wife Jackie of Tutsi origin? Do you now see why Katabazi was dying to ensure that the official NRM candidate a Tutsi by ethnicity, unlike Mateke’s candidate, wins the concluded election?
Can we conclude that if ISO under Katabazi doesn’t change its political interest in Kisoro, there is a likelihood of trouble that the president clearly warned against during his speeches in Kisoro!
-I will tell you why Museveni invites Katabazi for loose talks in his free time
Authored by;
Norman Tumuhimbise, Four-time abductee, Author of seven books
Email. teamleader@alternativeuganda.co.org
Director Kanyeihamba Foundation,
National Coordinator Alternative Social Movement & Team Leader at Alternative Digitalk.
Email. teamleader@alternativeuganda.co.org