12/03/2019
Help Lord
When the NRA regularised the military this was their order of precedence. ..
Museveni.....Lt General
Rwigyema. ..Major General
Saleh. ...........Major General
Ely Tumwine Major General
There were Four Brigadiers
Brig Taddeo Kanyankore
Brig Joram Mugume
Brig Tinyeguza
Brig Matayo Kyarigonza.
This was when the NRA was under the NRA High Command consensus. .
The NRA and our National sovereignty have since been usurped by the Museveni family consensus. ..
Officers who were Brigadiers then became Generals with Muhoozi Kainerugaba. ..
Rwigyema was critical because his army, the Rwendese refugees, was the cogwheel of the NRA.
Joram Mugume hailed from Late Magara line and him with a host of networks from the Ankole Kingdom dynamic were either later isolated and or never made it out of the NRA war alive.
The likes of Mwesigas. ..etc of the so called FRONASA are unaccounted for.
Taddeo Kanyankore was deputy Commandant of Kabamba when the NRA attacked.
He was among those who planned the attack on the garrison he commanded.
Falsity of history is that NRA failed to capture weapons on account of a Tanzanian officer.
Kanyankore had earlier opposed Museveni on the idea of carrying a lot of weapons for that would bog down the soldiers who would die defending weapons.
The NRA was literally in charge of Kabamba before they attacked it.
Actually Amama Mbabazi entered Kabamba a day before it was attacked.
He had gone in to locate the late Akanga who had gone in to extend the day of attack to the 6th of February.
Museveni’s narrative is to exclude many of their role in attacking Kabamba.
Wafula Ogutu had proposed we record the Kanyankore behind the scenes story, but Kanyankore lost capacity to tall and passed on. ..
Taddeo Kanyankore later negotiated with Habyarimana to support the NRA in return of assurence that the Rwendese Rwigyema component would be naturalised and become citezens and wouldn't therefore attack Rwanda.
That is precisely why Habyarimana was chief guest in peeping Rwigyema and group.
Taddeo Kanyankore problem was that he later opposed Museveni plan to invade Rwanda reason being Rwanda was Catholic. ..
Remember Taddeo was staunch Catholic and that the war would result into mass murder and probably genocide.
That is the real reason he was isolated from the military.
He died a pauper having been denied admission into Mulago hospital.
I was in charge of begging money for him from Civilians. .
I remember begging from Chapaa Karuhanga 30000 for Kanyankore medical bills.
I still owe Dr Nuwagaba 90000 shillings in medical bills. ..
Capt Bitature was in charge of begging those in government.
I have his runner he left me with that I have since adopted in my family that would beg from military officers.
For fear of soldiers, military officers would drop money in Kasasiro for as to pick.
Once Wafula Ogutu found me having converted my car into a special hire to mobilise money to feed Kanyankore family.
That is the stigma the likes of Kyarigonza face. ..
The Museveni heroes of NRA are the likes of Jim Muhwezi who defecated in the ambush attack and Muhoozi who breasfed as the war raged on. ..
So who was Taddeo Kanyankore. .?
Brig Taddeo Kanyankore, RO036, was one of NRA’s finest commanders. But even being a member of the high command didn’t save him from the treatment he endured after he was arrested for corruption, convicted and jailed for three years.
He would later be dismissed from the army and died a pauper. The army didn’t attend his funeral.
As the UPDF celebrates Tarehe Sita in Buhweju, Kanyankore’s birthplace, on February 6 this month, one of his former comrades in the army tells Edward Ssekika that it’s time for the army to reconcile with his anguished spirits.
Brig Kanyankore was born around 1939 to a peasant family living in Katenga, Rwomushojwe, Rwengwe sub-county, in present-day Buhweju district. He grew up a healthy, strong and courageous village boy who liked to graze cattle and help his parents in farming.
He started school at Butare Catholic primary school which was run by the White Fathers missionaries in the early 1950s. In the late 1950s, while in primary six, Kanyankore lost his father.
With a trail of young brothers and sisters who looked up to him for survival, he dropped out of school in search of a job to support his mother and siblings.
Before abandoning school, Kanyankore had trained as a Xaverian (religious group of Catholic boys similar to scouts). That background moulded him into a disciplined and cultured young man who enjoyed military-like drills associated with scouts.
His search for employment led him to the army. In 1960, with independence around the corner, Kanyankore joined the King’s African Riffles (KAR) that later became Uganda Army (UA). He was informed of KAR recruitment at Kakyeka stadium in Mbarara town. At that time, there was no bus or taxi in his area, so he had to walk approximately 50km.
By the time he arrived, the exercise of running was about to end. Helped by his physique and a recommendation from Fr Dumeney, parish priest at Butare Catholic parish, the recruitment team reluctantly agreed to put him to the road run exercise.
To their amusement, Kanyankore finished the race ahead of many who had started earlier. His height, chest and eye sight were excellent and he was thus chosen as the best recruit from Ankole. At the Jinja KAR garrison, where the training was conducted, Kanyankore distinguished himself as a potential sharp shooter, trainer and leader. Thus young Kanyankore found himself at the beginning of a potentially prosperous military career.
At the end of the course, he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal. Then in 1963, he was promoted to Corporal, which was no mean achievement for someone who had joined the army in 1960.
Army mutiny
During the 1964 Uganda army mutiny, Cpl Kanyankore was a section commander and his section was placed in charge of locking up the then minister of Internal Affairs [which ministry was housing the department of defence], Felix Onama. After the mutiny, Kanyankore and other ringleaders were dismissed from the army. But the Prime Minister, Apollo Milton Obote, well aware of the trouble the dismissed soldiers could cause, pardoned them.
By 1966, Kanyankore was still a Corporal in the ‘Demo-coy’ at Jinja. The unit he was part of was one of those called upon to give military support in the storming of the Lubiri in 1966. From 1967-68, he attended the junior NCOs course and was subsequently promoted to Sergeant. Because the ‘Demo coy’ he was part of was dominated by Luo people, when the Obote government was overthrown on January 25, 1971, they were herded to Lubiri for screening.
The screening was conducted by then Lt Moses Ali and other officers mainly hailing from West Nile. Sgt Kanyankore survived it because Lt Moses Ali recognized him as one of the instructors who had trained him at a cadet course. Many of his colleagues were never seen alive after the ‘screening’.
Sgt Kanyankore was later transferred to Chui battalion in Bombo under the command of Maj Bananuka. In 1974, he undertook another training that saw him promoted to Staff Sergeant. Between 1975-76, Chui battalion was deployed in Gulu. In 1977, he underwent another course and was consequently promoted to Warrant Officer (WII). Because he had trained many cadets and had all along distinguished himself as a reliable soldier, he was conscripted by the air force officers who were planning a coup against Amin, prominent among them Maj Kimoimo (RIP).
He agreed to act as their contact and mobilise for them both in Chui and the air force base in Gulu. Having arranged his agents and contacts, Kanyankore sought leave of 21 days between June-July 1977. During his leave, there was an assassination attempt on Idi Amin at Abayita-Ababiri, and Kanyankore was suspected of involvement.
As a cover for his extended leave, he mobilised the local community and built a primary school in his home area. St Paul Bihanga primary school saved many children from walking in some cases 16kms to school. The school later became government aided and has since given birth to Bihanga community secondary school (S.1-S.4).
Amin's life
Meanwhile, in August 1977, Amin’s notorious State Research Bureau was looking for him in connection with the Abaita-Ababiri assassination attempt on Amin’s life. On learning of this and fearing the consequences, Kanyankore fled to exile in Kenya where he found other Ugandan exiles.
Tired of exile, Kanyankore sneaked back home to Buhweju in 1978 and started living a quiet and secretive life. He established himself as a fisherman at Mashyoro landing site on Lake George where he stayed until Tanzania declared war on Amin later that year.
However, shortly before that, the commanding officer of the Simba battalion in Mbarara had got wind of the presence of army deserter Kanyankore and sent in soldiers to arrest him. Kanyankore set camp deep inside Katshioha forest, between Bihanga and Bunyaruguru, where he hid until the Tanzanian forces led by Yoweri Museveni’s Fronasa reached Sheema, which was then in Bushenyi district.
On learning of the arrival of Fronasa, under the command of his friend Lt Col Ruhinda, Kanyankore trekked at night to evade fleeing Ugandan soldiers who knew him until he met and joined the liberation group. After the fall of Amin, he was posted at Kabamba infantry training school as an instructor.
Kanyankore later went to Monduli in Tanzania for further training under the UNLF government. He was re-assigned to Kabamba on completion of the course. While here, he was joined by young officers who had also left Monduli, among them 2nd Lt Jeje Odongo [now General and minister of state for Defence] and 2nd Lt Muguta. The trio were said to share a common understanding of the future direction of Uganda.
When National Resistance Army (NRA) launched a rebellion in February 1981, Odongo and Kanyankore acted as contacts for the plotters in preparing the attack on Kabamba barracks. It was not surprising that Odongo and Muguta were arrested soon after the attack. Though Odongo survived to tell the story, thanks to Col Omaria, 2nd Lt Muguta didn’t.
Makindye dungeon
WOI Kanyankore survived because he was shielded by Tanzanian instructors who argued that he couldn’t have been involved because he was very professional. However, he was later arrested. Apparently Oyite Ojok feared that Tito Okello was likely to promote Kanyankore to major and then appoint him to lead the training school. Yet he knew about his closeness to Lt Col Ruhinda who had become key to Fronasa.
Kanyankore was incarcerated in Makindye military police barracks on unclear charges. No connection was made to his role in the Kabamba attack. Being friendly, especially to 2nd Lt Ndyanabo, who was deployed at Makindye barracks, Kanyankore managed to pass a secret massage to Basilio Okello who was at the time commanding officer of the central brigade and was friends with Kanyankore.
He was consequently released and given 21 days’ leave after which he was to report for posting to head the training unit that had been established in Gulu. Back in Buhweju, Kanyankore started plotting how to join the anti-Obote rebels, especially having witnessed killings within Makindye barracks cells.
In September 1981, he was delivered to the Luweero bush by Rubaramira Ruranga. On arrival, Kanyankore immediately took over the docket of training NRA guerrillas, eventually settling at Singo. He oversaw the training of the first cadets, among them Maj Gen Benon Biraaro, Brig Henry Tumukunde, the late Lt Col Sserwanga Lwanga and Maj Victor Bwana.
Kanyankore is credited by many for laying a firm foundation for the now well-trained and professional UPDF.
Tide turns
After the NRA took power in 1986, Kanyankore was put in charge of the army shop, an appointment he tried to resist because he was not trained in business management. Was this a deliberate trap to catch him in a position for which he was ill-prepared?
Perhaps yes, after all, the then NRA chief political commissar had alleged that Kanyankore was recruiting Catholic youths from western Uganda with the intention of overthrowing the young NRM government. Kanyankore was eventually arrested, charged in a case he least understood, convicted and sentenced to three years, imprisonment at Luzira, after which he was dismissed from the army he had nurtured, in disgrace.
Surprisingly, even after serving his sentence, the then army commander refused Kanyankore to enter his office, when all he wanted was to say “bye” to him as a former bush war colleague. That army commander, like the chief political commissar, both ended up turning their backs on the same NRA/UPDF that the late Kanyankore had put on a professional pedestal despite the scarce resources and bad times.
Questions abound as to why there was no official UPDF representation at his burial in January 1999. Only one senior army officer, Benon Biraaro, came but in his personal capacity as a friend and a colleague.
This led some local Bushenyi leaders at the funeral to ask whether Kanyankore had sinned so much that he couldn’t ever be pardoned.
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