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WHEN SARAH NABAKOZA AN ADF REBEL COMMANDER BURNT TO DEATH KICHWAMBA STUDENTS!! Lt. RJAB KASOZI NEGLEGENT: TESO , LUWERO , ACOLI
A New Paradigm for Understanding Violence?: Testing the Limits of Lonnie Athens's Theory
- Ian O'Donnell Br J Criminol 2003 43: 750-771.
http://bjc.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/43/4/750?etoc
Kichwamba Survivor Speaks Out
A survivor of the massacre of students of Kichwamba Technical College in Kabarole District by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) has given a hair- raising account of the gruesome attack which occurred on June 8.
The rebels killed more than 70 students before abducting about 100 of them.
He also said the rebels' target were mostly Baganda students. In the attack many students were also wounded while some miraculously survived unhurt.
Stephen Lubwama, a first year student of Electrical Engineering and survivor, told The Monitor that the rebels numbering between 100 and 200 struck at around 6.00 am. "It was at around 6.00am when the rebels struck. They came singing and shouting. First they had struck Kihondo trading centre which is about a kilometre at around 3.00 am where they looted it bare after killing one LDU man called Brown and four civilians. The force estimated at about 100 or 200 could not be matched by the about 15 UPDF men at the college where the army detach is," recounts Lubwama.
According to Lubwama, the rebels eluded the quarter guard which is at the main gate and entered at the rear of the college through an eucalyptus farm which also has the diary farm.
"There was confusion as the rebels kept on chanting ADF slogans like "ADF ameyingia" (ADF has struck). By the time the UPDF knew of the attack the rebels had already started doing havoc. They resisted for a few minutes and then fled
leaving us at the mercy of rebels," he recalls. After UPDF officers had fled they blew up the transformer and generator creating a black out.
The rebels donning brand new uniforms and boots similar to those of UPDF and brandishing new guns then burnt the school truck before preceding to the workshop where a college pick-up, a Sahara registration number UCS 218 was parked.
"They siphoned the fuel from the pick-up which they used to set the buildings ablaze."
Lubwama, who is the college's guild defence secretary, says it seems the rebels had a lot of information about the college as they called different hall leaders by name.
"When they came to Kabalega hall where I stay, where also the guild president stays, they called me by name to open for them. We kept quiet and took cover under our beds," he narrated.
He said after the rebels had shelled the hall for over ten minutes their commander told them to leave, saying there must have been no students.
"The advantage we had was that the windows and doors are wooden so they could not go inside. They kept on saying that they had not come to joke with Baganda students, but just needed them".
He further said the rebels speaking Luganda, English, Lukonjo and Swahili then proceeded to Barya House where many Baganda students traditionally stay.
When the students refused to open, one young rebel together with a female commander smashed a window pane and removed a bed cover which they splashed with petrol -- setting it ablaze and then threw it in the dormitory. Whoever tried to escape was shot.
They then went to Rukidi hall where they got blankets which they also soaked with petrol and put at the doors to the central wing of Kahaya Hall, which also was being occupied by mainly Baganda and set it ablaze.
The rebels also wanted to set ablaze Rwenzori, Inyoin, Kabalega and Straker halls for female students but they had run out of fuel.
At Straker Hall the female rebel commander called by name and ordered one Agnes Kobusingye, the guild health minister, to open. When she refused, the commander wanted to blow up the hall but was restrained by her colleagues.
The rebels wanted to kill strong students they had abducted saying they might cause havoc but others pleaded with them.
One tall and huge student Pious Etib was pierced to "reduce his strength".
The students were made to carry the loot plus the guns they had looted from the detach armoury.
Ironically before the attack residents had warned the detach commander Rajab Kasozi of the impending attack but he had not acted accordingly.
According to wananchi he was during the day seen with suspected rebels.
One escapee who pleaded anonymity said on Saturday and Sunday before the Monday attack some soldiers had faced disciplinary actions for allegedly drinking Kasese (local potent gin) and neglecting duties. Kasozi has since then been arrested.
There is confusion as UPDF is now accusing wananchi of harbouring rebels while the wananchi are also accusing UPDF for collaborating with rebels. Some wananchi are even saying UPDF must have had a hand in the Kichwamba killings.
Yesterday ADF's public relations officers who refused to divulge his names and speaking via a satellite phone accused the UPDF of having killed the Kichwamba students. "We are not the ones who killed the students. By UPDF killing the innocent students it has declared war on Ugandans. We had killed 45 UPDF soldiers at Kichwamba detach and the few who survived got reinforcement and returned at the college and killed the students," he said.
He said UPDF has a system of painting ADF black. He said in July 1997 when ADF attacked Kasese Air field and killed soldiers the UPDF re-organised and killed 36 civilians.
Yesterday on Voice of America (VOA) ADF's field commander accused UPDF of having killed the Kichwamba students. Interestingly a list of suspected ADF
rebels arrested by government this week is dominated by Baganda.
This raises questions as to why the rebels decided to target their fellow tribesmen at Kichwamba.
Some students say it's because Baganda students refused to join the rebels and were therefore viewed as stubborn. So after the students refused to come out of their hall, the rebels decided to burn them.
Kichwamba commander faces firing squad
Kampala
The commander of the UPDF detach, Lt. Rajab Kasozi, who cowed in the event of the gruesome rebel attack, June 8, on the KIchwamba Technical College in which over 70 students were burnt to cinders is to be court martialled, the UPDF's PRO, Capt. Shaban Bantariza, said yesterday.
Bantariza told The Monitor on phone that the embattled commander believed to be under the custody of the 2nd Division, Mbarara, may be charged among other things with, "negligence of duty resulting into loss of life."
"That is punishable by death," he said.
Bantariza said that once Lt. Kasozi is found guilty, then he would have to face the thorny firing squad. The Monitor however, has also been told that Lt. Kasozi has conceded having been in close contact with ADF rebels.
"He accepted having been in contact with the rebels on a casual basis. He said it was just a tactical mistake which was not planned," a source confided to The Monitor. On the eve of the rebel attack, Lt. Kasozi is said to have been seen with suspected rebels, including the woman who manned the callous attack.
The source also told The Monitor that it was unearthed that Kasozi's radio call had been out of service for days, but had made no efforts to inform higher authorities to have it worked on. "If this man had a radio call he would have radioed other units for reinforcement which would have reduced the number of the dead," he said.
When pressed to confirm Lt. Kasozi's confession, Shaban Bantariza said since the horrific massacre of the students, the army top brass has been suspicious. "We have all been suspicious, these rebels came in and the soldiers didn't shoot at all, it never happens in the army," he said -- adding however, that he was yet to confirm with Kasese about the contents of the said confession by Kasozi.
Shaban Bantariza said the soldiers' reluctance to shoot at the rebels can only be explained by the fact that they were under express orders from their commander not to shoot. He said even cowards when driven to the wall can't fail to shoot. Shaban said that if the soldiers had endeavoured to shoot, it would have been a useful signal to the students to take to their heels, thus reducing the casualties.
The UPDF soldiers who were under Lt. Kasozi had however not been apprehended by yesterday. But The Monitor learnt they could all be arrested pending investigations.
Meanwhile, the survivors of the ADF rebel carnage have advised government to talk peace with rebels as the only way of checking the abductions and the gruesome killings of innocent Ugandans.
The humble appeal was in a speech made by the Kichwamba students' representative during the burial of the remains of 31 students at the institute on June 12. "All along we have been just hearing about war, but on Monday we had the feel of it, we have no protection, security personnel are more scared than us," the charged students' representative said amid cheers from mourners.
One survivor told the tearful mourners that when the UPDF soldiers at the quarter guard heard gunfire at Kihone they took to hiding, leaving the students at the mercy of rebels.
The ADF on its part has continued to try to wash its hands clean of any involvement in the Kichwamba killings.
"The Allied Democratic Forces high command wishes to totally disassociate itself from the much dramatised scenario [in terms of numbers of the dead, because the head of the school confirms that the dead students were 19 not as many as 50 ...] which took place in Kichwamba ..." a press release from the ADF dated June 12 and signed by its chairman Ssengooba Kyakonye Mukongozzi said.
"This horrific act ... was not carried out by our forces," it said
Kichwamba: UPDF admits mistake
James Tumusiime Kampala
The Army Commander, Maj. Gen. Jeje Odongo, has condemned the Allied Democratic Force (ADF) attack on National Technical Institute, Kichwamba in Kabarole district during which over 80 students were killed.
In an impassioned statement issued by the commander yesterday, Odongo cited "failure and/or operational mistake by one of our own but certainly not all of us" as the cause of the incident.
"On behalf of the UPDF and myself as its commander, I wish to condemn in no uncertain terms the heinous act that was perpetrated by the inhuman enemies of peace and their collaborators," Odongo said.
The Army Commander also expressed his "heartfelt and sincere sorrow and condolences" to the bereaved families and relatives of the massacred students and "all peace-loving countrymen at large."
He revealed that the officer who was in command of the detach which was supposed to defend the institution has been arrested and that serious investigations are going on to ensure justice is done "to all of us who were hurt by the unit's negligence of duty."
"Over and above this step taken, the rest of the soldiers of the detach in question have also been arrested and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken in accordance with each one's responsibility," Odongo further revealed.
He lamented that the incident is a rude reminder that enemies of freedom are "still with us" and called upon the public to maintain confidence and the support it has always given to the UPDF in their concerted effort to pacify the whole country and protect people and their property.
About 100 ADF rebels attacked Kichwamba on June 8, 1998 and set several students' dormitories ablaze, burning to death up to 80 youth and abducting several others.The UPDF has been widely blamed by the public for the incident which has had far reaching consequences, including changes in army leadership in the area.
This week the Commander-in-Chief (President Yoweri Museveni) appointed the Chief of Staff, Brig. James Kazini to direct anti-rebel operations in the army's Mbarara-based Second Division. He replaced Col. Charles Angina who is said to be heading for further studies abroad.
109 students still missing in Kichwamba
At least one hundred and nine students are still missing following the attack of Kichwamba Technical College by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels on Monday June 8.
This was contained in both the board of governors and principal's speeches during the burial of the twenty nine remains of the college students on Thursday June 11.
Originally the number which perished in the raid had been put at over 50.
According to the Principal Engineer John Mbabazi, during the attack ten students were critically injured and are admitted in Buhinga hospital under critical condition.
One student died in hospital few hours after admission, while another was shot dead on the way as he tried to escape from rebel captivity.
Leading the prayers during the burial the bishop of Rwenzori diocese Bishop Yostasi Kamnyire prayed to ADF rebels to change heart and release the 109 students who are still under rebel captivity.
Bishop Kamanyire said if one wants to become president there are ways of becoming one other than shading blood of innocent Ugandans.
"Fighters fight armed people. Fighting unarmed ones is the biggest sin of cowardnese" said Kamanyire.
He compared the raid on innocent students to a man beaten in a bar but goes home and starts beating his wife. Kamanyire prayed for ADF to repent of their sins and release students in 7 days.
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