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WHAT IF: Tumukunde spilled the beans? |
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JOACHIM BUWEMBO |
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KAMPALA You have probably read the story of mother hawk who was teaching young hawk to hunt. One afternoon, she sent young hawk down to earth to get something for dinner. Young hawk descended on a family of ducks, grabbed one duckling, flew back to their sky home and presented his catch to his mother. Mother hawk asked her son, "What did this duckling's mother say when you picked her child?" |
"Ah!" exclaimed mother hawk. "We can't eat this duckling. We do not know what his mother is planning to do. So take back her child and try another bird."
And so back to earth young hawk flew. After returning the duckling, he went and attacked a family of chicken. As he flew away with one chick, mother hen made a lot of noise, tried to chase after him and continued complaining as young hawk flew out of sight. He presented his new catch to mother hawk and described the reaction of mother hen.
Mother hawk's face broke into a broad smile and she said, "Very well. This one we can eat in peace. We know what its mother can do or more precisely, what she can't do."
Reading about two senior Ugandan officials, Vice President Gilbert Bukenya and Brig. Henry Tumukunde recently, the story of mother hawk and her son came to mind.
One can conclude that Bukenya's tormentors can do whatever they want with him. He cannot harm them. They already know what he is not capable of. He can't even spill any beans, otherwise he wouldn't have proclaimed his capacity to spill.
On the other hand, Tumukunde can be compared to mother duck. Maybe he too has no beans to spill. But you cannot know for sure until you force his hand. Detaining him and slapping charges on him might be a higher risk than sending him out of the army and letting him join party politics to contest for public office.
Tumukunde cannot defeat President Museveni in an election. The voters would punish him and send him to join the perpetual contestants like Kibirige Mayanja and Francis Bwengye.
But keeping him detained creates many uncertainties. The man is a lawyer who knows how to secure his rights and a spymaster who has a lot of information at his disposal. Even if you continue trying him in an army court martial behind 10 closed doors, his lawyers can proceed with other cases in the normal courts which are open to the public. They can address press conferences to "explain" why their man is in detention. He can then say anything he wants through the lawyers.
What if he decides to spill the beans on the many things he participated in? The man is no saint and unless he committed all his sins alone, there certainly are other people in the system who were is collaborators. Tumukunde is accused of harbouring thousands of ghosts on the payroll of the army. But it is said that commanders inherit ghosts and hand them over to their successors when they are transferred. What if he reveals the entire chain of ghost management?
The man told voters in 2001 that whatever they do, the guns that brought them to power are still around. What if he reveals the role that the gun was supposed to play in elections?
The man has an arsenal of information. What if he tells or he knows about corruption? What if he spills the beans on privatisation? Here he would have many allies in the form of MPs who are tired of being accused of sabotaging the privatisation process. What if as a citizen and taxpayer he sues the people who "borrowed" the money from the sale of parastatals and "forgot" to pay back? What if as a citizen he sues the defence ministry over the junk helicopters?
Most Ugandans cannot do this because they don't have the evidence. But an angry, well-informed ex-spy chief who is obviously in search of publicity for political capital and martyrdom, can do this. A man who prefers to be put on the back of a pick-up and driven through Kololo like a small criminal instead of sitting inside the cabin is certainly itching for an opportunity to make a point. It could be safer to let him go and shop for votes than provoke him to revenge.
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What's your take on it?
Bwambuga.
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