One of the 1981 National Resistance Army (NRA) bush war survivors and former Minister for General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister, Maj. Al-Hajji Abdul Nadduli has pleaded to his former commander President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to take seriously the recent advice on power transition and retirement given to him by his now fallen comrade Gen. Elly Tumwine.

Tumwine breathed his last on Thursday at Aga Khan hospital in Nairobi Kenya.

In an exclusive interview with theGrapevine, Maj. Naduli described Gen. Tumwine as a nationalist who exhibited a lot of love for his country in whatever he did.

Nadduli disclosed that Gen. Tumwine joined the NRA bush war struggle not to accumulate wealth because even at the time of his death, he is not listed among the wealthiest people in the country even though he has been occupying big offices, but he went to the bush to liberate his country from bad governance.

“He inspired us to fight through his nationalistic preaching and songs. He was a worrior and the country will miss him,” Maj. Nadduli said.

He revealed that as a person who understands Gen. Tumwine very well, when he watched him on the TV advising president Museveni to think about retirement and political power transition to the younger generation, he looked at his body language and understood that he was giving the advice from the bottom of his heart.

Nadduli narrates that at his age, Gen. Tumwine understood what will happen if president Museveni is forced out of power.

“The only gift the president can give Gen Tumwine and other fighters is to peacefully transfer political power to our children. We have trained them on how to run the country. He should not wait for outsiders to take it from him,” he added.

Speaking about the people especially those in the opposition who are celebrating Gen. Tumwine’s death, Nadduli opined that his war comrade might have made mistakes while executing his duties but he shouldn’t be sent off by celebrating his death yet he put his life on the line to fight the then dictators like Milton Obote and Idi Amin.

“Ask them that before putting Gen. Tumwine on the cross, did they study his mood when he made those statements which they claim were uncalled for,” Nadduli said.

He advised the opposition that instead of criticizing the dead man, they should correct the mistakes and move on as a country.

On Thursday, after president Museveni announced Gen Tumwine’s death, National Unity Platform (NUP) president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu posted on his social media platforms that, “The most pressing question on my mind today. HOW and WHY did prized revolutionaries do this to themselves?. Men who were received in Kampala amidst ululations of joy to go down with such hatred so many citizens?. As the Latin says “Mortui Vivos Docent”. Let the dead teach the living.”

Controversial Kira Municipality legislator, who also doubles as the spokesperson of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda said that even though Gen. Tumwine is a hero, for having the courage of taking on a deadly decision to pick up guns to go to the bush where they spent over 5 years fighting for good governance and overthrow dictatorial regimes, which the current political opposition has failed to do, he has been a serial thief.

Ssemujju revealed that as a journalist, he established that from the bush, Gen. Tumwine was a selfish person and wanted to eat every good thing.

“There’s a very delicious type of meat inside a cow called Namulanda. Those people in the butcher sell it expensively compared to other parts of the cow’s meat, but in the bush, when warriors slaughtered the cow, Gen. Tumwine would order for that Namulanda meat and eat it alone which annoyed his colleagues,” Ssemujju said.

He added that when they took power in 1986, Gen. Tumwine was given an office at the Republic House, now Bulange, the headquarters of the Buganda Kingdom, but by then, it was an army barracks.

His office was facing directly in the parking yard but whenever he saw a good car entering the barracks, he ordered that the car be given to him and the owner was given Tumwine’s car which annoyed many soldiers by then.

He added that Gen. Tumwine forcefully took the National Gallery claiming that it was a gift given to him for picking up a gun to oust dictatorial regimes.

“Gen Tumwine has no difference in character of being selfish with president Museveni, when they captured power, they wrote their names in the laws governing the national army that they are permanent members sitting on the UPDF High Command and the UPDF Army Council. I think now Museveni is still going to send him summons to attend UPDF High Command and UPDF Army Council meetings from his grave,” Ssemujju insisted.

The maverick legislator advised the bush war comrades to take Gen. Tumwine’s death as a lesson that Uganda is not their property where they own everything and they have no authority to give it to their children as inheritance.

Commenting on Gen Tumwine’s death, Mathias Mpuuga, the leader of opposition in parliament said, “Death taught us that we ourselves are the ones to write our history and no one can change it. That man is dead and he has written his history which God is going to base on to judge him. Leaders should resist from stealing public property from Ugandans,” Mpuuga said.

PREPARATION FOR GEN TUMWINE’S STATE BURIAL KICKSOFF

Senior Minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs, Vincent Ssempijja told theGrapevine that the preparation for the official sendoff of Gen. Tumwine have kicked off and they are expecting his body from Kenya today.

He said that his ministry will work with UPDF and the Ministry for Presidency together with Gen. Tumwine’s family to organise a State burial for the General.

Multiple sources in UPDF revealed that Brig. Gen. Eugene Ssebugwawo Sserukuma, the UPDF Chief of personnel and Administration will lead the UPDF team on the National Committee which will be announced for Gen. Tumwine’s State burial.

Gen. Tumwine (68) is expected to be buried at his accenstral home in Kazo district, Mbarara.

By Sengooba Alirabaki