President Yoweri Museveni has said he cannot forget Katwe town, which was handy in the process of kick-starting the 5 year war that brought in his government in the 1980s.
Speaking to locals on Wednesday afternoon, Museveni said that he hid his first gun at one residence in the township that he would later use to start the war.
“Zubair Bakary and Haruna Kibuye hid my gun here. The people here were supportive as I fought Obote,” Museveni said on Wednesday.
President Museveni told Katwe traders that political organizations like Kabaka Yekka and Democratic Party had divided people along tribal and religious lines which he said was wrong.
“When we came in the 1960s, we agreed this couldn’t continue. People had to be brought together as Ugandans and Africans. I found people in Katwe like Abassi Kibazo were abawejjere (common men) and this was what we believed in since the days of student movements.”
Museveni said even though some of the people in Katwe feared to join the liberation struggle; a few of them were brave enough and participated in fighting dictatorship.
“In 1972 we tried our first attack which was not successful but in 1979, we succeeded. I then handled the abawejjere group to Mbabazi who was by then a lawyer and we continued with the war in the bush.”
Museveni recalled that people like Ahmed Sseguya (his first driver during the bush war) and Muhamed Mayanja (first bush war commander) were from Katwe and were alongside him in FRONASA.
“He (Sseguya) was among the 14 children I took to Mozambique for training in 1971 and when he returned, I took him to Munduli,” he narrated.
Museveni said he felt happy seeing the children of those ‘great fighters’ living and able to serve the country diligently.
He introduced Faridah Mayanja (works with State House) and Mariam Sseguya (Lwengo Deputy RDC) as children of his first bush commander and driver respectively who are now serving the country.
Museveni said he would always remember the people of Katwe as those who helped him a lot during the liberation struggle.