Security operations have been intensified in Ibanda District following a tragic incident in which a police officer was killed by a mob while on duty. The Police Force is now actively searching for two individuals who were allegedly shot and injured by the officer before he was overpowered and killed.Lorem, ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Earum rerum omnis harum sed? Labore aspernatur minima a, quaerat possimus aliquid cupiditate at optio mollitia cumque, debitis porro eius saepe soluta.

In response to Joseph Rutabana's recent commentary, "Remembering the Genocide Against the Tutsi, Renewing a Global Commitment to 'Never Again'" (April 4, 2025), I am compelled to share my perspective on the pivotal role Dr Kizza Besigye's Reform Agenda played in averting a potential north-south genocide in Uganda. Granted, seasoned diplomats never answer a question containing the word “if”, dismissing it as speculative and therefore a waste of time. But we, ordinary, plain-speaking Ugandans must ponder the question immediately below: Keep Reading Opposition Rekindles Unity Talks Ahead of 2026 Polls Besigye is capable of fleeing country if granted bail- State tells court I have been charged multiple times but never convicted, says Besigye in bail application Minister Musasizi warns Rubanda locals against being misled by activists If I were in Museveni's shoes, Besigye would be dead- Mwenda This regime is persecuting Dr. Besigye under the guise of prosecution, says Bobi Wine Prolonged detention of Besigye derail growth of true multi-party politics,says UPC What if Dr Kizza Besigye had not stepped forward with his Reform Agenda pressure group in 2000, giving my fellow northerners and easterners a political avenue to vent their anger against Museveni? Like all political fortune hunters in Uganda, many who joined Reform Agenda did so primarily to position themselves to become ministers in the event Dr Besigye won the 2001 presidential and parliamentary elections as widely expected. Topics You Might Like dr kizza besigye Genocide Sam Akaki Reform Agenda How Besigye's Reform Agenda Averted Potential North-South Genocide in Uganda Top Stories It was against this background that many people asked why, I, former president Milton Obote’s relative, had not supported the UPC but instead threw my weight behind Besigye and his Reform Agenda, and went as far has selling the man and his party to the British and other western donor countries. My decision was so offensive that my then clan leader, the late Aqbar Adoko, son of Akaki-Nekyon, expelled me from the Oyima clan for supporting the “enemy”, Kizza Besigye. Why? Kizza Besigye had been a leading member of the NRA, which dismantled the UNLA from within, leading to the Okellos’ coup in July 1985, followed by Museveni’s take over six months later, they argued. Then as today, few if anyone outside the north and east seem to appreciate the bitterness which was felt in Lango, Acholi and Teso subregions because of the real and alleged atrocities committed by the NRA during the insurgency. Many civilians died in cross-fire and much of the affected regions became an open air Internally Displaced People’s (IDIP) camps where death was better than living without the basic necessities of live - food, water, shelter and, above all, security. People are still talking about the “massacres” in Mukura, in Teso, Achol-Bur, Atiak, and Corner Kilak in Acholi, and Bar-Lonyo in Lango. They are also still waiting for the government to compensate them for their lost animals. I suspect that was why one westerner, the former Mwenge South constituency legislator, Ms Dora Kanabahita Byamukama, tabled a parliamentary motion, calling for the north to be declared a disaster area with a view to mobilising international emergency and humanitarian aid. Life was so desperate and the bitterness so deep and universal that the able bodied - including my own elder brother - flocked to join the rebels in order to fight and overthrow Museveni, or die trying to do so. Norbert Mao, now Justice minister, is reported to have called for secession and the formation of the ‘Nile Republic’ (Uganda: Mao's Election and Secession of the Nile State). In London, many former notables from Lango, Acholi and Teso, who had become enemies after the Okellos’ coup of July 1985, started regrouping and reconciling with a view to mobilising political, diplomatic and material support to against the common “enemy”, the NRA. Dr Akena-Adoko, Eric Otema Allimadi, Dr JB Obonyo, Peter Otai and Col John Ogole (all RIP) were some of the champions of resistance or, death. To my relief, former High Court judge Justice Emmanuel Aldo Oteng was the only dissenting voice who refused to support the rebellion. Had the majority voices succeeded in the first objective and taken power, it is highly likely that there would have been a north-south revenge genocide, which would have made the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda look like a paragon of inter-tribal cohesion. How did I respond from London? Charity begins at home. First, I asked contacts in Uganda to use the then Radio Uganda public announcement system to send coded messages to by brother, urging him to come back home. I then persuaded the then RDC of Apac, a kind-hearted Muganda man called Isaac Kibuuka (RIP) to allow my brother to surrender, come back home and re-integrate. Both strategies worked. Then I approached some British Members of Parliament and civil servants in the Foreign Office, marketing Dr Kizza Besigye as a possible political route to ending the crisis in northern and eastern Uganda. That was how Dr Besigye got my contact when he fled to London and called me in 2001. He sent over one of his relatives to check me out, when we met at Victoria Station Soon after, Dr Besigye appointed me the External Coordinator of the Reform Agenda, which listed eleven points of agenda for reform. I am perhaps one of the few still keeping that document. In fact, Reform Agenda was not meant to replace the Movement through a violent revolution, but simply to reform it through an evolutionary process. That Dr Kizza Besigye’s 2001 campaign leaflets and posters formed a sea of “Yellow” across the country is an eloquent testimony. Sadly, Dr Besigye was forced start denouncing the Movement as a price for the merger with the parliamentary Advocacy Group. This was a group of men and women who hated Museveni and the Movement for personal and or political reasons. To cut the long story short, the Reform Agenda and the Forum for Democratic Change offered northern, northwestern and eastern regions an easier and cheaper route to “punishing” Museveni. They voted overwhelmingly for Dr Besigye in the 2001 and 2006 elections. The scale of President Museveni’s defeat persuaded him to seek peace. To that expend, I can say I achieved my Agenda in supporting Kizza Besigye’s ‘Reform Agenda, which was to avert a north-south genocide. Today, I urge all politicians to recognises that a rebellion to remove Museveni today would easily raise a million fighters, not against Museveni, but against fellow Ugandans. Let me elaborate. The violent scramble for land and political office is so widespread that a rebellion and the attendant lawlessness would turn families and neighbours against each other, leading to a scorched earth programme of genocide across Uganda. In retrospect, Uganda might not have been captured by the corrupt and held hostage to fortune if President Museveni and Dr Kiiza Besigye had come to an accommodation to reform the National Resistance Movement (NRM) through an evolutionally process. Still, let us join our neighbours in Rwanda in saying ‘Never Again to Rebellion’ because, as Donald Trump is demonstrating, the developed countries are tired of looking after African refugees and reconstructing our country. Dr Sam Akaki is a Ugandan citizen What’s your take on this story? 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Is It A Bad Dream When NUP Believes Museveni Will Let 2026 Go Their Way? 23 minutes ago How Besigye's Reform Agenda Averted Potential North-South Genocide in Uganda How Besigye's Reform Agenda Averted Potential North-South Genocide in Uganda 1 hour ago UHRC Under Fire Over Budget, Low Compensation for Victims UHRC Under Fire Over Budget, Low Compensation for Victims 2 hours ago Maternal, neonatal care in Bunyoro and Rwenzori region up after Uganda newborn programme Maternal, neonatal care in Bunyoro and Rwenzori region up after Uganda newborn programme 2 hours ago Boom Kyakala Season 2: Win bigger with rock boom- Including Toyota Noahs Boom Kyakala Season 2: Win bigger with rock boom- Including Toyota Noahs 2 hours ago Flynas Ushers in New Era for Uganda-Saudi Cargo Trade With Direct Riyadh Link Flynas Ushers in New Era for Uganda-Saudi Cargo Trade With Direct Riyadh Link 3 hours ago Thousands attend funeral of Malian star Amadou Bagayoko Thousands attend funeral of Malian star Amadou Bagayoko 4 hours ago Miss Rwanda Pleads To Be Spared Jail Term Discover Clan Leaders Arrested for Beating 19-Year-Old Over Alleged Incest Discover Blinkist: Jeff Bezos' Reading List | Sponsored by Taboola Jeff Bezos: If You Want to Be Successful in 2025 Then Read These 5 Books Read More Skip Muhoozi orders arrest of Bobi Wine, labels him a Discover SFC washes its hands clean of ‘soldier’ arrested at NUP headquarters Discover Jeff Bezos: If You Want to Be Successful in 2025 Then Read These 5 Books Former president and CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos shares the five books he thinks will change your life. Blinkist: Jeff Bezos' Reading List | Sponsored Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Former president and CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos shares the five books he thinks will change your life. Blinkist: Jeff Bezos' Reading List | SponsoreIn response to Joseph Rutabana's recent commentary, "Remembering the Genocide Against the Tutsi, Renewing a Global Commitment to 'Never Again'" (April 4, 2025), I am compelled to share my perspective on the pivotal role Dr Kizza Besigye's Reform Agenda played in averting a potential north-south genocide in Uganda. Granted, seasoned diplomats never answer a question containing the word “if”, dismissing it as speculative and therefore a waste of time. But we, ordinary, plain-speaking Ugandans must ponder the question immediately below: Keep Reading Opposition Rekindles Unity Talks Ahead of 2026 Polls Besigye is capable of fleeing country if granted bail- State tells court I have been charged multiple times but never convicted, says Besigye in bail application Minister Musasizi warns Rubanda locals against being misled by activists If I were in Museveni's shoes, Besigye would be dead- Mwenda This regime is persecuting Dr. Besigye under the guise of prosecution, says Bobi Wine Prolonged detention of Besigye derail growth of true multi-party politics,says UPC What if Dr Kizza Besigye had not stepped forward with his Reform Agenda pressure group in 2000, giving my fellow northerners and easterners a political avenue to vent their anger against Museveni? Like all political fortune hunters in Uganda, many who joined Reform Agenda did so primarily to position themselves to become ministers in the event Dr Besigye won the 2001 presidential and parliamentary elections as widely expected. Topics You Might Like dr kizza besigye Genocide Sam Akaki Reform Agenda How Besigye's Reform Agenda Averted Potential North-South Genocide in Uganda Top Stories It was against this background that many people asked why, I, former president Milton Obote’s relative, had not supported the UPC but instead threw my weight behind Besigye and his Reform Agenda, and went as far has selling the man and his party to the British and other western donor countries. My decision was so offensive that my then clan leader, the late Aqbar Adoko, son of Akaki-Nekyon, expelled me from the Oyima clan for supporting the “enemy”, Kizza Besigye. Why? Kizza Besigye had been a leading member of the NRA, which dismantled the UNLA from within, leading to the Okellos’ coup in July 1985, followed by Museveni’s take over six months later, they argued. Then as today, few if anyone outside the north and east seem to appreciate the bitterness which was felt in Lango, Acholi and Teso subregions because of the real and alleged atrocities committed by the NRA during the insurgency. Many civilians died in cross-fire and much of the affected regions became an open air Internally Displaced People’s (IDIP) camps where death was better than living without the basic necessities of live - food, water, shelter and, above all, security. People are still talking about the “massacres” in Mukura, in Teso, Achol-Bur, Atiak, and Corner Kilak in Acholi, and Bar-Lonyo in Lango. They are also still waiting for the government to compensate them for their lost animals. I suspect that was why one westerner, the former Mwenge South constituency legislator, Ms Dora Kanabahita Byamukama, tabled a parliamentary motion, calling for the north to be declared a disaster area with a view to mobilising international emergency and humanitarian aid. Life was so desperate and the bitterness so deep and universal that the able bodied - including my own elder brother - flocked to join the rebels in order to fight and overthrow Museveni, or die trying to do so. Norbert Mao, now Justice minister, is reported to have called for secession and the formation of the ‘Nile Republic’ (Uganda: Mao's Election and Secession of the Nile State). In London, many former notables from Lango, Acholi and Teso, who had become enemies after the Okellos’ coup of July 1985, started regrouping and reconciling with a view to mobilising political, diplomatic and material support to against the common “enemy”, the NRA. Dr Akena-Adoko, Eric Otema Allimadi, Dr JB Obonyo, Peter Otai and Col John Ogole (all RIP) were some of the champions of resistance or, death. To my relief, former High Court judge Justice Emmanuel Aldo Oteng was the only dissenting voice who refused to support the rebellion. Had the majority voices succeeded in the first objective and taken power, it is highly likely that there would have been a north-south revenge genocide, which would have made the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda look like a paragon of inter-tribal cohesion. How did I respond from London? Charity begins at home. First, I asked contacts in Uganda to use the then Radio Uganda public announcement system to send coded messages to by brother, urging him to come back home. I then persuaded the then RDC of Apac, a kind-hearted Muganda man called Isaac Kibuuka (RIP) to allow my brother to surrender, come back home and re-integrate. Both strategies worked. Then I approached some British Members of Parliament and civil servants in the Foreign Office, marketing Dr Kizza Besigye as a possible political route to ending the crisis in northern and eastern Uganda. That was how Dr Besigye got my contact when he fled to London and called me in 2001. He sent over one of his relatives to check me out, when we met at Victoria Station Soon after, Dr Besigye appointed me the External Coordinator of the Reform Agenda, which listed eleven points of agenda for reform. I am perhaps one of the few still keeping that document. In fact, Reform Agenda was not meant to replace the Movement through a violent revolution, but simply to reform it through an evolutionary process. That Dr Kizza Besigye’s 2001 campaign leaflets and posters formed a sea of “Yellow” across the country is an eloquent testimony. Sadly, Dr Besigye was forced start denouncing the Movement as a price for the merger with the parliamentary Advocacy Group. This was a group of men and women who hated Museveni and the Movement for personal and or political reasons. To cut the long story short, the Reform Agenda and the Forum for Democratic Change offered northern, northwestern and eastern regions an easier and cheaper route to “punishing” Museveni. They voted overwhelmingly for Dr Besigye in the 2001 and 2006 elections. The scale of President Museveni’s defeat persuaded him to seek peace. To that expend, I can say I achieved my Agenda in supporting Kizza Besigye’s ‘Reform Agenda, which was to avert a north-south genocide. Today, I urge all politicians to recognises that a rebellion to remove Museveni today would easily raise a million fighters, not against Museveni, but against fellow Ugandans. Let me elaborate. The violent scramble for land and political office is so widespread that a rebellion and the attendant lawlessness would turn families and neighbours against each other, leading to a scorched earth programme of genocide across Uganda. In retrospect, Uganda might not have been captured by the corrupt and held hostage to fortune if President Museveni and Dr Kiiza Besigye had come to an accommodation to reform the National Resistance Movement (NRM) through an evolutionally process. Still, let us join our neighbours in Rwanda in saying ‘Never Again to Rebellion’ because, as Donald Trump is demonstrating, the developed countries are tired of looking after African refugees and reconstructing our country. Dr Sam Akaki is a Ugandan citizen What’s your take on this story? Hot Right Now URA Impounds Ambulance With Smuggled Kitenge Fabrics in Jinja URA Impounds Ambulance With Smuggled Kitenge Fabrics in Jinja 07 Apr 2025 | Business Is It A Bad Dream When NUP Believes Museveni Will Let 2026 Go Their Way? Is It A Bad Dream When NUP Believes Museveni Will Let 2026 Go Their Way? 07 Apr 2025 | 2026 Election Watch 29 arrested over murder of policeman by mob during burial 29 arrested over murder of policeman by mob during burial 07 Apr 2025 | Crime MPs Divided Over NUP's Protest Vote Campaign MPs Divided Over NUP's Protest Vote Campaign 07 Apr 2025 | News Police Intensify Hunt for Injured Suspects in Ibanda Mob Lynching Incident Police Intensify Hunt for Injured Suspects in Ibanda Mob Lynching Incident 07 Apr 2025 | Crime M23 Announces Financial Recovery Plan as Major Bank Reopens in Goma M23 Announces Financial Recovery Plan as Major Bank Reopens in Goma 07 Apr 2025 | DR Congo Fresh Picks For You Is It A Bad Dream When NUP Believes Museveni Will Let 2026 Go Their Way? Is It A Bad Dream When NUP Believes Museveni Will Let 2026 Go Their Way? 23 minutes ago How Besigye's Reform Agenda Averted Potential North-South Genocide in Uganda How Besigye's Reform Agenda Averted Potential North-South Genocide in Uganda 1 hour ago UHRC Under Fire Over Budget, Low Compensation for Victims UHRC Under Fire Over Budget, Low Compensation for Victims 2 hours ago Maternal, neonatal care in Bunyoro and Rwenzori region up after Uganda newborn programme Maternal, neonatal care in Bunyoro and Rwenzori region up after Uganda newborn programme 2 hours ago Boom Kyakala Season 2: Win bigger with rock boom- Including Toyota Noahs Boom Kyakala Season 2: Win bigger with rock boom- Including Toyota Noahs 2 hours ago Flynas Ushers in New Era for Uganda-Saudi Cargo Trade With Direct Riyadh Link Flynas Ushers in New Era for Uganda-Saudi Cargo Trade With Direct Riyadh Link 3 hours ago Thousands attend funeral of Malian star Amadou Bagayoko Thousands attend funeral of Malian star Amadou Bagayoko 4 hours ago Miss Rwanda Pleads To Be Spared Jail Term Discover Clan Leaders Arrested for Beating 19-Year-Old Over Alleged Incest Discover Blinkist: Jeff Bezos' Reading List | Sponsored by Taboola Jeff Bezos: If You Want to Be Successful in 2025 Then Read These 5 Books Read More Skip Muhoozi orders arrest of Bobi Wine, labels him a Discover SFC washes its hands clean of ‘soldier’ arrested at NUP headquarters Discover Jeff Bezos: If You Want to Be Successful in 2025 Then Read These 5 Books Former president and CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos shares the five books he thinks will change your life. Blinkist: Jeff Bezos' Reading List | Sponsored Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Former president and CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos shares the five books he thinks will change your life. Blinkist:Lorem, ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Earum rerum omnis harum sed? Labore aspernatur minima a, quaerat possimus aliquid cupiditate at optio mollitia cumque, debitis porro eius saepe soluta.