Dr. Jack Luyombya is enjoying quiet retirement. Although hardly recognised by many people today, he belongs to the exclusive club of NRM historicals. HENRY LUBEGA spoke to him about his political life:
The Movement of 1986 came with a ten-point programme, which was the development guide the new government was to follow in changing the lives of Ugandans for the better. The ten-point programme was looking at the economic, social and political development of the country.

As we did this, we had Legal Notice Number One as the constitution of some sort. This [legal instrument] stipulated what kind of leadership the Movement wanted to implement in the country.

Since constitutionalism was one of the grievances that led some of us into the bush, it was planned that we would have a constitution for the whole country where people’s views were to be considered. In 1995, Ugandans came up with this Constitution. So we handed over power to the new government governed by the new Constitution. That’s where our control as NRC/NRM and Legal Notice Number One ended.

The structures of the NRC/NRM were handed over to the new government with its constitution and its structures. Some of us decided to leave active politics after this hand-over.

SOME PROGRESS

Over the years, there has been some progress mainly in infrastructure. However, the biggest problem has been maintenance. The progress made in road construction has disappeared because the roads have not been maintained. There was good control of the army when we came in.

The army was very well disciplined and I would like to think that by the time we came in, we had the best disciplined army in Africa. However, it has been corrupted by the people as time passed.

The other good thing that we did in the first years of the Movement was demystifying the gun. The introduction of mchaka-mchaka helped the people deal with the fear of the gun which had been inculcated by previous regimes. There are three things that made our Movement popular after coming to power.

These were: the creation of the office of the Inspector General of Government (IGG), the Uganda Human Rights Commission, and the making of a constitution, or constitutionalism and rule of law. When we had just come into government, a commission of inquiry into corruption in ministries was set up, headed by Besweri Mulondo.

I headed the sub-committee that looked into the health sector. It was on the recommendation of this commission that the office of the IGG was created. I was also a member of the human rights sub-committee and it was that sub-committee’s recommendations that led to the creation of the Uganda Human Rights Commission.

TOO GREEDY

However, some of us became too greedy for wealth too early. If [only] we had delayed our greed, and worked for the people, because their expectations in the new regime were very high! I am very sure this country would be very different now had the scramble for wealth by some of our friends not come out that fast. If you condemn something and you remove the one doing it, and you continue doing it with impunity, then you are worse than the one you have removed.

When creating the IGG’s office, the idea of the Leadership Code was introduced so as to hold leaders accountable to the people they are leading by explaining their wealth before they get to power, and even when they are already there by keeping the office updated on what they have earned and how they have done so.

Unfortunately, that has lost meaning; there is no total independence in that office now. Some of the things that made the Movement popular at home and abroad are now dead. Constitutionalism was one of such things. But when the Constitution is manipulated by doing away with presidential term limits, then you are creating greed for power, power corrupts and the moment you monopolise power, then other things follow.

RULE OF LAW

We went to the bush to fight to reinstate the rule of law. The previous regimes had abused it so much. People were being detained in illegal places. Nile Mansions had become ‘Killing Mansions.’ There was the famous Argentina house in Mbuya, Makindye, Nakasero, among others. And now you hear of safe houses and one wonders, what’s happening to this country?

Was it bewitched? What difference have you made? It renders what you went to the bush to fight against (torture) equally okay since you are doing it in a different form, or even worse than the ones you replaced!

Uganda is a signatory to the International Human Rights Charter and that charter has certain minimum acceptable human rights [standards], and I believe among those is respect for human rights by not imprisoning people in illegal places. 

The sub-committee which looked into human rights abuse recommended the creation of the Uganda Human Rights Commission. The aim was that the people’s rights are not infringed upon by the executive. We recommended that people should have civic education because one of the reasons why they are tortured is because they don’t know their rights, but this has never been put into practice. We never wanted the government to keep people ignorant of their rights, but that’s what the government has done.

Denial of civic competence and clear flow of information are clear signs of dictatorship. It’s dictators who keep information to themselves. People need to be informed and given the chance to talk freely.

You cannot talk of freedom when you gag the press; that is reserved for dictators. The Movement really got off track in the way they have ended up doing things [different] from the way they were to be done [at the beginning].

FROM MY HEART

Whatever I have said is from the bottom of my heart because I did sacrifice for this country to get out of the bad leadership it was going through. However, it’s very unfortunate that as we fought, we were not all rich at heart and poor in pockets. Some have chosen to be poor at heart and rich in pockets, a thing that is taking our country backwards.

How I joined the NRA

Dr. Jack Luyombya joined the struggle in 1981. He was one of the few people who met at the late Japheth Sabiti’s residence in Rubaga to form the NRM/NRA. Others who attended this meeting included Kirunda Kivejinja, Moses Kigongo, Bakaluba Mpagi and Japheth Sabiti (host).

We were less than ten people at that meeting. This was way after the attack on Kabamba which signified the start of the war. However, even long before that, Museveni had promised to go to the bush should the elections of 1980 be rigged. To some of us who did not belong to the UPM, we were not ready to join the struggle if it was all about UPM.

We came together, despite our different political beliefs, while others were not interested in politics at all but simply because there was a common enemy. Our country was poorly managed and we wanted to see a change. That’s why we went to the bush.

The forces that started the liberation struggle were FRONASA - the people who were under Museveni during the 1979 liberation war that removed Amin from power. The creation of the new group, which embraced all the disaffected parties, was communicated later to Museveni and his men in the bush, and they had no problem with it since PRA (Popular Resistance Army) was also represented at the meeting in Rubaga that came up with the new name.

I started working for the rebel group through clandestine operations around Kampala where I was based. As the struggle developed, I moved to the External Wing of the Movement based in Nairobi, and later South Africa and Zambia. In Nairobi, I was working for the struggle while working at the Aga Khan Hospital. It was very hard for one to come up and say, you are doing this. Each person had their own part to play.

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