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Written by Editorial
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Monday, 16 November 2009 04:44 |
Major General James Kazini’s death is a wake-up call to NRM leaders to reflect on their institutional failures and weaknesses, Zac Niringiye, the Assistant Bishop of Kampala Diocese has said.
“It will be a matter of time. I do not have to be a prophet of doom to predict NRM’s collapse if you don’t deal with these weaknesses,” Niringiye told mourners during Kazini’s funeral service at All Saints Cathedral in Kampala on November 12.
He added that unlike Kazini who did not have a second chance to correct his mistakes, many Generals in the Army still do and that is why they should hand over authority to the younger officers now before they commit more mistakes.
“You Generals, if you do not respond to this wake-up call, you are doomed,” he said to the tumultuous clapping of the congregation.
This statement caused reverberations within the cathedral and some government officials like Kirunda Kivejinja, the Minister of Internal Affairs, shifted uneasily in their seats.
The congregation also included the President’s son, Lt. Col. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Gen. Salim Saleh, the President’s younger brother; the Deputy Chief of Defence Forces, Lt. Gen. Ivan Koreta, and former Army commander, Gen. Elly Tumwine who kept whispering to Koreta and CMI boss, Brig. James Mugira as the bishop spoke.
“When I meet my friend Ali Kirunda Kivejinja who is seated over there, I tell him we are tired. It’s time to retire; let’s allow the young people to take over,” he added, causing laughter.
Niringiye castigated people who quickly judged Kazini’s moral standing basing on the circumstances under which he was killed, saying we are all sinners. Kazini was murdered at his girlfriend’s house in Namuwongo, a Kampala suburb. The girlfriend, Lydia Draru, has since confessed to the killing.
“Anyone of us who has never sinned should put up their hand,” the bishop said. No one did. He then turned to Kazini’s widow, Phoebe, and said: “Look, Mama Phoebe, your husband is not the only sinner in the world. Everyone is a sinner. The only difference is that Kazini’s sins are public.”
Niringiye’s message was partly a veiled criticism of President Museveni’s speech in which he suggested that Kazini had died because of “recklessness.” The President, who spoke before the bishop’s sermon, described the fallen general as a hardworking and patriotic soldier whose only undoing was “recklessness.”
Museveni said his first encounter with Kazini was in 1981 at a place called Miggade in Luwero. Kazini, then an officer cadet who was serving in the UNLA, convinced Museveni that he could convince some disgruntled UNLA soldiers to defect to the NRA.
“I gave him money to hire trucks to transport these soldiers but he ended up in a bar where he was arrested,” Museveni said.
Because of indiscipline, Museveni revealed, he had forced Kazini to sign an agreement that he would come back to the country after a military course in Nigeria in 2004.
“I told him that if you do not come back, I will contact Interpol,” Museveni said.
Dressed in Army uniform, Museveni went on to emphasise that Kazini’s death was a result of his lifestyle.
He said: “Whenever someone dies, people like saying it is God who has called them but in Kazini’s case he has taken himself to God.”
As if to suggest how much Museveni and Kazini had fallen out, Kazini’s wife, Phoebe, did not acknowledge Museveni’s presence or assistance when she addressed mourners. Phoebe thanked the Army, the Police and Mulago Hospital for all they had done in the aftermath of Kazini’s death, but did not mention the President, as most speakers did.
The bishop appealed to the media to respect the dead by not revealing the lurid stories of his death.
“Please, please, the media, this man has a family. He has children. Respect his privacy. Don’t let the children read these things. Don’t make money out of this,” he said, provoking sneers of disapproval of the media from the mourners.
Ever since he was dropped as Army commander in 2003, Kazini has been leading a poor life, his sister Naomi Katto told mourners. She said her brother had failed to adjust to near civilian life and she was thinking of engaging a counselor or psychiatrists to help him.
“At one point I tried to get someone to counsel him because he had failed to adjust to life outside the Army,” Naomi said.
As the bishop called on the old guard in the ruling NRM to cede power to the younger people, President Museveni jumped into a helicopter to fly to Karamoja to continue his country-wide tour that started in Buganda last week.
His critics say the President had effectively launched his campaign for the 2011 elections in which he seeks to extend his hold onto power to 30 years. Maj. Gen Kazini, long seen as the President’s blue-eyed boy was appointed Army commander in 2001, replacing Lt. Gen. Jeje Odongo.
He however fell out with his commander-in-chief two years later and was charged in the General Court Martial with creation of “ghost” soldiers on the Army payroll.
Kazini and others, still on trial, allegedly maintained 24,000 fictitious names on the Army payroll which resulted in the loss of Shs 600 billion in 13 years. On March 27, 2008, when the General Court Martial under Lt. Gen. Ivan Koreta sentenced him to three years in jail for causing financial loss of Shs 60 million, Kazini wept.
He later challenged the sentence in the Constitutional Court, arguing that the Court Martial had no jurisdiction to hear the case. He lost the appeal. Kazini had lodged an appeal in the Supreme Court, but he died before it could be heard. The General was buried at his home in Sanga, Kiruhura District, on November 13.
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