On the surface it looks an innocent press release that condemns thugs who are terrorising the city. But somehow it casts Police in bad light and makes it appear incapable of policing the nation.

Certainly the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura was bound to be furious and it is little wonder that within an hour of issuing the first release on insecurity in the city, Army Spokesman Maj. Paddy Ankunda issued another retracting it.

The earlier release had said the army would step in if the situation persisted. The second one said Police has done a very good job and therefore there was no need for the army to come in.
Did Paddy Ankunda fail to foresee the ramifications of his release? Talk of uncoordinated troop movement!

New website on 1966 crisis

A new website www.mengo1966massacre.com which features controversial information and statistics about the 1966 invasion of Lubiri by Dr. Apolo Milton Obote’s soldiers has been established.

It is not clear who designed the website but text messages (sms) are flying around town, drawing people’s attention to it.

The website claims that close to 1,000 people were massacred when soldiers attacked Lubiri on May 24, 1966.
The then Kabaka of Buganda, Sir Edward Muteesa, escaped and later fled to exile in London where he later died.
The website claims that widows, children, grandchildren, relatives and friends of the butchered innocents are the ones behind it.
“The site is made to honour name by name the gallant sons and daughters of our beloved kingdom who perished that day. The national army led by Commander Colonel Idi Amin attacked at dawn on May 24, 1966. The royal guards armed to the teeth put up a spirited fight before they were interrupted by a lunch time down pour,” the website recalls.

Kalyegira launches newspaper

Having been ordered by his employers under pressure from the government to stop writing about former president Idi Amin, controversial Timothy Kalyegira has started his own newspaper.

The newspaper, which can best be described as a newsletter, is named Uganda News Records. It is printed on A4 size-paper and dedicated to correcting what Kalyegira calls Uganda’s prejudiced history.

The lead story in the first publication dated May 1 is titled, ‘The Untold Story of Idi Amin’s Rule’.
A copy of Kalyegira’s 12-page publication goes for Shs 5,000.

Kalyegira has excited many and annoyed many more with his reports on Idi Amin’s reign. He claims that Amin was not as bad as he has been made to appear.

Writing in his column ‘The Riddle’ in Daily Monitor, Kalyegira challenged Ugandans who believe the talk that Amin killed thousands of people, to name at least 1,000 of his ‘victims’.

This controversial view attracted the ire of many people, including Senior Presidential Adviser on Media and Public Relations, John Nagenda.
Kalyegira says his newspaper will be a weekly. It started as an e-mail newsletter in January this year.