In his book, The Agony of Power, Kyaligonza says he first joined military service during former President Idi Amin’s regime. He worked then in the State Research Bureau, Amin’s dreaded security agency, until 1974.
Kyaligonza abandoned his job after his boss, Col. Kakuhikire, was abducted and killed by the regime he served. Fearing for his own life, Kaligonza joined a rebel group called Save Uganda Movement (SUM), one of the groups that fought Amin. After Amin’s fall in 1979, Kyaligonza joined the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM), a small political party led by Yoweri Museveni that contested for leadership in the 1980 general elections.
Museveni had warned during the campaigns that if elections were rigged, he would go to the bush—a position that Kyaligonza, then a member of the UPM Hoima District executive committee, supported.
So on December 13, 1980, Kyaligonza met Museveni and proposed to him the role he wanted to play after the war started. Museveni briefed Kyaligonza on how he planned to start the war against Obote’s government. The official launch would be an attack on Kabamba Barracks. Kyaligonza, together with Capt. Nkwanga, had stolen and hidden about 30 guns which he offered to use during the attack Kabamba.
Unfortunately, by the time he went to recover the hidden guns, Nkwanga had handed them over to Dr. Andrew Lutakome Kayiira, a leader of another rebel group, UFA, which also fought Obote.
Because Kyaligonza had his own guns, and was working with Nkwanga, some veterans have told us that it appears he planned to form his own rebel group. But Kyaligonza writes that he was involved in recruiting fighters for the NRA together with Gen. Elly Tumwine, the late Sam Magara and Brig. Andrew Lutaaya. Some of the fighters he recruited turned out to be great fighters such as Col. Ahmed Kashilingi, Col. Samson Mande, Col. Patrick Lumumba, Lt. Col. Jet Mwebaze (RIP), Col. Geoffrey Taban, and Brig. John Mugume.
URBAN TERRORISM
After the famous attack on Kabamba Barracks on February 6 1981, which effectively announced the start of the bush-war, the unsuccessful guerrillas headed to Kiboga to hide.This was because their lives were in danger as UNLA troops were now pursuing them. While the rest, including rebel leader, Yoweri Museveni walked to Kiboga, Kyaligonza headed to a different direction—Mukono.
His real mission was to stage ambushes immediately as a diversionary tactic. His main task was to divert attention from Museveni’s group which numbered just about 50 men.
In Mukono, one of his recruits, Col. Kashilingi, became his deputy and together, they planned terror attacks in and around Kampala.
Kyaligonza writes in his book that they started with one and a half gun—an SMG and a pistol. Their first successful raid was on May 21, 1981 when they attacked Kisoga Police Post at night using stones. They stole seven guns and Police uniforms. These were added to the four rifles they had gotten earlier, after killing government soldiers on patrol on April 13 of the same year.
On June 3, they raided Ngogwe Police post in Buikwe, Mukono, and stole 11 guns. But not everything went according to plan. The government soldiers once raided and scattered the Kyaligonza group around Namugongo areas. Fighters who worked with him say that Kyaligonza ran to Kasangati.
From Kasangati, Kyaligonza joined the main NRA force in Matugga. And after regrouping the scattered fighters, Kashilingi also followed Kyaligonza to the bush.
It was around this time that Museveni returned from Libya after a sixth-month break from the bush. The regrouping Kyaligonza fighters came to Museveni’s rescue when UNLA soldiers detected his movements and started pursuing him.To divert the pursuers, Museveni asked Kyaligonza to attack an army detach at Mpoma Earth Satellite, which mission he carried out with two of his fearless commanders; Samson Mande and Patrick Lumumba.
When NRA grew in numbers to about 200, it was re-organised into six zonal units.It is during this second major re-organisation that Kyaligonza formerly started playing his role as commander. In January 1982, the NRA underwent another re-organisation, splitting into more units. Museveni did this after summoning all zonal commanders to the headquarters. Kyaligonza’s Mwanga zonal force was named Task Force or Black Bomber. The late Patrick Lumumba was appointed his deputy. Col. Samson Mande was a platoon commander in this group. By his own admission, Kyaligonza made Kampala unsafe by throwing bombs at Police and army encampments.
Kyaligonza’s Black Bombers that comprised about 50 rebels at the beginning slowed down the economy because people in Kampala were closing shops at 3.00p.m.Being the commander of this terror outfit, Kyaligonza says his inner conscience felt condemned to death because he and his men were operating “just a breath away from the enemy stronghold.”
Indeed at one time UNLA soldiers captured Kyaligonza when he was still operating in Mukono. He was taken to [Maj. Gen.] Bazilio Okello who was based at Colline Hotel. A UNLA sergeant called Tamale is the one who captured him and handed him over to Maj. Isoga. This major was apparently not happy with the way junior soldiers had roughed up Kyaligonza. May be he wanted him handled properly so that he could reveal NRA secrets. The major jumped off his chair and began boxing his junior and in the scuffle that ensued, Kyaligonza fled.
Kyaligonza was captured again in 1983 while sneaking back into the country from a visit to Liberia where he had gone with Andrew Lutaaya to ask for arms. He was arrested at the Busia border and briefly detained in Tororo Barracks before he was transferred to the dreaded Nile Mansion in Kampala. Oyite Ojok, the UNLA Chief of Staff, was supposed to interrogate this senior rebel.
He says he was held in Room 211. Although handcuffed, Kyaligonza in commando style says he tied bed sheets onto the window and used them to climb and jump to the ground. He walked to Muyenga where his wife helped him remove the handcuffs. Then he walked straight back to Luwero to resume fighting.
Because his main role was to carry out terrorism in urban areas, Kyaligonza says that at one time he wanted to attack foreign missions but was restrained by Museveni. His most memorable operation as commander of the 7th battalion took place in 1985 at Matugga as the bush war drew to a close. The target was an army detach in the area. The reason Kyaligonza remembers this incident and writes about it in his book is because, except for one soldier killed when a truck failed to stop, they managed to disarm the rest without having to harm anybody.
In the end, the Kyaligonza unit, according to his book, captured 161 guns, 17 pistols, 3,000 SMG bullets, 27 anti-tank shells, 16 RPG shells, 2 Bazooka shells, 1 RPG launcher, etc. Kyaligonza says this was his most daring operation during the 5-year bush war. When the march towards Kampala began, Kyaligonza’s battalion ambushed the UNLA soldiers at Katende on Kampala-Masaka Highway.
Kyaligonza’s battalion fought in the areas of Mpigi and Kibibi before it eventually approached Kampala from Hoima Road. His force attacked and captured Makindye Barracks, among other assignments.
After the fall of Kampala, Kyaligonza’s 7th, Chefe Ali’s 11th and Pecos Kutesa’s 1st battalions took the fighting to eastern Uganda, capturing Jinja along the way before proceeding to Tororo.
After another re-organisation occasioned by the growth in numbers,he was deployed in Teso areas to deal with cattle rustling.
Kyaligonza was elected CA delegate for Buhaguzi County in Hoima District. After CA, he stood for Parliament and got elected, representing the same constituency in the 6th Parliament. He however lost the seat when he tried to join the 7th Parliament.
President Museveni then appointed him Ambassador to Kenya before he was transferred to Burundi recently. He is also NRM Vice Chairman western region
