According to Itabuka, the media has labeled the Idi Amin government as a military regime and attributed several atrocities to all officers who served under the regime.
Retired Lt. Col.
Francis Itabuka, the former Director State Research Bureau-SRB, says he opted
not to claim his gratuity from the Defense Ministry due to negative media
publicity.
According to Itabuka, the media has
labeled the Idi Amin government as a military regime and attributed several atrocities
to all officers who served under the regime.
He says such sentiments have deprived capable
veterans from enjoying their benefits like gratuity due to fear of public
opinion.
Itabuka stresses that due to the inability of
those who served under Amin to explain themselves at the local and
international levels; it would generate mixed reactions once the media
highlights the gratuity given to a former senior military officer like him.
//Cue in: “first and foremost…
Cue out…what it was,”
He
says the persistent negative coverage against
Amin’s regime since the late 1980’s to date indicates that the current
government and entire public doesn’t trust military officers who served under
the regime.
//Cue in: “because of that…
Cue out…don’t trust us,”
Itabuka reveals that some government officials lured him to
claim for his gratuity and tasked him to become a National Resistance Movement-NRM
mobilizer, a request he rejected.
//Cue in: “now when it…
Cue out…I can survive,”.
The UPDF spokesperson for Jinja zone, George Musinguzi told
URN that all retired military officers are entitled to their gratuity
irrespective of the circumstances.
“Just like other retired military officers from all other
regimes after independence, Itabuka is entitled to gratuity, but we cannot
force him to take if he doesn’t want to,” he said.
About Itabuka
He served as the director of state research bureau from
August 1974 to February 1977.
After the collapse of Idi Amin in April 1979, Itabuka
appeared before the Uganda Human Rights Commission chaired by the current vice
president, Edward Ssekandi on May, 11th, 1987.
He was found innocent on all counts of human rights
violations leveled against him and was left to live as a free man. Itabuka
leads a quiet life on his 40 acre farmland in Itonko village in Namutumba town
council.
