Richard Ssenyimba, the LC 3 Chairperson Nakitoma sub county, says the story of Oyite Ojok is still fresh in people’s minds especially elders who were around during the war.
This is what remained of the military helicopter ,Bell Augusta 72 that crashed 36 years ago and killed Major General Oyite Ojok among other officers. The wreckage is being kept at home of Bamunoba David of Kasozi village
It is thirty six years since Major-General David Oyite Ojok,
the Chief of Staff of Uganda National Liberation Army-UNLA was killed in a helicopter
crash in Nakitoma Sub County in present day Nakasongola district.
Ojok’s
helicopter burst in flames near Kasozi Ka Mirembe literally translated hill of
peace on December 2, 1983 shortly after takeoff. He
was killed alongside nine other military
officers while on a mission to destroy National Resistance Army-NRA rebels.
At the time of the crash, Nakitoma Sub County
was part of the famous Luweero Triangle, the epicenter of the brutal five-year
war that brought President, Yoweri Museveni to power in 1986. As the most influential soldier in UNLA, General
Ojok felt duty-bound to destroy not only the rebel force but also its leader, Museveni.
On the fateful day, Ojok and his party aboard two helicopters lifted off from
Kasozi. While the first helicopter took off successfully and landed safely in
Kampala, the second one, an Augusta Bell Griffin, in which Oyite Ojok and nine
others were travelling burst into flames shortly after takeoff and crashed
killing all on board.
Several theories have been raised as to the
cause of the crash, from mechanical failure to sabotage, to a struggle on board
among others. A day after the crash, The New York Times quoted the spokesperson
of the NRA rebels, saying they had shot down the helicopter as it flew over the
areas controlled by the rebel army.
It is reported that Ojok had gone with a chemist to
decontaminate water sources in the area that had been poisoned by NRA causing
death of many government soldiers. In his book “Trapped In His own Prison of Nile Mansions for Five Years”, Rutarindwa Mwene Barizeni used his insider knowledge of what was happening at Nile Mansions, now Serena Hotel where was working as a bar man to write about the incident.
He writes that on the morning of December 2, 1983, the two helicopters landed at the hotel to take on a mission they had been on for over a week. “I knew some of the soldiers who boarded the helicopter with Major General Oyite Ojok that day. They were Major Engineer Abili and a Tanzanian private named Friday, among others. Friday, together with another Major Kagata Namiti, were the closest assistants to Ojok since his return from exile,” he says.
In the late evening hours at around 9 pm, says Rutarindwa, a soldier attached to operations room 211 “walked from the stairs towards my bar. I could tell from his movements that he was seriously in need of a drink but he seemed to have no money on him.”
He quotes the soldier saying “It’s a bad day today, my friend. Very soon you will hear more but there is no hope at all. It is quite bad but what can one do?’’ The author says he called a friend, also an employee of the hotel to find out and it was confirmed that there had been a crash and that the “chief” was no more.
Uganda Radio Network revisited the
scene of the helicopter crash that ended the life of one of the most celebrated
military officers in Uganda’s history 36 years later. The area has turned into a farm owned by Jackson
Mugisha. Our reporter found cattle grazing a few meters from the exact spot of
the crash that is adjacent to Kasozi ka Mirembe, which is remembered for harboring
NRA rebels.
Located over 10 kilometers off Kampala-Gulu highway, he spot
is barely recognizable as the site of helicopter crash, which ended the life of
one of the most celebrated military officers in Uganda. Nothing can be
traced on the ground as residents say they helped themselves to the parts of
the wreckage.
A few meters from the scene, our reporter saw a
rotor blade of the helicopter. Another part, believed to be a tail boom lies in
the compound of David Bamunoba, a local chief who stopped scrap dealers from taking
it and kept it for remembrance. It is painted in the colors of the Uganda Flag. Bamunoba
was around 14-years of age and a student at Nakasongola Secondary School the
day of the helicopter crash.
He narrates that around 8pm on the fateful day;
they saw huge flames that lasted for close to three hours but they couldn’t go near
because of restrictions to civilians. Bamunoba says that NRA fighters later told them through their
informers that Oyite Ojok had died and the flames were from the helicopter
explosion. He says the death was confirmed on radio the following day.
Bamunoba explains that they wanted government to construct
either a hospital or road at the crash site and name it after Oyite Ojok for
historical purposes but this was reportedly rejected by President, Yoweri
Museveni on grounds that it might attract retaliation from his tribesmen.
//Cue in: “It was about …
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Luganda Bite
// Cue in: “Amazimagetaagisa…
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Beatrice Nakyeyune was 16 of age during the helicopter crash.
She recalls that before the helicopter crash, Kasozi village was deserted by
all civilians after government forces threatened to kill them on allegations of
harboring rebels.
Nakyeyune says the news of the death of Ojok was a sigh of
relief to residents because they had received reports that he had launched an
operation to kill civilians on the village for siding with NRA rebels.
// Cue in: “Twali munsiko…
Cue out;…otumalawo.”//
George William Sekito, 68, recalls that on the fateful day a
helicopter gunship was seen hovering on Kasozi village and nearby areas, which
sent both the rebels and civilians into panic that it, would fire at them. Sekito says the news that the helicopter had crashed in the
evening shocked all of them.
He however, says there were celebrations that the
war was coming to an end since the Chief of staff had died. Muhamadi Sentalo, the LC 1 Chairman Kasozi village says the
area has changed since the end of the war. Sentalo explains that over
500 people have resettled there and are involving in livestock and crop
farming.
He says that several people who witnessed the event are dying, adding
that no effort is being made to record their accounts for future generations to
learn what transpired at the village. Muruuli Mukasa, the Public Service Minister, who is a
resident of the village, was unavailable for comment on the matter.
Richard
Ssenyimba, the LC 3 Chairperson Nakitoma sub county, says the story of Oyite
Ojok is still fresh in people’s minds especially elders who were around during
the war. Ssenyimba says Uganda National Roads Authority plans to build
a bridge connecting Nakaseke and Nakasongola districts in remembrance of the
war but residents want it named after the late Oyite Ojok.
