Gulu: Anexplosive and previously untold version of the story of the bloody clashes between Rwandan and Ugandan troops in Kisangani more than 10yrs ago has emerged.In June 2000, the two armies [Rwandas RPA and Ugandas UPDF] that had fought shoulder to shoulder as allies to oust President Mobutu Sese Seko from power in Zaire, [now DemocraticRepublic of Congo [DRC] turned against each other for the second time andfought a bitter and bloody war that lasted up to six days.
The first clashes between the two erst while allies took place in 1999; no long after they toppled Mobutu.At the time, analysts interpreted the clashes between the two invading armies as a battle forinfluence and mineral resources. Media reports at the time put the number of civilian fatalities at approximately 150 dead with scores more injured.
The fighting also destroyed water and electricity supplies to Kisangani, a town situated in north-eastern DRC.But all that has been in the public domain. Now here is the untold story of the Kisangani clashes:According to a source that spoke exclusively to Uganda Correspondent in Gulu town, the UPDF, under the overall command of Major General James Kazini[RIP] at the time, lost over 2,000 soldiers in the Kisangani clashes. Hundredsof light weapons were also reportedly lost to the superior Rwandese troops.
A good number of heavy weapons were also captured or destroyed by the Rwandese.Our source, a 41yr oldCongolese woman who came to Uganda with a UPDF soldier but now lives alone in Gulu, said her estranged husband, a UPDF foot soldier who fought and survived the Kisangani clashes, broke down and sobbed inconsolably as he talked to herabout the losses that they [UPDF] had suffered at the hands of Rwandas RPA troops. Ali liya machozi na mimi vile nika liya kama ana niyambiyabasoldier ba wuganda zaidi ya elif imbili balifariki kwa hiyo vita.Swahili, especially theCongolese version of it, is not your reporters strongest point.
But another Congolese woman in Gulu who helped Uganda Correspondent during the course of the entire interview translated what our source had said to mean,
hecried tears and I cried too as he told me that more than 2,000 Ugandan troops had been killed in that battle.She further added that herex husband told her that in one particularly bitter battle, Rwandas battlehardened RPA troops, full of morale after victory over the UPDF in a previous skirmish at a fishing village in the outskirts of Kisangani, lured a huge convoy of Ugandan troops and tanks on to Chope Bridge [on the Chope River] and mercilessly attacked them.
Uganda Correspondent was told that by the end of that battle, all the Ugandan battle tanks in that fateful convoy were up in thick smoke and a total of 2,000 troops were, according to our source, officially declared unaccountedfor.The assumption, the source said, was that many of the UPDF soldiers who had not been killed by Rwandese bullets simply dived into and drowned in the Chope River below.
According toour source, her ex husband also told her that the few UPDF soldiers who knew about the loss of the 2,000 troops were given strict orders never to disclose that information for fear that it could destroy morale among the troops.Uganda Correspondent also learnt that in another bloody incidentat a place called Sotsike near Bangoka International Airport, 103 UPDF soldiers lost their lives in a battle that lasted approximately three tofour hours. The dead troops, our source said, had been sent as reinforcement from a UPDF base at Kaparata Barracks. Sotsike was also the place whereGeneral Kazinis tactical base was located.
In the end, we learnt, that except for 12 middle ranking UPDF officers [two Majors among them] whose remains were flown back to Uganda for burial, the rest were simply left to rot where they had fallen on the battlefield. An earlier attempt by the surviving UPDF soldiers to bury their fallen colleagues in a mass grave had been rudelythwarted by an attack from Rwandas RPA troops. So a decision was taken toleave the corpses behind instead of risking further loss of life.
A fairly senior UPDF officer who was contacted by Uganda Correspondent for comment [on thisstory] on the strength of his participation in the Kisangani clashes took anevasive approach and said
we are not Journalists. We are soldiers. Wedont dwell on history. We match forward. END. Ifits Monday, its Uganda Correspondent. Never miss out again!
