In the fight between Tanzania and Uganda that they talk a lot about. It was ugandan rebels(UNLF, Uganda National Liberation Front)
, Mozambique army and ethiopian soldiers who did the hard work of pushing Ugandan army out of Tanzania and pushing the Ugandan army way back to entebbe .
The Ugandan Army had occupied Parts of tanzania for over 4 months.
When Uganda attacked their soldiers ran away and deserted the Kagera region resulting in a mass slaughter of Tanzanian citizens in the area by ugandan forces. Nyerere was too weak too respond and he did not have friends on the Kenyan side or the malawi side.
"On 30 October approximately 3,000 Ugandan troops invaded Tanzania along four routes through Kukunga, Masanya, Mutukula, and
Minziro.Commanded by Uganda Army Chief of Staff
Yusuf Gowon and equipped with tanks and APCs, they only faced ineffectual rifle fire from several dozen members of the Tanzania People's Militia. Despite the minimal resistance from Tanzanian forces, Ugandan troops advanced with caution. They slowly occupied the Kagera Salient, shooting at soldiers and civilians alike, before reaching the Kagera River and the
Kyaka Bridge in the evening.
Though the land between the river and Bukoba was left virtually undefended by the TPDF's withdrawal, the Uganda Army halted its advance at the north end of the bridge. The Kagera Salient thus occupied, undisciplined Ugandan soldiers started to loot in the area.Approximately 1,500 civilians were shot and killed, while an additional 5,000 went into hiding in the bush."
Yoweri kaguta museveni, Tito Okello, David oyite Ojok who were rebel leaders in UNLF, spoke with ethiopians for support and negotiated with kenya to allow ethiopian forces to pass through Kenya to go and help the now demoralized and beaten down TPDF. Kenya agreed since we also had an axe to grind with Idi Amin
Six African leaders condemned the Kagera invasion as Ugandan aggression:
Mengistu Haile Mariam of
Ethiopia,
Didier Ratsiraka of
Madagascar,
Agostinho Neto of
Angola,
Seretse Khama of
Botswana,
Samora Machel of
Mozambique, and
Kenneth Kaunda of
Zambia.