Elly Tumwine was born on 12 April 1954, in
Mbarara District. He attended Burunga Primary
School, Mbarara High School and St. Henry's
College Kitovu, before joining Makerere
University, where in 1977, he graduated with the
degree of Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art together
with the Diploma in Education
In 1978, he interrupted his teaching career to join
the FRONASA forces led by Yoweri Museveni to
fight the Idi Amin regime. In 1981, when
Museveni went to the bush to form the NRA, Elly
Tumwine went with him
It was early in the morning of February 6, 1981,
when a youthful Lt. Elly Tumwine fired a shot -
the first one in the National Resistance Army
(NRA) war. This shot marked the beginning of
the 1981-86 war that brought the NRM regime to
power.
Lt. Elly Tumwine was in charge of this battle
preparation. It was arranged that the first unit,
led by Lt. Sam Magara, would attack the
armoury, the second, under Elly Tumwine, would
neutralise the guards at the gate, while the third,
under Hannington Mugabi, would go for the arms
stores.
Enroute to the attack, Tumwine occupied the
front seat of the truck that had been occupied
by Museveni throughout the journey. This was
intended to avert any suspicion from the guards,
in case they recognised Museveni.
Just before Nkonge, the convoy briefly stopped
and Tumwine jumped off and he was left behind
by the convoy in the dark.
I chased it on foot,he later said. This was a
harrowing experience. He later caught up with
the convoy when it stopped to make final
preparations. As he approached the convoy,
Museveni saw him running alongside the driver's
cabin. When it stopped, he disembarked and
allowed Tumwine to take the front seat.
During the early years of the war, he was in
charge of a unit that controlled the Kampala-
Hoima road, especially in Kateera. In the
process, he lost an eye during a battle in the
rocky hills of Bukomero, not far away from
Katera.
“I led the battle (Bukomero) with Namara
Katabarwa. We would go with an unarmed force
with the hope that if you got a gun, someone
would use it,” Tumwine recalled
NRA fighters were quick on their feet. They were
lightly-armed and battle-hardened.
Topher Agaba, who would later serve in NRA’s
most deadly clandestine operations, participated
in the Bukomero battle.Agaba had just arrived in
the Mondlane wing of NRA when he was
appointed by Tumwiine as the latter’s bodyguard.
“We have a mission, you will be my bodyguard,”
Tumwiine told Agaba, who complied.
In Bukomero, the NRA combatants swept through
the area as Obote’s soldiers were felled by
bullets. “However, one of Obote’s surviving
soldiers remained in the houses after the first
platoon went through,” recalled Tumwiine,
adding, “That person shot me with a machine
gun. That’s how I was shot.”
Tumwiine could not tell who had shot him in the
eye. He thought “my whole face had gone off.
But I touched my face it was there. My escort
came and carried me.” The escort he was
referring to was Topher Agaba.
“I remember when he was shot, I was just right
behind him,” said Agaba during the trek in
Birembo earlier this week.“Tumwiine just fell in
my hands – with blood all over his face,” recalled
Agaba.
The force which was being commanded by Sam
Katabarwa comprising Moses Kanabi quickly
looked for a bicycle to evacuate the injured
Tumwiine.Unfortunately, the bicycle’s tyres
lacked pressure.
“So I was put on a bicycle which relied on rims
to carry me for a very long distance from
Bukomero to Mayanja hill. The journey lasted
about eight hours. When we reached the unit of
Gen David Tinyefuza alias Sejusa (Singo), they
gave me Valium, (sleeping pill) and I slept.”
On waking up, NRA combatants held a meeting
to decide Tumwiine’s fate. “They had two
options – either to finish me off or risk moving
with me in my condition. They argued.
Fortunately they decided the right way. Let’s
push him, if he dies on the way, blood will not be
on our hands. I was unconscious,” said
Tumwiine.
“Towards Lutta where Steven Kashaka was
commander, I woke up. Soldiers at the quarter
guard were crying. I told them I would survive.
The first treatment I got was helpful. In every
camp, I would get injections,” he added.
“Our people organized vehicles. We did not have
doctors. I needed an operation. They risked and
took me to Mulago.”NRA had woven a net of
contacts at Mulago hospital to treat wounded
fighters.
Dr Patrick Tumwiine was among NRA’s
collaborators. They had treated Mugisha Muntu
who had successfully returned to the bush.Dr
Tumwiine, Dr James Makumbi, Ruyombya,
Gwasaze (eye specialist), rushed the injured
Tumwiine to the theatre.
As Tumwiine was recuperating, a terrible incident
happened. “Due to excitement, as I was being
wheeled on a sickbed through the hospital
corridors, I loudly said, ‘we shall fight Obote.’
Gwennie Kategaya had just brought me a
mattress. She ran away for her life,’” recalled
Tumwiine.
Fearing Obote’s intelligence services would pick
clues about Tumwiine’s presence at Mulago, one
of the nurses decided to give him a sleeping
injection. “When I woke up, I was called
Rwakigundu. I created a story that I was driving
a Fiat car when robbers shot me. One of the
nurses was very interested in the story and came
to see me every day. Gwasaze said I was very
lucky. If the bullet had gone 1 millimeter up or
down in the head, I would have died,” recalled
Tumwiine.
Interestingly, doctors said, “we are the ones who
are lucky.” Doctors were happy to save him for
the good of the NRA war.
One of the guerrillas who visited Mulago to
check on Tumwiine was Benjamin Dampa.He
secretly sneaked in a pistol and encouraged
Tumwiine to hide it for his self defence. “This
might be dangerous. Anything could happen,”
said Tumwiine, rejecting the offer. Obote's
intelligence network was tipped that Tumwiine
was hospitalized at Mulago.
“I was always suspicious. So I got a tea kettle
for boiling water. I kept it near the next bed. I
would get a reflection of who came into the
room,” he recalled.
Indeed, Obote’s security got information after
arresting a driver who delivered Tumwiine to the
hospital. “The info leaked. Security services
wanted to check every bed. They used an
engineer who had lived with me at Lumumba
Hall, Makerere University,” said Tumwiine.
Disguised as an engineer carrying out some
works at the hospital, the man moved around the
facility in search of Tumwiine. Tumwiine would
use the reflection of the kettle to monitor the
man’s movements.
“He was a short and fat engineer. When I saw
him, I covered my face. I could see him through
my hankie. He didn’t see me. Info was sent to
our people that Obote’s men were looking for
me. The following day, NRA collaborator Moses
Kigongo was told that security were looking for
me. So, in the evening, we walked to his car in
the parking lot and left Mulago. Doctors came to
Rubaga hospital to treat me.”
On the way to Rubaga hospital, Kigongo bumped
into a roadblock at Nakulabye.“I saw a police
Officer I was training at Masindi. He would come
to my house. He is now retired. He was on this
roadblock. I covered my face. Kigongo said he
had a patient whom he was rushing to hospital,”
said Tumwiine.
At Rubaga, Tumwiine was suspicious of medics
attending to him. “There was one doctor whom I
knew from our days at Lumumba. I didn’t know
which side he belonged. I told him my story of
the attempted car robbery. After four days, he
came and said, “I know,’” which worried me.
After spending a week at Rubaga hospital,
Tumwiine told his colleagues, “Take me back to
the bush as I am." Kigongo organized and took
me back to the Bush. But I still had stitches all
over my face. The daring doctors followed me
from Kampala to the Bush to remove stitches.
On return, they almost fell in an ambush in
Matugga. They were told by people that security
were looking for their vehicle which had visited
Matugga. The doctors used ‘panyas’ to reach
Kampala.”
Back in the bush, Tumwiine was appointed head
of stores. After some time, NRA commanders
suggested that Tumwiine goes to Nairobi for
specialized treatment.
“I got bad headaches and had to go to Nairobi. I
found interesting things with NRA’s External
Committee. They had problems and could not
work together. We visited many of the members
after my operation in Nairobi,” said Tumwiine.He,
however, said the operation nearly took his life.
“The doctor tried to do local anesthesia instead
of inducing the whole body. In middle of
stitching, anesthesia was not working. I would
hear him tear through my skin. When I shouted,
he added another dose of anesthesia. He ended
up doing a wrong thing and had to go to Cuba for
another operation after we had come from the
bush,” said Tumwiine.
In Nairobi, Tumwiine, who now serves as
Security Minister, said he worked with the
External Committee to create a network of
supporters back home.
“We had contact at the Post Office. Our people
would ring without paying. These contacts were
in Entebbe and Libiri and the Lutwa government
did not know about this till the capture of
Kampala in 1986.”
