As you read this, embattled UPDF four-star General David Ssejjusa is about to return into the country after weighing the secret undertaking he is believed to have had with the State and the legal advice of his lawyers.

Our sources revealed that Gen David Tinyefunza who recently adopted the name of Sejjusa which literally means ‘Sejjusa-Kulokoka,’ loosely translated; ‘I don’t regret having got saved,’ attributed to utterances made by his father when he was born in 1954 - is getting homesick by day, has decided to return home by hook or crook and face the consequences that will follow.

Ssejjusa’s return has been confirmed by his recent remarks in The Weekly Observer, where he rubbished claims that he was seeking political asylum in the United Kingdom. Our sources have indeed got wind of his return plot which will see him either apologizing to his commander in chief or face the wrath of the law.

After leaving a political storm in Uganda that saw two radio stations and two print media houses closed for ten days, and enduring almost one month in ‘exile,’ the embattled general is set to engage the state in what can be described as ‘a return of David to engage goliath (the State).

Why the Return 

It’s believed that Sejjusa has got the courage to return after consulting some of his senior colleagues in the army who have variously assured him of his freedom if he apologizes to his boss, also President, Gen. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, in what has been regarded as a secret memorandum of understanding.

Some of the notable officers who have publicly advised him to apologize include the recently installed chief of defense forces, Gen Katumba Wamala and the bush war hero Gen Salim Saleh.

While commissioning some promoted officers Gen Wamala Katumba kindly asked Gen Sejjusa to apologize and end his rebellion. And Gen Salim Saleh, who is widely believed to have worked on his (Ssejjusa) rehabilitation from his earlier rebellion in 1996, counseled him to make an unconditional apology to his commander in chief and end the hide and seek game. 

“An apology might suffice, since he is not the first to error” said one UPDF officers who preferred to remain anonymous adding, ‘’and that apology must be read out in full view of the nation.’’

And it’s highly understood that secret meetings have been taking place in London between the embattled UPDF General and some agents of the state to secure him from his rebellion - which is mostly blamed on the overzealous media.

Worries abound  

Although talks are taking place in his abode in London, his camp is indeed worried that if he arrives without a clear guarantee of his freedom, he might be intercepted and detained at the officers’ mess in the same way it was done to brigadier Henry Tumukunde who had developed a rebellious streak by uttering some unpalatable statements on radio in 2005.

Tumukunde was tried this year on April 18^th, found guilty but was ‘set free’ by a mere caution from the chairman of the court martial Brig. Fred Tolit. 

Likewise, there are indications that although he may have his facts to clear his name of any wrong doing, he might face the same fate as Brig. Tumukunde and get incarcerated for a longtime without concluding his case and deprive him of his freedom. And that is the only element that accounts for Sejjusa’s continued delay.

Protracted Talks

This dilemma has called for more protracted talks between him and the State. But both parties do not trust each other. The State is worried that upon his return, Tinye might make a radical turn and seek for immediate retirement from the army, if he is not charged by the court martial.

While Tinye is also suspicious that the state might flog him around and delay his freedom to set a precedence of always punishing officers who deviate from expected principles.

The state is more worried that Tinye might actually get mad and dare it to court martial him in a bid to become a hero or political martyr-at least in the eyes of the international community. These suspicions and counter suspicions are believed to be the snag that has delayed the return of stubborn David.

The Dynamics of the Trial

In fact, once the case goes to the court-martial, the current chairman of the court martial brigadier Fred Tolit might not be eligible to try Gen Sejjusa since he is ranks below the offender. This means that either brigadier Tolit will be promoted to a rank higher than Sejjusa or see another general like Gen Ely Tumwine step in a chairman of the court-martial.   

Legally speaking, it’s highly believed that if arraigned before court, Sejjusa can easily defend himself and earn his freedom for having authored a controversial document that put the security of the country in jeopardy culminating into the hasty reshuffle of the army leadership and cabinet and a clamp down on the Ugandan media.

“He has an added advantage of having a master’s degree in law and can easily eat up the facts of this case” said one source. The legal minds believe that the state has got no evidence to pin Sejjusa on the controversial documents since he has maintained his stand that (the document) was addressed to the right forum (to mean the head of internal security organization Col Ronny Barya and not the nosy media.

His position, which absolves him of any wrong doing, is that the document could have been mishandled from the ISO offices which leaked them to the media. It’s actually thought that President Museveni’s stance on Sejjusa has softened after confirming that the document could have indeed been leaked to the media by someone rather than Sejjusa.

Media Siege

In fact the reason why security operatives camped at the Redpeper and Monitor newspaper offices for ten days was because they wanted to prove whether Ssejjusa had sent the document to the two media houses or not. They wanted to prove whether Sejjusa had a negative motive in authoring it or wanted to advance genuine reasons of national concern.

 And it’s highly possible that the authorities seem to have believed Sejjusa’s version of the story since they couldn’t trace its source to the controversial four-star General. They now believe that he had no ulterior motive beyond the contents of the letter.

Our sources also revealed to this writer that the investigations have since been switched to ISO offices to find out who leaked this acidic document to the two newspapers. There are reports that the officer who leaked it might have sold the letter to the media houses for huge sums of money.

We have also established that the State has not got any evidence to prove that Gen Sejjusa was having any political ambitions in the course of his work since the search in his offices has not yielded anything to prove so.

His case has since been classified as sheer indiscipline derived from his frustrations as a ‘sidelined’ senior officer and or, he could have acted under the influence of ‘excessive anger.’ It’s unclear whether government will swallow its pride and declare Gen Sejjusa’s innocence. This explains why the State is pushing for his apology which is being worked on in London.

The Controversial Return

Once the modalities are ironed out, then we should expect Tinye in Uganda much sooner than later. But there are theories once the talks don’t work out to his expectations, he is planning to take everyone including the nosy intelligence by complete surprise by sneaking into the country through one of the various porous border points.

He is then expected to move in total concealment and only show up at the Ugandan Parliament where he is expected to report to the Speaker. This will put the Ugandan security in suspense on what cause of action to take since no arrests can be made at the Parliamentary premises because members of parliament enjoy unconditional immunity.

But the State expects him to pronounce himself on the charges leveled against him and conclude by apologizing. Once he doesn’t apologize then he will have breached the secret undertaking with the State agents and wait for the next course of action, which actually point at continued rebellion.

His rebellion will mean that he will seek to retire from the army, an exercise that will put him to a collision course with the State which will revive real and imaginary charges on him.

But all in all, the country should prepare for the shock return of Gen David Munungu Sejjusa ‘Tinyefunza’ with or without an undertaking with the State. 

 

 

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