Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) President Jimmy James Akena has accused President Yoweri Museveni of attempting to rewrite Uganda’s political history during his tribute to the late Gen. Moses Ali in Parliament.
Speaking at the UPC headquarters in Kampala on Wednesday, Akena disputed Museveni’s assertion that there were “mistakes” under the second Milton Obote administration, including the alleged revenge killings of people from the West Nile sub-region after the fall of Idi Amin’s government.
During Tuesday’s special parliamentary sitting in honour of the former Deputy Prime Minister and Adjumani West MP, Museveni said West Nile communities suffered retaliatory attacks following Amin’s overthrow, forcing an estimated 500,000 people to flee to what are now the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
“There were mistakes in the UPC government. West Nilers were killed in revenge. That is when the refugee situation started,” Museveni told Parliament while describing Gen. Ali as a freedom fighter, peacemaker and champion of West Nile. But Akena rejected the account, arguing that it contradicts both the Uganda People’s Congress ideology and the documented position of former President Apollo Milton Obote.
Quoting from what he described as official UPC and Obote documents dating back to 1971, Akena said the party’s struggle against Idi Amin was never intended to target individuals, tribes or communities.
He cited a July 1971 statement in which Obote wrote: “The objectives of our struggle and resistance are not for the advancement of individual or group causes… are not for the purposes of revenging the dead or punishing individuals or groups.”
According to Akena, the same document states that the struggle “must not be a struggle against individuals or groups of any part of Uganda” but one aimed at restoring stability, freedom and independence.
He further quoted Obote as stating that crimes committed during and after the 1971 coup were the responsibility of “Amin and his clique and not their relatives or tribes.”
Akena said Obote consistently maintained that position in subsequent speeches and policy statements, including in 1972, 1979, 1980 and during parliamentary proceedings after returning to power.
He referred to another 1972 statement in which Obote warned against political change driven by a narrow group of liberators, saying such movements could easily degenerate into autocratic rule. “So when you hear people saying, ‘We liberated, we fought, therefore we must be there,’ this was a warning in 1972,” Akena said.
He added that Obote believed Uganda’s liberation should be achieved by all Ugandans through democratic participation rather than domination by a single group. Akena also cited Obote’s January 1979 remarks on equal civil rights, in which the former president declared that he claimed no special rights beyond those enjoyed by other Ugandans.
He further referenced Obote’s speech upon returning to Uganda in 1980, saying it emphasised that the liberation struggle had been fought so that Ugandans “irrespective of their tribe or religion” could live in peace, harmony and prosperity. “The war of liberation was fought so that all Ugandans may walk tall in their own country,” Akena quoted.
The UPC leader argued that Parliament’s Hansard provides an enduring record of Obote’s commitment to national unity rather than revenge. “The annals of Uganda, the history of Uganda, will be found in what is said on the floor of Parliament,” he said.
Akena also disclosed that he had personally discussed capital punishment with his father, insisting that Obote deliberately refused to sign death warrants during his presidency. “Milton Obote is on record as not signing a death warrant. This is a man who is trying to be portrayed as a killer,” Akena said. “Me, Akena, son of Obote, I know the Obote who built this party, the Obote who created an army where Ugandans could thrive. I refuse to accept that label.”
While acknowledging Gen. Moses Ali’s contribution to Uganda, Akena said the late general’s passing should not become an opportunity to alter the country’s historical record. “As we lay Moses Ali to rest, his chapter ends. But Uganda’s chapter must not end,” he said. “I don’t accept this notion of history.”
Akena urged political leaders to focus less on historical disputes and more on present-day challenges, citing what he said were two million Ugandan children under the age of five who are stunted. “In 2026- not in 1980 or 1972- we have two million Ugandan children who are stunted,” he said, calling for greater attention to the country’s current social and economic problems rather than contested interpretations of its past-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
