Africa-Press – Uganda. President Yoweri Museveni, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, will kick-start next year’s 40th Tarehe Sita celebrations in Greater Masaka and Kampala metropolitan area with a launch of a museum at River Katonga in Mpigi district
.The President is scheduled to lay a foundation stone for the construction of the military museum, a tribute of the 1985-86 Katonga battles and other confrontations between the National Resistance Army (NRA) fighters and the Tito Okello government forces.The events at Katonga, according to the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), will mark the beginning of the 40-year anniversary week-long national activities.Addressing journalists at the Uganda Media Centre, Maj. Gen. Henry Masiko, the UPDF chief political commissar, said UPDF engineers will soon embark on renovation of various government facilities in Masaka city and other districts in the Greater Masaka. The areas in the region targeted include Masaka, Bukomansimbi, Kalungu, Lwengo, Kalangala and Masaka city.Next year’s celebrations will run under the theme, Celebrating UPDF at 40 years: Fruits of a Fulfilled Partnership of Maintaining andConsolidating the People’s Security, Stability and Prosperity.The army will carry out more activities in Kampala metropolitan area, including Kira and Nansana municipalities.Matsiko, who was representing the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. David Muhoozi, said the army decided to start the activities earlier in order to have more time for Civil-Military Co-operation (CIMIC) activities to be completed.Under CIMIC, the forces conduct what Matsiko described as home-to-home and closer community operations, including public health such as sanitation, fumigation and general cleaning.Other activities have also been organised in the Kampala metropolitan area covering the districts of Kampala, Wakiso, Entebbe municipality, Mukono and Kayunga.Masiko added that the choice of Greater Masaka was based on historical significance, saying the region was a corridor and launch base for the liberation struggles against the “undemocratic regimes of 1970s and 1980s”.He said: “The anti-Amin struggles both in 1972-73 and 1978-79 were largely conducted through the Greater Masaka region.”He said directly linked to Tarehe Sita, Masaka was a corridor through which the 43 patriots under the leadership of Yoweri Museveni traversed on February 5, 1981 before the attack on Kabamba Barracks on February 6.”In this regard, Greater Masaka qualifies to be the launch pad for Tarehe Sita. In the final stages of the protracted people’s warfare in 1985, Greater Masaka became home to the final decisive battles such as siege of Masaka Barracks, the Lwengo operations and the famous Katonga battles.”These battles culminated in the defeat of the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) and allied forces before Kampala fell on January 26, 1986,” he said.During the army week, UPDF, in collaboration with the National Forestry Authority, plans to plant more than five million trees as a way of recognising the contemporary and topical issue of climate change.In KampalaMasiko said Kampala metropolitan area was chosen for their activities because the protracted people’s war in 1981 was planned and commenced from the capital city. He said the choice of the area was also intended to strengthen foundation security ahead of the 2021 general election.Activities organised in the Kampala metropolitan area will cover the districts of Kampala, Wakiso, Entebbe Municipality, Mukono and Kayunga.
