By Karim Were
President Yoweri Museveni has described Gen. Kahinda Otafiire as a longstanding ally of the National Resistance Movement, recalling their first political contacts during the struggle against Idi Amin in the 1970s.
President Yoweri Museveni has recalled his long association with Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, saying he first met the veteran politician and military officer in 1974 during efforts to organise resistance against the government of former Ugandan president Idi Amin.
Museveni said Otafiire remained committed to what he described as the right path of the Movement for decades, despite political disagreements and setbacks that affected his career.
“I met Otafiire in 1974 during the anti-Amin struggle. I have known him to be on the right path of the Movement,” Museveni said, according to reports of remarks he made while attending a thanksgiving function for Otafiire in Mitooma.
The remarks offer an insight into the historical relationship between Museveni and Otafiire, whose political and military careers have been closely associated with Uganda’s post-Amin political history and the rise of the National Resistance Movement (NRM).
Museveni also explained why he continued to support Otafiire even when the latter encountered political difficulties.
The President said Otafiire’s contribution to the liberation struggle was a major factor in his decision to retain him in government.
“Even when he lost his MP seat, I retained him in cabinet because of his contribution to the revolutionary struggle,” Museveni said.
He added that while Otafiire could have made mistakes that contributed to his political difficulties, those issues did not erase what Museveni regarded as his historical contribution to Uganda.
A relationship dating back to the 1970s
The relationship between Museveni and Otafiire dates to a period when Uganda was under the rule of Idi Amin.
Amin came to power in 1971 after overthrowing President Milton Obote and remained in power until 1979. His government faced armed opposition, political resistance and exile-based mobilisation, including activities by groups opposed to his rule.
Museveni was among the Ugandan political activists who became involved in organising opposition to Amin. Historical accounts place Otafiire among the younger Ugandan activists who became associated with the broader liberation movement during this period.
According to a later account by Museveni, Otafiire and former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi became part of efforts to rebuild political networks following the failure of an earlier armed attempt to challenge Amin.
In 2024, while speaking at the 50th wedding anniversary celebrations of Amama Mbabazi and Jacqueline Mbabazi, Museveni again recalled his contacts with Otafiire and Mbabazi in 1974.
Museveni said that a former schoolmate known as Kazhungu helped connect him to Mbabazi and Otafiire. He explained that the two subsequently became part of efforts to revive networks supporting the liberation struggle.
The President credited the two men with helping to rebuild the political and intellectual networks that had become weakened after earlier setbacks.
Historical reporting by New Vision has also described Otafiire and Mbabazi as important figures in Museveni’s political network during the years preceding the eventual overthrow of Amin.
Otafiire’s role in the liberation movement
Otafiire’s political career has been closely connected to the history of the NRM and its military predecessor organisations.
The anti-Amin struggle involved several Ugandan political and military networks operating both inside and outside the country. Among them was the Front for National Salvation (FRONASA), an organisation associated with Museveni and other opponents of Amin.
Museveni has repeatedly spoken about the importance of the people who helped maintain political networks during the difficult years of the 1970s.
In his account of the period, the President said Otafiire and Mbabazi helped reconnect sections of Uganda’s educated and politically active population with the wider liberation effort.
That history has subsequently formed an important part of Museveni’s justification for maintaining political relationships with several individuals who participated in the struggle.
The President has previously used a similar argument when discussing former allies with whom he later disagreed politically.
In remarks reported during celebrations involving Mbabazi, Museveni said political disagreements should not necessarily erase the historical contributions individuals made during the liberation struggle.
Museveni says historical contribution should not be forgotten
One of the central themes in Museveni’s remarks about Otafiire was the importance of remembering the sacrifices made by Uganda’s older political generation.
“We should not forget elders’ contributions and sacrifices; otherwise people may stop sacrificing for their country,” Museveni said.
The statement reflects a recurring argument in the NRM’s political narrative: that individuals who participated in the liberation struggle should be judged not only by their subsequent political controversies but also by their historical contribution to the movement.
For Museveni, Otafiire’s contribution during the early years of the struggle remained significant enough to outweigh later political difficulties.
That position has also influenced Museveni’s approach to cabinet appointments.
According to reports from the time, the President said he could not simply remove Otafiire from government because of political setbacks after decades of service and involvement in the movement.
The remarks therefore placed Otafiire’s political career within a broader historical framework rather than treating his parliamentary or ministerial positions as isolated appointments.
From liberation struggle to government
Following the fall of Amin in 1979, Uganda entered another period of political instability involving competing governments, armed groups and political organisations.
Museveni and his allies eventually launched the National Resistance Army (NRA) rebellion in 1981 against the government of Milton Obote.
The NRA later captured Kampala in January 1986, bringing Museveni to power.
Otafiire subsequently became one of the prominent figures associated with the new government.
His career included senior political and military responsibilities, and he became one of the longstanding figures in the NRM administration.
His continued presence in government illustrates the importance Museveni has historically attached to members of the original liberation network.
The President’s comments about Otafiire also underline how the history of the NRM continues to influence Uganda’s contemporary political leadership.
Political disagreements did not erase the relationship
The relationship between Museveni and Otafiire has not been without political differences or controversy.
Otafiire, like other senior figures in the NRM, has operated within a political environment that has experienced disagreements over policy, leadership, elections and the direction of the ruling movement.
However, Museveni’s comments suggest that he considers the historical relationship between the two men to be more important than individual political disagreements.
His argument is that the contribution made by liberation-era figures should remain part of the national historical record even when those individuals later face criticism or political setbacks.
This approach is particularly significant in Uganda, where political debates frequently involve competing interpretations of the country’s liberation history.
For supporters of the NRM, the sacrifices of the liberation generation are central to understanding the current political order. Critics, however, have often argued that historical contributions should not exempt political leaders from accountability for their later decisions and actions.
Museveni’s remarks about Otafiire therefore sit within a wider debate about how Uganda should remember and evaluate the country’s political history.
Why the 1974 connection matters
The year 1974 was an important period for Ugandan political activists opposed to Amin’s government.
Museveni had already become involved in organising resistance following Amin’s seizure of power. Political networks were being rebuilt after earlier attempts to challenge the regime had failed.
It was during this period that Museveni established or strengthened relationships with individuals who later became important figures in the NRM.
Museveni’s recollection of meeting Otafiire in 1974 is therefore significant because it places their relationship more than a decade before the NRA captured power in 1986.
It also demonstrates that the foundations of the political network that eventually produced the NRM government were laid well before the movement became a governing organisation.
A 2024 account by Museveni further linked Otafiire and Mbabazi to efforts to revive the political network during the 1970s and later recruit people into the liberation struggle.
Such recollections have become part of the historical narrative used by the NRM to explain its origins.
Otafiire’s place in the NRM history
Otafiire’s longevity within Uganda’s political establishment is unusual.
He has remained a prominent figure across several decades, moving between military and political responsibilities while maintaining a relationship with Museveni that dates back to the anti-Amin period.
Museveni’s description of him as someone who remained “on the right path of the Movement” reflects the President’s view of Otafiire as a loyal historical member of the political project that eventually became the NRM.
At the same time, the President acknowledged that Otafiire, like other political actors, may have made mistakes.
That distinction is important because it shows that Museveni’s defence of Otafiire was based primarily on his assessment of the minister’s historical contribution rather than an assertion that he had never faced criticism or controversy.
Broader significance
Museveni’s recollection provides more than a personal account of his relationship with one government minister. It also highlights the continuing influence of Uganda’s liberation history on its political system.
Many of the country’s senior political and security officials have roots in the struggles of the 1970s and 1980s.
Their experiences have shaped the institutions, political alliances and leadership structures that emerged after 1986.
For younger generations, however, the challenge is increasingly how to understand that history while also assessing present-day governance on the basis of accountability, institutional performance and public interest.
Museveni’s remarks suggest that historical service remains an important consideration in his assessment of political leaders.
His continued recognition of Otafiire’s role demonstrates how relationships forged during the liberation struggle can endure despite changes in political circumstances.
Conclusion
President Museveni’s recollection that he first met Gen. Kahinda Otafiire in 1974 places their relationship firmly within Uganda’s turbulent anti-Amin period and the early development of the political networks that later produced the NRM government.
By describing Otafiire as someone who remained on the “right path” of the Movement, Museveni presented the veteran politician as a longstanding participant in Uganda’s liberation story.
His decision to highlight Otafiire’s historical contribution despite acknowledging that the general may have made mistakes also illustrates the importance Museveni attaches to loyalty, sacrifice and historical service.
More than four decades after their first political contacts, the relationship between Museveni and Otafiire remains an example of how Uganda’s liberation-era alliances continue to shape the country’s political leadership and historical narrative.
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