The NRA/NRM celebrated its 37th year in power last week on January 26th, 2023. The NRA officially took over as the country’s ruler in August 1985.
The NRA rapidly proceeded to strengthen its influence in western Uganda, the home region of the majority of the top commanders, by taking advantage of the recent military coup.
After setting up shop at Fort Portal, it went on to defeat the UNLA and take control of Mbarara in September 1985 and Masaka in November 1985.
With Masaka and other southern Buganda regions falling under NRA control in late 1985, the NRA/NRM rule over Uganda began in August 1985. Western Uganda makes up about a third of the country’s total area.
Fred Rwigyema, David Tinyefuza, Elly Tumwine, and Salim Saleh, the brother of the NRA’s general commander Yoweri Museveni, were among the most prominent high-ranking NRA officers.
There was a perception that Saleh was not the outstanding military leader that he was portrayed to be in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Saleh was taken to the front lines to receive acclaim and have a legacy established after other NRA leaders led the actual breakthrough battles.
This story can be challenged by the fact that Saleh was considered a crucial NRA strategist by the NRA’s major rival, the UNLA.
Early in August 1985, Gen. Tito Okello’s new administration broadcast a message on Radio Uganda pleading with NRA commander Saleh to emerge from the jungle and take part in power-sharing negotiations with the Military Junta.
Due to their military intelligence, the UNLA would have understood that Saleh was a real force within the NRA and not merely a Museveni-created brand.
Museveni transitioned from being a guerilla leader to an established politician. Museveni was compelled to perform the duties of the position of head of state, despite reluctance and awkwardness about it.
These duties include approving the credentials of new ambassadors, chairing Cabinet meetings, serving as guest of honor at countless, exhausting public events, making speeches, and listening to delegations from upcountry districts engage in small talk.
Saleh was never fully able to feel at ease in a formal public position. Like Museveni and other NRA leaders like Chefe Ali, Saleh never adapted well to the institutionalized army and government life.
He has had very little experience leading the army. Few people can identify it. He was fired from his position as army commander in 1987 and doesn’t seem like he was sorry.
He performs best as a covert agent who can live wherever he pleases, work from home, and complete the majority of his planning and plotting out of sight of the general public.
Saleh’s function as the Chief Operative of State at NRA Uganda is at its core. Saleh is the true standby generator of the Museveni Project, and his main responsibility is to maintain the Museveni regime’s hold on power.
Museveni’s role as head of state meant that he was prohibited from doing certain things both domestically and abroad. First of all, he just did not have enough time to complete everything.
He gave Saleh responsibility for the deep state operations. Saleh’s job is to meet with anyone who needs to be sweet-talked, undermined, flattered, promoted, demoted, subtly threatened, and ultimately diffused as a political threat while Museveni goes about his formal and frequently boring roles as President, engaging with the public during state occasions and being seen to be received by large crowds.
Museveni’s core philosophy was that he had to do whatever it needed to maintain state authority and more importantly to keep Uganda united.
To maintain Museveni’s hold on power and to keep Uganda’s integrity, act pragmatically, extravagantly, foolishly, illogically, wisely, honestly, cunningly, dishonestly, and viciously. Have no regard for appropriateness or shame when acting in this matter.
General Saleh has been driving the force behind Museveni’s Machiavellian planning and execution. Saleh and Amama Mbabazi worked together as implementing hands for many years. This was a general breakdown of the positions.
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Mbabazi is in charge of covert foreign and intelligence policy, while Museveni is in charge of official foreign policy. Museveni is in charge of the official military responsibilities, and Saleh is in charge of the covert military command and political operative tasks.
Starting in 1981, these three shrewd people formed the nucleus of the NRM/NRA, sometimes working together, sometimes alone, and occasionally with Mbabazi and Saleh.
Gen. Saleh’s presence at the NSSF, the largest and most significant organization in Uganda outside of the Bank of Uganda, could be attributed to Museveni’s belief that to control the state, a ruler must control the treasury.
Saleh gradually outgrew his enjoyment of living in Kampala over the years and moved away, first to Garuga off the Kampala-Entebbe highway, then occasionally to Gulu, and now mostly to Kapeeka.
Saleh has adopted a casual, shabby, shirt-untucked attire similar to Museveni; they no longer felt the need to impress anyone in Uganda.
They have been controlling the nation for 37 years as a result of the Museveni-Saleh political alliance.
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