Timothy Bukumunhe : Has Matayo Kyaligonza Finally Earned Bad Boy Bragging Rights?

We all want the accolades of have bragging rights – be it in music, industry, politics and the army. But is it time the authorities culled those rights especially from the army and give them a long overdue spanking?

When Kyadondo East MP, Robert Kyagulanyi was still Bobi Wine, he earned his bragging rights after a number of feuds and brawls with Bebe Cool and Jose Chameleon. Graduating to politics, it was thought that a seat in that ‘honourable house’ on Parliament Avenue would sedate him. It didn’t. No sooner had the swearing-in Bible been put away, than he stood on the dispatch table and traded blows with members of the opposition. But, Kyagulanyi’s bragging rights pale into insignificance when it comes to those who have a military background.

Kyadondo East MP, Robert Kyagulani

Take Presidential Advisor Kakooza Mutale who from as early as 2003 through to 2017 had exclusive bad boy bragging rights. On a daily, there were stories of communities being roughed up by him and his men. And one journalist friend who had the misfortune to interview him in his Bombo Road office, gave this narration of Kakooza at his best.

“I poised a question, he answered it with a very affirmative – "no it can’t happen’”. So Journalist Friend leaned forward probing and seeking to know why it can’t happen. Once again, Kakooza was to the point with his answer – “because of him in the corner”. When Journalist Friend looked towards the corner Mutale was aiming at, there was an AK-47 propped up against the wall. He got the message and swiftly fled his office.

Kakooza Mutale

Ivan Oduka, in a 2012 article on Kasirye Gwanga talks about being on a boda on his way to interview him (Gwanga) with Boda Rider wondering: “Naye gwe eyo empologoma mwogela ki naye (what do you talk about with that lion?). I wonder why people suffer with suicide; just go to his farm and before you know, he has shot you.”

Gwanga’s has carefully nurtured his bragging rights. He stormed a church near his home in Makyinde and let off a couple of rounds because the singing disturbed his sleep. In August 2017, over a land dispute, he again fired off a few rounds, then set fire to a grader/earthmover worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

And just last month, out came his pistol once again when he shot out the wheels on Catharine Kusasira’s – a local artiste’s car. Said Gwanga: “The singer’s husband had insulted my son while the singer insulted and undermined me.” A justifiable reason to start shooting?

Kasirye Gwanga - His AK47 Always Has The Answer

Of course, this Sunday ramble would not be complete a mention of Kahinda Otafiire who, once roughed up a photo-journalist who had taken a picture of him after his car ran into a trench. But that stunt is not what secured his bad boy bragging rights. Rather, he got the gold medal in 1989, when pulled out his pistol on the late Jennifer Kutesa after a public spat at Fairway Hotel.

Kahinda Otafiire - Pulled A Pistol On The Jennifer Kutesa

Enter Maj. Gen. Matayo Kyaligonza, our ambassador to Burundi. Some days ago, his Military Police Unit bodyguards were arrested for assaulting a traffic officer - Sergeant Esther Namaganda who, had stopped them from making a U-turn in the middle of the road. When she did, two military police officers and Kyaligonza pounced on her, grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and assaulted her. While, Kyaligonza did not appear to take part in the assault, he did nothing to stop his dogs from assaulting Namaganda.

Matayo Kyaligonza Looks On As the Scuffle Ensues

As we draw the ramble to a close, some people are remorseful about having earned bragging rights like Otafiire who with much surprise, resigned his Internal Affairs ministry post after the Kutesa incident. But of course, we don’t expect Kyaligonza to man-up, accept responsibility, show some repentance and resign his ambassadorial post - do we?