Nobel Mayombo

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Brigadier Nobel Mayombo (1965-2007) can be described as the father of a new generation of enlightened army leaders. A new breed of African Leaders seen as progressive and educated as opposed to the backward uneducated breed of the independence era.

Born in western Uganda among the ropal Babiito clan, he studied at Ntare and later Makerere University for a law degree but left before he finished and joined the then guerilla forces of the National Resistance Army (NRA) in 1985.

As the Guerillas under Yoweri Museveni swept Kampala in 1986, he finished his law degree and was posted as a mobiliser in the NRA set up.

His real star was to rise as an army member of parliament during the making of the new Ugandan Constitution in 1995 where he used his vast knowledge in law, coupled with humour to stand out as a rising star to the chagrin of the more established army members (read generals).

President Museveni, a man with a sense of smelling raw talent quickly snmpped the baby faced soldier and made him his ADC where he displayed an insatiable sense of dedication and loyalty to the Movement system of government.

One of the most enduring images was to be the ADC squatting after noticing that the shoelaces of the president were untied and promptly tied them.

Brigadier Mayombo was to rapidly rise through the ranks of the army which saw him catapult through colonel up to brigadier.

Perhaps he was to gain notoriety during his tenure as head of Chieftaincy of military intelligence (CMI) where he was accused of torturing suspected rebels. He was also to be instrumental in eradicating the terror bomb threats that had terrorised the residents of Kampala in 2005 of which were dealt a death blow. He was for the infamous creation of "safe houses" which was a tacit reaction of keeping terror suspects as a way of beating the 48 hour detention deadline of keeping suspects without trial. These safe houses were secret detention centers dotted around the city where the suspects were interrogated and if possible released.

To the outside world, he was a brilliant diplomat who engaged in the pacification of the Congo war, Engaged in the Burundi peace process but was accused by the regime in Rwanda of propaganda against the government and the person of the President Kagame.

He was later to be accused by the then exiled opposition leader Kizza Besigye of torture and murder of suspected opponents of which Kiiza personally accused him of direct involvement. Mayombo countered by accusing by Kiiza of organizing a rebellion which the latter denied. In a gripping live radio talk show, the two squared off and started a sparring session. Mayombo came armed with information directly linking Besigye to the so called rebel activities by giving him the time and dates where and when Kiiza had gone to shop for arms. The debate was seen as a blow to Kiiza Besigye.

Diplomats saw him as a skilled negotiator, the common man saw him as a man of the people, and the opposition saw him as a brilliant boy being used by a despotic regime.

It was therefore no surprise that the death of the brigadier on May 5, 2007 sent shock waves through the eastern and central African region given the outpouring of grief from various quarters including as far away as Cuba. His importance was seen in the fact that a top Israeli doctor was flown to Nairobi, Kenya where the brigadier was taken only served to show the young army man's importance.

By the time of his death, he had been posted as a permanent secretary in the ministry of defense which raised a few eye brows since this is a civilian preserve. The president was to see it differently.

As the brigadier breathed his last, the streets to the parliament where his body lay in state were jammed by mourners.

An equally mammoth crowd was to be at the Kololo airstrip to bid fairwell before the body was flown to his ancestral home in Kabarole. He is survived by a widow and seven children.