By Kamoga Akireo
Uganda has lost its agallant son of the soil Lt Col (rtd) Ahmad Kashillingi, a key NRA commander during the five-year NRA Bush War has died, according to the Minister of Security Maj Gen Jim Muhwezi.
He eulogized Kashillingi as a brave and dedicated soldier whose efforts saw them topple the Obote II’s and the subsequent Gen Tito Okello Lutwa’s governments in 1986.
“I am saddened to announce the passing of comrade Lt Col (rtd) Ahmed Kashilling. He was a brave and dedicated soldier. He served his country until now when he has gone be with his creator,” he tweeted on Thursday morning, adding, “May Allah rest the soul of my departed comrade in eternal peace.”
There was still scanty information about his death at the time of filing this story.
Kashillingi who joined the army on October 21, 1967; would then command the 5th battalion under NRA that captured the strategic Katonga Bridge on Masaka-Mbarara Road. His battalion also blocked Entebbe Road during the final onslaught on Kampala in 1986. But he was later arrested and charged with treason in 1992.
Unlike some of the senior commanders, Kashilingi did not play many significant roles in the government of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni who has been in power now for 37 years.
Being one of the few highly trained soldiers, Kashilingi was appointed Director of Records after the fall of Kampala. He joined the army administration at (Republic House) Bulange, but his office was later gutted by fire which destroyed all the crucial documents.
In his recent interview with the Monitor, Kashillingi recounted that not long after the fire incident, he was retired from the army and appointed to work in the Public Service.
“Tom Lubale, who was minister of Public Service, informed us that we were going to do interviews on Monday but on the weekend, my house was surrounded. These people were coming to kill me. But I decided not to die like a chicken. I escaped to Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo).
Kashillingi would later be repatriated and imprisoned for about five years before his acquittal in 1995.
President Museveni began rehabilitating his former fighter and appointed him a Technical Advisor to the Minister of Security.
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