Museveni vows to act tough on rebels

It quoted the president as telling journalists at his home in western Uganda that he had used “all reconciliatory means”, particularly the amnesty law, but “to no avail”. “We must therefore depart from a softer approach and take a decisive one. This criminal game must end now,” he said. Museveni said that the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels were not linked to the 17 March murder of 11 people and destruction of property in Kasese, western Uganda. “This destruction in Kasese happened because of undemocratic elements in Uganda who want to use violence to impose themselves on the people,” he said. He claimed the incident was caused by an “offshoot” of opposition politicians who threatened violence in Kampala before the 12 March presidential elections, and was due to the “negligence of security forces”. To quell acts of terrorism in the country, he had acquired better equipment and trained special units in the army and police to handle the situation. “At first we did not have the means but now we have them and therefore there is no reason why our people should be dying,” he said. “We are about to deploy an air force and we have acquired MiG fighter planes and other modern equipment to strengthen our infantry, artillery and other areas of security.”