With snow in the background in what appeared to be an isolated wilderness, combatants clad in military camouflage attire with guns slung over their shoulders, a group of about seven men sing morale songs of the National Resistance Movement bush war that was fought in 1981-1986.
“Moto kuliwaka Rubaga, nawaka moto nawaka moto,” one of the recruits leads his colleagues as others join in chorus. Video here https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/2010304424422576450
The video that has been widely shared on social media has led the rest of Ugandans to one conclusion: “The people in the video are Ugandans at a war front somewhere in Europe, most likely Russia.”
Why they single out Russia is because some Russian suspects were arrested by Ugandan security forces as they attempted to fly Ugandan recruits to Moscow, from where they would eventually be taken to the frontline.
After about 70 were intercepted in September last year, Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba issued a stern warning against anyone flying to Russia to fight.
Uganda thought the army chief’s directive had been adhered to, but when the video of Ugandans singing vernacular war songs in white snow surfaced online, many people were stunned.
When the video was posted on social media platform X, several leaders asked the Government to rescue Ugandans and prevent others from being lured into such dangerous activities.
Among the leaders who posted such messages was Winnie Byanyima. A former Ugandan MP, who currently heads Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
“I am deeply saddened and alarmed that young Ugandans are being recruited by Russia to fight as mercenaries in Ukraine. Poverty and hopelessness have pushed them into this dangerous and dehumanising gamble. The NRM government must act to bring our sons back home. Stay safe, our sons,” she posted on her X handle on January 11.
In another video, 43-year-old Richard Akanturana, said he was a Ugandan national who was rescued by Ukrainian forces after he fled from one of the Russian frontline. He said he had been lured into fighting with a promise of a good job abroad, only to end up on Russian frontline. Video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GSGMdNiY6M
The foreign affairs ministry confirmed that several Ugandan nationals may have been killed and other stuck after they joined Russian military, in its war with Ukraine.
Foreign affairs permanent secretary, Vincent Bagiire, said Uganda is engaging the Russian embassy Uganda on the issue.
“There have been Ugandans who have been lured with prospects of good paying jobs in Russia and a number of Ugandans have gone to Russia with the view that they are going to get extremely good paying jobs, and we now learn some of them ended up in the frontline. It’s unfortunate we have no control of whoever goes out of the country,” he said.
Bagiire called for the re-evaluation of labour exporting companies to establish whether they are fit for purpose.
“It is because these externalisation labor companies have had a role. Unfortunately, Ugandans love quick gains, and even when you try to stop them there is a problem,” Bagiire added.
He revealed that in the whole of 2024, the ministry was returning Ugandans from Myanmar.
“The same plane that was returning those we were rescuing was the same plane which was taking other Ugandans. It was delivering more as the ones you were rescuing were returning to Kampala.”
When contacted, the Russian Ambassador Vladlen Semivolos, said he needed time to verify the information.
Uganda is not the only African country to receive reports that its nationals are at the frontline in Russia. Last year, Kenya’s foreign minister said its nationals were trapped at the frontline.
“Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, recruitment drives have expanded into Africa… The ministry has continued to receive inquiries from families regarding relatives reportedly involved in the war. Reports suggest that over 200 Kenyans may have joined this adventure or misadventure,” Kenya’s foreign minister Musalia Mudavadi told the press in Nairobi three months ago.
The foreign minister estimated the number of its citizens trapped at the war front to be about 200, many of them ex-servicemen.
Mudavadi further announced that his country’s security had since raided a recruitment centre at Athi River, a Nairobi suburb and arrested some of the foreign recruiters where 21 Kenyans were intercepted.
Even after the arrest, Mudavadi says recruitment networks are still open in both Kanya and Rusia, warning that the act could be dangerous to the country’s security.
South Africans trapped
After Kenya, South Africa also announced that 17 of its citizens were trapped in Donbas region of Russia where they had been lured into fighting war.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, told the media that South Africa was going to investigate how 17 of its nationals aged 29-39 ended up at the warfront in Russia’s Donabas region.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered an investigation into the circumstances that led to the recruitment of these young men into those seemingly mercenary activities,” he said.