Recently a politician friend of mine from northern Uganda called me to pour complaints out of his chest.

He said that when the ADF war was at its height, and there was fire all round, President Museveni slung his rifle over his shoulder, pitched camp on the battlefield and shot away along his men.

Soon after that, this man argued, the war subsided and the ADF that had for long been one big terror machine became non-existent.

The argument here was two-fold. One, that the president's presence on the battlefield did change the fortunes in UPDF's favour.

And two, that the president only went this far because the war was raging in western Uganda, not too far from where he hails from and therefore he had to put out the fire real quick.

And just because the [Joseph] Kony war is in northern Uganda, very far from the capital where he sits, and certainly nowhere near the home of "his people" in western Uganda, President Museveni felt no obligation or pressure to pitch camp in Acholiland to boost the war effort.

History and contemporary circumstances defeat this argument hands down. The president has no such mentality of intervening in security issues only when his leadership is under threat or "his people" are in danger.

It is on record that the president has been to Gulu numerous times over the past few years and in fact each visit has been translated into increased victories on the battlefield. The only setback was that each time Kony suffered these losses, he retreated to the safety of Sudan where at the time he was being pampered like a fresh bride in a never-ending honeymoon.

That is precisely the reason why these victories were not final and after sometime there was always more work to be done.

The good news now is that following improved relations with Sudan, the two countries agreed to let Uganda pursue Kony in Sudan and the dynamics of the war have been altered fundamentally. Kony is no longer a welcome guest in Sudan and he has nowhere to turn for refuge and comfort. That should soon translate into a victory for UPDF on the battlefront.

The president has always shown himself to be the leader of all Uganda, not just some small-time tribal chief of the area he hails from, like some agents of confusion are suggesting.

That is why he has always put off really urgent issues to attend to areas of the country whose security has been compromised. As everyone knows, the president spent his Easter season in Karamoja, overseeing the disarmament exercise and making sure stability comes to Karamoja. Before that, he had been to Kibale to avert ethnic bloodshed.

Sometimes though, I give up on the psyche of Ugandans. Only the other day, this same politician who was whining that Museveni only fights for westerners, took me on again.

This time he was whimpering that the president had stayed too long in Gulu! Taken aback, I ventured, "Is that not what you wanted?"

"Well, not exactly," he said, grinning with embarrassment. "You see if he stays there that long and then Kony beats the UPDF, that will be seen as a defeat of Museveni, not the national army or government. Museveni should simply put someone in charge of the operation and go back to Kampala."

Same person!

Similarly some people have been accusing the president of insisting on war instead of talking peace with Kony.

That too is a lie.

In 1994, the then minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office in Charge of Northern Uganda Betty Bigombe, went to talk to Kony. That was no individual initiative. It had the full blessing and backing of the president.

The president later went to the extent of offering the LRA a blanket amnesty, if they laid down their arms voluntarily. It is a fact that many of the LRA fighters took advantage of this law and returned home, where they are leading fairly normal lives.

Now that the president is allowing peace talks to take place through the mediation of bishops, it is surprising to hear people like Col. Kizza Besigye say that the president is only letting people talk to Kony because he (Museveni) has been defeated!

"Museveni himself, having been defeated is talking to Kony. He is in Gulu looking for this one or that one to talk to Kony," Besigye alleged on Monitor FM last Monday.

Funny and awkward arguments we are seeing here. First, you are called a warmonger who does not want to talk peace with Kony. Then when you finally allow people to pursue peace with Kony, the same critics say you are only doing so because Kony has defeated you.

The Englishman says, "murder will out". If you murdered somebody, it will come out sooner or later.

In an unguarded moment, especially a quarrel, you will threaten to kill your opponent the way you killed A or B.

In the final analysis truth will triumph.