President Museveni has revealed details of a daring bush war operation in which now incarcerated Dr Kizza Besigye was called upon to train National Resistance Army (NRA) fighters on how to safely incapacitate enemy soldiers using chloroform for interrogation.
The President made the revelations on Wednesday while presiding over the 15th Annual Tarehe Sita Thanksgiving Breakfast at the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) Headquarters in Mbuya.
The man who led the NRA through a protracted guerilla warfare before capturing power in 1986 was listening to one of his military officers recount the chloroform incident when he sprung to his feet and took over with more clarity and detail.
Recounting the early days of the armed struggle, Museveni described a tense operation in which the rebels sought to confirm the presence of guns believed to be stored inside a military barracks.
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Previous attempts, he said, had failed, and the group lacked reliable intelligence after their contact inside the barracks was exposed.
"It was a footpath ambush, not on the main road," Museveni narrated.
"The idea was to wait for a lone soldier, capture him quietly and extract information."
According to the President, the fighters considered using chloroform to temporarily render the soldier unconscious without causing death, a delicate undertaking that required medical guidance.
"To do it carefully, we called Besigye, who is now something else," Museveni remarked, drawing laughter from the audience.
"He trained us on how to administer chloroform safely so that the person does not die. He sleeps and then wakes up."
The captured soldier would then be taken away, allowed to regain consciousness and interrogated.
Museveni, however, said the operation took an unexpected turn. When one of the soldiers was held at gunpoint, he recognized his captor, a former colleague from their time in the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA).
"When the man on gunpoint recognized they had been together in UNLA, he pleaded, 'Don't kill me,"' Museveni said. "That changed the dynamics of the encounter."
The President described the episode as one of several dramatic moments that defined the five-year guerrilla struggle, which culminated in the NRA's capture of power in 1986.
The thanksgiving breakfast formed part of activities marking 45 years since the February 6, 1981 attack on Kabamba Barracks, widely regarded as the launch of the armed resistance.
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Museveni congratulated those who participated in the struggle and reiterated the need to preserve its history for future generations.
He revealed that government has secured land to establish a museum dedicated to documenting the resistance war.
"I congratulate everyone on marking 45 years since we began the resistance at Kabamba," he said.
Drawing from the Bible, Museveni reflected on the Book of Genesis, noting that man was created in the image of God and endowed with the ability to think, innovate and exercise dominion over nature under divine guidance.
"Success comes through hard work and faith in God, not prayer alone," he emphasized.
He also thanked the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, for highlighting the historical role of the NRA and the importance of honouring those who sacrificed for the country's transformation.
The annual Tarehe Sita commemorates the origins of the current government and the enduring narrative of the bush war, a history that, decades later, still shapes Uganda's political landscape.
