Tell terrorists to keep off Entebbe airport after 2016 polls

I love the way the media in my part of the world will do anything to increase sales regardless of the ripple effect or tidal wave that follows. Drug dealers have always known about Entebbe Airport being very welcoming. But the terrorists needed a nudge, which the media was only too happy to provide.

There has been such a lull in terror attacks that even our troops are probably getting fat in the barracks. I suspect the hoodlums know the World Cup as an event that cuts across all boundaries of gender, race, religion and hostilities and must be respected, even if it gets in the way of accessing 72 virgins after blowing up one’s intestines.

Murderous bash

That was until the Inspector General of Police General Kale Kayihura’s was quoted in a screaming headline saying ‘Entebbe airport is at the mercy of terrorists’. Talk of inviting terrorists to a murderous bash!

Kayihura was speaking at the passing-out parade of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officers from the Police Training School and the adrenaline from the acrobatic displays and feats of combat probably got his heart racing, and the grey cells dancing.

He decided to throw in his lot with the CAA who are seeking funding for an airport upgrade, as this may get his troops some “exercise”.

According to the police chief, we do not have serious terrorists because the security system at Entebbe airport is at God’s mercy. The equipment is either obsolete or dilapidated and cannot detect modern explosives used by terrorists, and the sniffer dogs are old and need to be replaced.

If any terrorist were daft enough to believe this “invitation”, I can guarantee that the Armed forces are exactly that - “forces”. Forget the “Entebbe raid” of the 70s that the world imagined was a covert rescue mission; that was a planned mission conducted with the full knowledge of former President Idi Amin. We are very good at strategizing and making the right alignments.

Those Israelis would not have made it out of the airport, had it not been a “sanctioned” rescue as Amin needed the Israeli intelligence input to keep him in power. And I am not a patriot stung by historical shame trying to spin things. Ask any Ugandan in a pub and they will confirm this as fact.

Power outages

Anyway, back to Entebbe Airport today and the open invite to cause excitement. This is just a veiled taunt to “try us”. The troops deployed at the airport have served in Iraq. Yes we are American-like.

Of course General Kayihura claimed that the lights do not work, but forgot to mention that this is Uganda. We are used to living with power outages and only got street lights that work in the past 15 months. Also, an intruder may sneak through the broken fence around the airport, but will he get out unharmed?

As we speak, the government has a vice-like grip on the nation’s purse strings as we gear up for the 2016 elections. Thus, the only way to get some funding for public projects that are not directly connected to the elections is to scheme and connive.

The Civil Aviation Authority is simply strategizing to ensure funds to upgrade Entebbe Airport and the various airstrips are not diverted from the intended destination - elections.