By Kabuye Ronald
In a moment charged with history and symbolism, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Thursday officially welcomed back Col Samson Mande, a former Bush War hero and long-time critic into the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), during Uganda’s 63rd Independence Day celebrations at Kololo Independence Grounds.
Col Mande, who was among the early architects of the NRA struggle that brought President Museveni to power in 1986, has been living in exile in Sweden since 2001 after falling out with the regime. But in a dramatic turn of events, Mande has returned, not just to Uganda, but to the NRM fold, in what the President called a “triumph of reconciliation.”
Before a sea of jubilant citizens and dignitaries, Museveni extended an open hand of welcome to his once-estranged comrade. As the cheering crowd watched, the President invited Col Mande to the podium, underscoring a message of healing and unity.
“I’m happy to welcome back into peaceful Uganda Col Samson Mande,” Museveni declared. “He had fled into exile on account of internal intrigue. When our cadres contacted him in Sweden, he happily agreed to come back and disconnect himself from rebel activities. All the development that is happening in Uganda is on account of the peace that is available. This peace is lubricated by the longstanding NRM policy of reconciliation and forgiveness.”
In his address, Col Mande spoke with humility and conviction, acknowledging his past disagreements and expressing a deep sense of return and renewal.
“I am back home. Here in Uganda, I have two homes — the first home is my country; the second home is the NRM. I am a founder member of the NRM. It is in me and will remain in me until death puts us asunder,” Mande told the gathering.
Quoting scripture, specifically 1 Corinthians 13:11, Mande signaled a new chapter in his life: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.”
He praised President Museveni for his magnanimity and willingness to forgive, saying, “I know the magnanimity of our dear leader, President Yoweri Museveni, would accept my change of behaviour. Thank you very much. I’m home to stay.”
His return, once thought unlikely, is being seen as a powerful gesture in favour of national unity and a symbolic extension of Museveni’s longstanding message that the doors of the NRM remain open to all Ugandans — including those who may have once strayed.
As the nation marked 63 years of independence, the image of two old comrades once united in the bush, then divided by politics, now reunited in public — served as a poignant reminder that Uganda’s journey is still unfolding, and reconciliation remains central to its progress.
