President Yoweri Museveni has shared a recollection from the early days of the National Resistance Army (NRA) bush war, revealing that Dr. Kizza Besigye once played a role in training fighters on the use of chloroform during operations.
According to Museveni, Besigye—who was then serving as a medical doctor within the rebel ranks—was called upon to guide combatants on how chloroform could be used to temporarily incapacitate enemy targets without killing them, allowing for interrogation and intelligence gathering.
Museveni made the remarks while reflecting on the discipline and internal training that characterized the NRA’s guerrilla campaign in the early 1980s, which ultimately brought the movement to power in 1986.
Dr. Kizza Besigye was among the early members of the NRA and participated in the five-year bush war led by Yoweri Museveni. The conflict culminated in the NRA’s capture of Kampala and the establishment of a new government under Museveni’s leadership.
