EnterUganda

. Kampala, Uganda.

The 'Petti-Brigade' Fared Badly in the NRA

Yes, I knew China, we did business together, but I don't want anything to do with her at all," Jane (not real name) said. Jane was very reluctant to talk about her relationship with China, did not want to meet with The New Vision, and would only talk through a third party.

She admitted to knowing China, and revealed that she (China) sent an e-mail to her family last month about the pending publication of her book.

Is China in her twenties or thirties? More likely in her thirties, Jane conceded, but with a baby face. Jane knew China (real name Sarah Keitetsi) for about three years. They first met at the Kadogo School in Mbarara around 1988, where Jane's husband was a teacher. She could not, or would not, explain how she became friends with the person she later described as a 'crook.'

But friends they became, and became close enough to run a business together. They started off with managing the Canteen in Bombo barracks, where many of the Women's Wing were staying. They would later expand into the business of importing second-hand clothes. According to Jane, China was close to many high ranking officers of the NRA, though this could not be confirmed.

She would not reveal categorically what was going on between these officers and China, but insisted that China "knew all of them." In her e-mail, China told the family that she wanted all those men who abused and used her to be tried by an international court.

Jane confirmed that China was a 'wife' to the late Lt. Col. Drago Nyanzi. Drago was charged with car robbery in the mid-nineties but fell sick and died before the trial ended. Jane would also not reveal the details of their business with China, or what happened when they fell out.

"She was a crook and a liar," was all she would say. "She cheated me, that is all I will say. I have nothing to do with China anymore."

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