First Lt.Gen. John Garang arrived at Entebbe Airport at 1:05, on Friday and was met by Vice-President Gilbert Bukenya. Anne Mugisa (right) interviewed the jovial and towering Garang just before he boarded the plane to Rwakitura


Mugisa: Congratulations on your promotion to Lt. Gen., Your Excellency.

Garang: Thank you. How are you?
Mugisa: I’m fine, Sir. How are you and how is the Sudan?
Garang: Quite alright.
Mugisa: I have just a few questions to ask you, General.
Garang: Sure. Here take a seat.
Mugisa: Your Excellency, what are your plans for rebuilding southern Sudan?

Garang: Oh! (laughs) We have put in place a plan to rebuild the southern Sudan. You know that area is very big (widens his eyes and smiles). Bigger than Uganda and Kenya together and there is no infrastructure to talk about. For example, there is no tarmac road since (rolls his eyes) Adam. We have over 12 million people there and they all need services.
Our first priority is to resettle the people and remove them from the internally-displaced people’s camps and also return home refugees living outside Sudan. There are between three to four million Sudanese refugees outside the country. We need to provide peace, security and stability and disband all the militias. There are external and internal militias including those who were formerly supported by the government. There are many militias in the Sudan, including the LRA.
So our priority is that and the infrastructure which includes roads, opening up waterways, rehabilitation of the railway line to Wau in the north, relinking the region with Uganda and Kenya.
We also need to rehabilitate the government infrastructure there. The southern Sudan has 10 states. Ten supervisors have been appointed and in the next seven days they will put in place a team to oversee the government infrastructure rehabilitation there. Then we need to put in place the financial infrastructure. There are only three banks there.

Mugisa: When do you intend to start on the infrastructure building; what period do you envisage to have a respectable amount of development in place?

Garang: We have started now, but you know that that place had been destroyed. It will take time.

Mugisa: What do you intend to do with Joseph Kony (the leader of LRA rebels) hiding in southern Sudan, where he recently ambushed Sudanese returning home and killed them.

Garang: He won’t be hiding there for long. It is not only Kony, but also all the militias who have been operating in the area. We need to provide peace, security and stability. So the militias, including those that were formerly supported by the Government, must be disbanded.

Mugisa: What have you come to discuss with President Yoweri Museveni?

Garang: We have not discussed yet…

Mugisa: But you surely have an agenda for the meeting?
(At this point, Ugandan foreign affairs officials ask us to end the interview because Garang must proceed to Rwakitura where Museveni is waiting).

Garang: (Laughs and says to me as he stands up) That is too early. I have come to meet President Museveni not you.

Mugisa: Thank you very much sir, and have a safe journey.
Garang shakes my hand, still smiling and everybody moves out of the VIP lounge on to the tarmac where he boards the presidential chopper to Rwakitura. Two days later, my friend rings me and says, “Sorry, your friend is dead. Garang is dead.”