One Party – One Leader

Uganda had been independent less than five years before its first Prime Minister, Milton Obote, overturned its fledgling democracy, but a one-party government was not enough for him. After defeating rival parties he eventually turned on internal dissenters in the Uganda Peopleʼs Congress. Obote relied on his muscle – the army and in particular his protégé Idi Amin, but being the sole leader of independent Uganda brought new problems.

His policies were disastrous. Oboteʼs ʻdictatorshipʼ began in 1966. It soon became associated with corruption, hunger, repression, brutality and torture. Racist persecution of Indian businesses disguised as economic policy was utilised too. The persecution of Indians would be taken a step further by Oboteʼs eventual successor, Idi Amin.

Plots and Counter-plots

There was nobody else to blame if things fell apart and how trustworthy were the army and Amin? Obote would discover the cost of abandoning popular support before long. He had to rely on repression and that made him dependent on the army and that would prove to be no solution. He did not know who he could trust.

In 1969 he survived an assassination attempt. Obote was shot while addressing a party conference in Kampala. Before long another attempt on his life failed – a grenade was thrown, but did not explode. Obote reacted by seeing plots and counter-plots everywhere.

The Fatal Rift

Obote had made many enemies during his ruthless climb to the top. He had seen off many threats and emerged the head of a one-party state. He had purged opponents and subjected his people to brutal repression. His power had come at price. He had alienated his original support base and become more dependent on the army and Amin, but the assassination attempts had taken their toll.

He banned opposition parties and became even more repressive than before.

But he had cause to suspect that his protégé the Army Commander Major-General Amin could not be trusted any more. In the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on Obote at the party conference Amin could not be located by Brigadier Pierino Okoya. This was extraordinary and outraged Okoya. Shortly afterwards he angrily denounced Amin.

A month later Brigadier Okoya and his wife were assassinated outside their home on January 25^th 1970. The evidence pointed to Amin. The suspected assassins Captain Smuts Guwedeko and Warrant Officer Geoffrey Kasule were arrested, but never stood trial. They were subsequently released from prison and promoted after Amin seized power.

Many of those involved in the investigation were killed during Aminʼs reign of terror. 45 years on the murders of Pierino and Anna Okoya remain unsolved – almost certainly those crimes will never be resolved. Obote suspected Amin was responsible.

Too Little Too Late

Another assassination attempt failed as the Vice-Presidentʼs car was riddled with bullets by mistake. Obote reacted by promoting people from rival areas to Amin and creating a special paramilitary force. Amin insisted that he was loyal, but the writing was on the wall.

Obote had switched sides in the Sudanese wars away from South Sudanese rebels to the government of Gafaar Nimeiry. Amin friendly with Israel, who backed the rebels and trained Ugandaʼs military, continued to support the rebels, despite Oboteʼs change of policy.

Too late Obote discovered that he had adopted monstrous policies and nurtured a viper. It would not be long before he tasted the venom of his former protégé.

Consolidation

The defeat of the Kabaka (ruler of the Kingdom of Buganda) Mutesa II neutralised both him and also his party Kabaka Yekka. Defections from it to the Uganda Peopleʼs Congress ended Mutesaʼs influence and the relevance of his party at least for the time being. The Democratic Party also suffered defections. Uganda was on its way to becoming a one-party state, but Ugandan Prime Minister Milton Obote was still a long way from ultimate power, as divisions in the Uganda Peopleʼs Congress reappeared.

Obote still had some way to go to see off all the threats. His political astuteness had outmanoeuvred Mutesa II. The Democratic Party was no longer a threat to win elections, but dissenters in the ruling Uganda Peopleʼs Congress were the new threat, or rather they were an old threat emboldened to take on Obote. They were gifted an opportunity in early 1966 through the carelessness of Oboteʼs military protégé, a then Colonel Idi Amin.

An African Tyrant

The outstanding leader of the Congoʼs liberation struggle from Belgium Patrice Lumumba had been murdered on January 17^th 1961 after being delivered to Katangan secessionists by his former protégé Joseph Désiré Mobutu. Shorn of its gifted leader the Congo-Léopoldville as it then was soon descended into chaos, which was exploited by Mobutu to seize power through a coup dʼétat.

Mobutuʼs coup had the tacit support of the Western powers due to Cold War politics. That decision left the Congolese people suffering the tender mercies of the despot for three decades. Armed opposition included Pierre Mulele, Nicholas Olenga and future President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Laurent-Désiré Kabila.

Opposition to Mobutu was organised in Africa if that is the right word, as it was incredibly disorganised. Che Guevara despaired of the lack of organisation by Kabila. Nevertheless, African leaders, including Obote quickly saw the danger Mobutu posed and conspired with Congolese opposition to oust him forcibly. Aminʼs carelessness gave Oboteʼs opponents in the Uganda Peopleʼs Congress their chance.

No Confidence

Congo was rich in resources. It was soon plundered by both sides. Mobutuʼs corrupt and brutal kleptocracy all but ruined the country. Kabila, like other armed opponents trafficked ivory and gold – they had little choice to fund their struggle. Obote chose to support Olenga, but it soon backfired.

Amin deposited a gold bar stamped by the Congolese government into his personal account in 1966. It was brazen. The account was credited with $17,000. Oboteʼs opponents had their opportunity.

They discovered that Obote had used the Ugandan army, especially Colonel Amin to interfere in the crisis in the Congo. Amin claimed that the money had been used to purchase weapons from the Chinese for General Olenga, but Olenga said that he never received them. That enabled Oboteʼs opponents to accuse Amin and Obote among others of corruption, aided and abetted by Olengaʼs claims. Amin said the weapons had been bought, but were intercepted in Kenya.

Oboteʼs Coups

Oboteʼs opponents in the Uganda Peopleʼs Congress took advantage while he was away from Kampala. The vote of no confidence was near unanimous, but Obote outmanoeuvred the partyʼs General Secretary Grace Iginbira and her allies by staging a coup against his own government, arrested his party opponents and imposed a new constitution without debate or a vote. He concentrated powers in the Prime Ministerʼs Office and took away the autonomy of the regional kingdoms.

Faced with dissent in Buganda from the Kabaka, Obote sent in troops under Aminʼs command to subdue the opposition, which Amin did once Obote lost patience and demanded results. The Kabaka Mutesa II escaped and fled into exile. The Constitution, dividing Buganda into four districts, imposed martial law. Obote had outmanoeuvred his opponents – now he had to deliver without opponents to out-muscle or blame if things went wrong.