Tragedy and Farce

Milton Obote had regained power as a result of the Commission headed by Paulo Muwanga declaring him the winner of the December 1980 elections. Many believed that the poll was rigged. Yoweri Museveni returned to guerrilla warfare to bring down Obote’s government. Muwanga’s decision to join Obote’s cabinet as Vice-President justified Museveni’s decision.

In his first term Obote was intolerant of opposition. Dissent was seen as a personal betrayal. His policies and actions isolated him, making him vulnerable for overthrow. His protégé Idi Amin, proved to be one of the continent’s most brutal dictators. That paved the way for Obote’s return, but Obote’s flaws had not deserted him. They had become worse in some ways.

Obote had been betrayed once – he feared treachery. The notorious Luzira Prison and others were filled with opponents. Torture was rife. It appeared that Obote had learned nothing from his previous overthrow. Nor had his régime. Muwanga’s Nile Mansion Office was notorious. A summons to it was to be feared, but Muwanga sometimes interceded for those about to be arrested if asked to. Nevertheless, he was feared.

Injustice

Opposing Obote or even Muwanga came at a price and there was the corruption that had overtaken the criminal justice system too.

No case illustrates that pervasive corruption better than the appalling miscarriage of justice suffered by Mpagi Edward Edmary and his cousin Fred Masembe. Police and a pathologist conspired to allow William Wandyaka and his family to pervert the course of justice. Edmary and Masembe were wrongfully convicted in 1982 of the murder of Wandyaka – a crime that had not occurred.

A year later their appeal was dismissed. Masembe fell victim to malaria. He was denied medication by the prison authorities – why waste resources and medicine on a man they were going to execute anyway? Edmary and Masembe appealed for clemency which was denied.

They could have been judicially murdered at any time, but there was a problem – a huge one. Not only were Edmary and Masembe innocent, but the supposed murder victim William Wandyaka was in fact alive and well throughout their ordeal. They were victims of a corrupt judicial and political system. It cost Masembe his life – a crime Edmary had to watch, but was powerless to prevent.

Photo of Mpagi Edward Edmary courtesy of Scott Langley.

The Sudan Problem

Obote quickly faced rebellion. Museveni had returned to the armed struggle – this time against his former ally – and two years into his term Civil War broke out in Sudan again. Sudan had played a role in his downfall, as some took advantage of Amin’s ties to southern-Sudan to join the Ugandan army.

They were involved in Amin’s atrocities against Ugandan citizens. Obote never forgot nor forgave it. Inevitably the Sudanese conflict affected the north of Uganda as well. It continued despite changes in government, especially in Sudan. Gafaar Nimeiry was overthrown in a military coup. The governments that followed were unable to resolve the issues. Uganda echoed Sudan’s experience too as both countries militarily affected each other’s affairs. That continued until further coups in both contries brought Omar al-Bashir and Yoweri Museveni to power in 1989. A year later both signed non-aggression pact in Kampala.

The Seeds of Discontent

Muwanga was an influential and powerful man behind Obote’s throne. He had powers of life and death. Muwanga wasn’t all bad. Even the opposition say that he occasionally interceded and secured the release of prisoners that they [the opposition] were concerned about. Nevertheless, Muwanga wielded considerable power and an accusation of helping Museveni from him came at high price.

Obote’s second term left many victims, dead, maimed, falsely imprisoned, fearing when the security forces would come for them. Suffice to say, the human rights abuses were legion. Having been overthrown by his former protégé, Idi Amin, Obote was slow to trust and very quick to see plots against him. Some were genuine, others not, but Obote had learned little from his first overthrow. Indeed, he sewed the seeds of his second overthrow. After the brutality of Amin, this was inexcusable.

The Temporary President

With the Bush War nearing its end Idi Amin fled into exile, claiming that his 1979 ouster would lead to a return to colonialism. Dr Yusuf Lule was chosen to lead the country by the Ugandan National Liberation Front (UNLF), even though he had played only a small role in Aminʼs overthrow.

However, Lule was to become the definition of interim. He arrived in a Mercedes bearing the British rather than Ugandan flag and retained power for under ten weeks. It was the shortest Presidency ever – just 68 days.

Lule was chosen to unite Ugandans – necessary after Amin. Nevertheless, his Presidency made history for all the wrong reasons, but he almost had a second chance. His Uganda Freedom Fighters joined forces with Yoweri Museveniʼs Popular Resistance Army in 1981 to form the National Resistance Army, but he died shortly afterwards and was succeeded by Museveni who led a five-year long guerrilla campaign.

Both Milton Obote and Amin before him had confiscated property from Asians and expelled them. Lule refused to reverse this policy. Lule governed through the National Consultative Commission (NCC), but fatally underestimated where real power lay – Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere, Paulo Muwanga, later to become President for a few days and the UNLF.

Coups

Lule tried to usher in reform of the military, which was seen by veterans of the liberation struggle as punishing them. A coup removed him from power in June 1979 and replaced him with Professor Edward Rugumayo, but faced with riots he was rapidly replaced with Godfrey Binaisa.

Meanwhile, Lule was exiled to Tanzania, where he was placed under house arrest. He was allowed to leave for treatment in London and finally died there. Almost a year after Lule was overthrown Binaisa suffered the same fate – the coup that toppled his government was carried out by Muwanga, Museveni, David Oyite-Ojok and Tito Okello.

The Return of Obote

Muwanga was installed as President for a few days before the Presidential Commission of Uganda was established. That Commission was chaired by Muwanga and oversaw elections, which gave Nyerere the result that he wanted – the return of Obote.

Muwanga declared that Obote had won the elections that were held in December 1980. Museveni did not accept the decision and began a guerrilla war against Oboteʼs government. Muwanga would later pay a price for his decision when Museveni toppled Oboteʼs second and last administration in 1985. Muwanga was jailed for kidnap. He was released a few months before his subsequent death.

After announcing the contested result in Oboteʼs favour Muwanga became Ugandaʼs Vice-President. Sadly, his second coming as President showed that Obote had learned little from the mistakes that plagued his first term and eventually would lead to the same end.

Crimes Against Humanity

In January 1971 Idi Amin, the Commander of the Army overthrew the President Milton Obote. Amin was greeted as a liberator at first, but behind the buffoonery, a vicious tyrant ruled with bestial cruelty. Estimates on the casualties vary from at least 100000 to almost half a million during Aminʼs killing fields.

Milton Obote had been deposed and was in exile in Tanzania. His supporters joined him there. Ugandan Asians were fortunate, if that is the right word. Their businesses and savings were seized and they were expelled – many came to Britain, but the nightmare to come eclipsed their suffering. Africans paid with their lives, but the solution, albeit a temporary one was African in origin too.

Amin was not satisfied with murder. The bodies of victims such as Godfrey Kigala, among others were savagely mutilated after death. The price of opposition was very high indeed – even higher than under his former mentor Milton Obote. The bodies of Aminʼs victims were cut open and internal organs used and abused.

Amin inherited and revamped the machinery of repression that he inherited from Obote. That machinery was cleansed of Obote loyalists – many were slaughtered after being imprisoned by Amin – and then utilised to maintain the terror. Torture, murder, disappearances and much more were rife in Aminʼs Uganda.

Decline

Tanzaniaʼs President had granted asylum to Obote and his supporters and its President Julius Nyerere was Oboteʼs friend. Obote led the opposition and planned a return to power. Meanwhile, Amin grew to like the taste of power, clinging to it for eight years. It had to be prised loose from his grasp, but not before the tyranny resumed. Tales of Aminʼs cruelty are rife.

At first Amin was pro-western, maintaining very friendly relations with Israel. Britain also broke off diplomatic relations in 1977. Relations with his neighbour President Nyerere started badly and got worse. He later shifted his political allegiances, but Ugandaʼs economy stagnated. Relations with Nyerere continued to deteriorate – ultimately that would cost Amin power.

Fall

Nyerere would prove to be an obdurate opponent of Amin who contributed in no small measure to the overthrow of Aminʼs bestial regime. So too did Idi Amin himself. On October 9^th 1978 Aminʼs troops invaded Tanzania in an attempt to annex the province of Kagera from Ugandaʼs neighbour. It was an insult that Nyerere understandably would not tolerate.

Tanzaniaʼs war aims were limited to the recovery of the seized territory, but Nyerere decided that extending the war aims to overthrow Amin was a ʻJust Warʼ. History has judged Nyerereʼs intervention kindly. After eight months of fighting the Tanzanian army ousted Amin with help from Ugandan guerrillas, including the current President Yoweri Musseveni.

The Winter of the Despot

Their triumph exposed the crimes that the despot had committed. Amin should have been brought to justice at the International Court of Justice.¹ Even with military assistant provided by the then Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, he was overthrown on April 11^th 1979. He fled to Libya, remaining there until 1980.

Amin then left Libya for Saudi Arabia and was given asylum and a generous stipend to stay out of politics by Saudi Arabiaʼs King Khalid. Amin never faced trial. Despite his promise, Amin tried and failed to regain power in 1989, ironically being forced to abandon his plans by an even worse despot Joseph Mobutu (Mobutu Sese Seko).

Amin was forced to return to Jeddah. Despite breaking his word, Saudi Arabia took him back. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni refused pleas from one of his wives for him to be allowed to return to Uganda to die. Museveni said that Amin returned he would have to answer for his crimes. Amin died on August 16^th 2003. He remains one of the worldʼs most reviled dictators.

The Liberator?

Ugandans had suffered bestial regimes before and since. Like Caligula before him, the late and unlamented dictator Idi Amin enjoyed a brief honeymoon period in Uganda and even elsewhere. Aminʼs name is now a byword for corruption and brutality. According to human rights organisations between 100,000 to half a million Ugandans were slaughtered during his eight-year reign of terror.

In January 1971 Amin was welcomed as a liberator, when his coup against the President was announced. But Amin had flourished under his predecessor Milton Obote until the second President of Uganda turned on his military commander, demoting him to army commander. The coup dʼétat occurred when Amin heard that Obote intended to have him arrested. While Obote was out of the country at a Commonwealth Heads of State summit in Singapore, Amin pounced.

He said that he was a soldier, not a politician and had no intention of clinging to power. Amin told the Ugandan people that he would call elections as soon as the situation was normalised. He also promised to release all political prisoners.

Ripe

Little did Ugandans know at the time that they had replaced one dictator for another – a worse one, but few shed tears for Obote. The deposed President was far from an angel. After an assassination attempt in 1969 Obote declared a State of Emergency. Repression, torture and jailing of dissidents transformed Obote into a dictator, ripe for overthrow. Obote had given his former protégé the pretext he needed.

Obote’s policies contributed to the economic malaise. The government took majority stakes in banks and businesses, but without tackling rampant corruption. The persecution of Indian traders – a policy adopted by Amin, who expelled them from Uganda – contributed to the economic quagmire and political crisis. Political persecution and repression destroyed his popularity – Obote was on borrowed time. It ran out in January 1971.

Overthrow

Millton Obote had sewn the seeds of his own downfall. His first reign had seen the promise of independence, achieved by Uganda on October 9^th 1962, give way to one-party rule. Obote outmanoeuvred the Kabaka Yekka and the Democratic Party before turning on dissenters in his own party the Uganda Peopleʼs Congress. He ruled by decree and concentrated more and more power in his own hands.

Paranoia was mixed in with real fears. Serious assassination attempts failed to claim his life. The repression, torture and jailing of opponents was followed by banning other parties and further imprisonment and violation of basic human rights. Meanwhile, the economy stagnated. Obote distrusted his military protégé Idi Amin with good cause, even before Amin made his grab for power.

Nevertheless, Obote failed to realise the extent of his unpopularity and the danger it posed. He left for a summit meeting of Heads of State in the Commonwealth in Singapore in January 1971. On January 25^th 1971 Obote was deposed.

Honeymoon and Exile

Like Caligula before him Idi Amin enjoyed a honeymoon period. Obote had described himself as a socialist. His policies were unpopular both inside Uganda and in the West. Britain, the former colonial power was accused of complicity in Aminʼs coup. Amin was portrayed as a buffoon – humorous even – but that hid a darker truth. Amin was a sociopath.

However, Oboteʼs unpopularity led to Amin being welcomed as a liberator. He assured Ugandans that he was not interested in power. He was a soldier not a politician. He would restore democracy as soon as possible. But Amin quickly grew to like the taste of power.

Obote, meanwhile, had to get used to a new reality. He wasnʼt Ugandaʼs ʻkingʼ any more. He could not brook dissent let alone opposition. His hubris had brought him and more importantly his country and people to disaster, but still Obote could see specks in the eyes of others, but not the mote in his own.

His friend, the Tanzanian President, Julius Nyerere, gave him asylum. He was joined by supporters and prepared for a triumphant return once Ugandans and the world realised that Idi Amin was far more than a buffoon, he was a despot – one of the worst tyrants Africa had ever produced. But that would take almost a decade and would owe more to Aminʼs greater hubris than to Oboteʼs skilful leadership.

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.

Independence Struggle

Milton Obote died in 2005 aged 80. Even in death he polarised opinion. To colleagues he was a great man. To others he was a ruthless and unrepentant tyrant, responsible for many deaths and brutal repression. His legacy is a complicated one. Obote played a huge role in Ugandaʼs post-colonial development and history.

He was an important figure in Ugandaʼs independence struggle, but so was his erstwhile ally the Kabaka (King) of Buganda, which was one of the Kingdoms that made up pre-colonial Uganda. Religious, regional and other divisions were left simmering beneath the surface when Uganda was colonised. They emerged again during the independence struggle and in post-independence Uganda.

Mutesa II, sometimes referred to as King Freddie (Major-General Sir Edward Frederick William David Walugembe Mutebi Luwangula Mutesa II) played an important role in Ugandan independence. He became the Kabaka in 1939 aged just 15. He was transformed into a pivotal figure of the independence movement by the response of the British Governor Sir Andrew Cohen to Mutesaʼs demand to separate Buganda from the rest of the protectorate of Uganda.

King Freddie opposed the British plan to unite its East African colonies into one country. The plan was abandoned. Mutesa II was unpopular until his demand resulted in his deportation. That made him a martyr and the failure to replace with a compliant leader resulted in his eventual return more powerful than he had been before he was ousted.

Independence – Divisions

Prior to colonisation, the country now known as Uganda was divided on political, tribal and religious grounds. These resurfaced after independence was obtained in 1962. Under British rule Catholics fared worse than the Protestant élite. There were economic, political and regional divisions as well – a far from unusual situation in the decolonisation process in Africa.

Post independence had three political parties. Obote emerged as the dominant force of a divided Uganda Peopleʼs Congress, while Kabaka Yekka (King Only) was Mutesaʼs vehicle and the Democratic Party represented Catholic interests. Despite winning the election, the Democratic Party was squeezed out of power by Mutesa and Obote allying to exclude them. Mutesa became the first President of Uganda with Obote the Prime Minister. The alliance within his own party was difficult, but Obote held the party together.

The Slippery Slope

A humiliating situation followed in 1964 when junior soldiers mutinied for better pay and conditions and took a Minister hostage, forcing Obote to seek the help of the British to restore order. He acquiesced with all the mutineersʼ demands too, including faster promotions. Another low point was his choice of protégé in the military – a young junior officer who was fast-tracked – Idi Amin.

Political patronage followed and the army became a significant power-broker – a lesson that Obote would learn the hard way as his protégé turned on him and unleashed Ugandaʼs killing fields. But that was still a few years away after the mutiny. Later that year Oboteʼs patronage of opponents paid off too as enough joined him to enable him to dispense with Mutesa II.

The price was a plebiscite on whether land annexed by the British to the Kingdom of Buganda should be returned to the Kingdom of Bunyoro, which was itself annexed to Uganda three years later. Civil war was avoided and Mutesaʼs attempts at intimidating the vote defeated. His party was no longer needed and recriminations followed, leading to defections from Kabaka Yekka; the Democratic Party weakened by defections was also no longer an effective opposition. It would not be long before Obote made his move.