Apollo Milton Opeto Obote (December 28 1924 –
October 10 2005), Prime Minister of Uganda from 1962 to 1966 and President of Uganda from 1966
to 1971 and from 1980 to 1985, was a
Ugandan political leader who led Uganda to independence from the British colonial administration in 1962. He was overthrown by Idi Amin in 1971,
but regained power in 1980. His second rule was marred by repression, and the deaths of many
civilians as a result of a civil war known as the Ugandan Bush War.
Early life and first presidency
Milton Obote was born at Akokoro village in Apac district in northern Uganda. He was the son of
a local chief of the Lango ethnic group. He began his education in 1940 at the Protestant Missionary School in Lira, and later attended
Gulu Junior Secondary School, Busoga College and eventually
university at Makerere University. At Makerere, Obote honed his natural oratorial
skills, but was expelled for participating in a student strike (Obote claimed he left Makerere voluntarily[1]). He worked in Buganda in southern Uganda
before moving to Kenya, where he worked as a construction worker at an engineering firm. While in
Kenya, Obote became involved in the Kenyan independence movement. Upon returning to Uganda in 1956, he joined the political party
Uganda National Congress (UNC), and was elected to the colonial
Legislative Council in 1957.[2] In 1959, the UNC split into two factions, with one
faction under the leadership of Obote merging with Uganda People's Union to form the Uganda People's Congress (UPC).
In the runup to independence elections Obote formed a coalition with the Buganda royalist
party, Kabaka Yekka. The two parties controlled a Parliamentary majority and Obote became
Prime Minister in 1962. He assumed the post on April 25,
1962, with Sir Walter Coutts as Governor-General of Uganda. The following year the position of a British Governor
General was replaced by a ceremonial Presidency to be elected by Parliament. Mutesa, the Kabaka (King) of Buganda, became the
ceremonial President, with Obote as executive Prime Minister.
As prime minister, Obote was implicated in a gold smuggling
plot, together with Idi Amin, then deputy commander of the Ugandan armed forces. When the
Parliament demanded an investigation of Obote and the ousting of Amin, he suspended the
constitution and declared himself President in March 1966, allocating to
himself almost unlimited power under state-of-emergency rulings; Several members of his cabinet,
who were leaders of rival factions in the party, were arrested and detained without charge. In May the Buganda regional
Parliament passed a resolution declaring Buganda's incorporation into Uganda to be de jure null and void after the suspension of
the constitution. Obote responded with an armed attack upon Mutesa's palace, which ended with Mutesa fleeing into exile. In 1967
Obote cemented his power by getting Parliament to pass a new constitution which abolished the federal structure of the
independence constition and created an executive Presidency.
In 1969 there was an attempt on Obote's life. In the aftermath of the attempt all opposition political parties were banned,
leaving Obote as an effectively absolute ruler. The years of Obote's rule as President from 1966 to 1971 were on the whole quiet
years in Uganda's history. A state of emergency was in force for much of the time and many political opponents were jailed
without trial but life for ordinary citizens was quite uneventful. Economic growth was good for most of this time. In 1969-70
Obote published a series of pamphlets which were supposed to outline his political and economic policy. "The Common Man's
Charter" was a summary of his approach to socialism. A proposal on new election procedures was supposed to end tribalism
(allegiance to ancient nations which were incorporated into Uganda), this was interrupted by a coup and on Obote's return to
power was not mentioned again. The government took over a 51% share in major private corporations and banks in the country in
1970.
Obote's regime after 1966 was openly dependent on control of the army. Idi Amin, who sided with Obote in 1966, was rewarded by
promotion to Army commander, despite his near-illiteracy and the availability of trained officers. Starting in 1969 strains
became visible between the two. In January 1971 Obote was overthrown by the army while on a visit to Singapore, and Amin became
President. In the two years before the coup Obote's relations with the West had become strained. Published works on the coup have
asserted that Western Governments were at least aware of, and may have aided, the coup. (See George Ivan Smith "Ghosts of
Kampala" and Grace Ibingira "African Upheavals") Obote fled to Tanzania
Second term
In 1979, Idi Amin was ousted by Tanzanian forces aided by
Ugandan exiles. By 1980, Uganda was governed by an interim
Presidential Commission. At the time of the 1980 elections, the chairman of the commission was a close associate of Obote, Paulo Muwanga. Muwanga had briefly been the de facto President of Uganda from 12 May to 20
May in 1980. Muwanga was the third of three Presidents who served for short periods of time
between Amin's ouster and the setting up of the Presidential Commission. The other two presidents were Yusuf Lule and Godfrey Binaisa.
The elections in 1980 were won by Obote's Uganda
People's Congress (UPC) Party. However, the UPC Party's opposition believed that the elections were rigged and this led to
a guerrilla rebellion led by Yoweri
Museveni's National Resistance Army (NRA) and several other military
groups.
It has been estimated that approximately 100,000 people died as a result of fighting between Obote's Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) and the guerrillas.[3]
On 27 July 1985, Obote was deposed again. As in
1971, he was overthrown by his own army commanders in a military coup
d'état. This time the commanders were Brigadier Bazilio Olara-Okello and
General Tito Okello. The two men briefly ruled the country through a Military Council. But,
after a few months of near chaos, Museveni's NRA seized control of the country.
Death in exile
After his second removal from power, Obote fled to Tanzania and later to Zambia. For some years it was rumoured that he would return to Ugandan politics. In August 2005, however, he announced his intention to step down as leader of the UPC.[4] In September 2005, it was reported that
Obote would return to Uganda before the end of 2005.[5]
On October 10, 2005, Obote died of kidney failure in a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa.[6]
Milton Obote was given a state funeral, attended by president Museveni in the Ugandan
capital Kampala in October 2005, to the surprise and appreciation of many Ugandans, since he and
Museveni were bitter rivals.[7] Other groups, such as the
Baganda survivors of the "Luwero Triangle" massacres,
were bitter that Obote was given a state funeral.[8]
He was survived by his wife and five children. On November 28, his wife Miria Obote was elected UPC party president.[9]
References
- ^ I come from royal ancestry, Published in The Monitor
- ^ "The Roots, Emergence, and Growth of the Uganda Peoples Congress, 1600-1985", Yoga Adhola, UPC
Website
- ^ CIA Factbook -
Uganda
- ^ "Uganda's exiled ex-president Obote to retire from party's presidency", Xinhua,
August 28, 2005
- ^ "Uganda's exiled ex-president to return home before end of 2005", People's Daily
Online, September 2, 2005
- ^ [hghttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4328834.stm "Former Ugandan leader
Obote dies"], BBC, October 10, 2005
- ^ "Former foe mourns
Uganda's Obote", BBC, October 20, 2005
- ^ "A founding father adored, dreaded in equal measure", The Monitor
- ^ "Walking in
Obote’s shadow", Monitor, December 21, 2005
Further reading
- 'The Rise and Fall of Grace Ibingira," by Andre de la Rue published in the New African: the radical review, imprint Cape
Town, December 1966/207
- Obote--a political biography,” by Kenneth Ingham, published by Routledge, London & New York, 1994.
- "The Gold Allegations in Uganda," Mujaju, A.B. published by African Affairs, Volume 87 No. October, 1987.
- "Myths and Realities -- A Letter to a London Friend," (dated 16 November
1968) by A.M. Obote; published by African Publishers Ltd. Kampala, Uganda
- "British Intelligence and Covert Action: Africa, Middle East, and Europe since 1945," by Bloch, J. and Fitzgerald, P;
published by Brandon, Dublin 1982.
- "Party and Locality in Northern Uganda, 1945-1962," by Cherry Gertzel, published by Athelone Press, London,1974.
- "Notes on Concealment of Genocide in Uganda," by A. M.Obote, Lusaka, Zambia published on UPC website.
- "The Common Man's Charter," Entebbe by A.M. Obote published by The Government Printer, Entebbe, Uganda, 1969.
- "Time to Declare," by David Owen published by Viking Penguin, New York; M. Joseph, London; 1991.
- "General Amin," by David Martin published by Faber & Faber, London, 1974.
- "The Desecration of My Kingdom," by Edward Mutesa published by Constable, London, 1967.
- "How the West Established Idi Amin and Kept Him There," by Hutton, Pat & Bloch, Jonathan. in Ray, E. & others, "The
CIA in Africa: Dirty Work 2,"New Jersey, Lyle Stuart Inc, 1979.
- "Ghosts of Kampala," by George Ivan Smith; published by St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1980.
- "The political development of Uganda: 1900-1986" by T.V. Sathyamurthy; published by Aldershot, Hants, England; Brookfield,
Vt., USA: Gower, 1986.
- "Ideology and politics in Uganda: from Obote to Amin," by James H. Mittelman; published by Cornell University Press, Ithaca,
N.Y, 1975.
- "Apolo Milton Obote and his times," by A.G.G. Gingyera-Pinycwa; published by NOK Publishers, New York, 1978.
- "Thoughts of an African Leader, 'quotable quotes from the speeches of his Excellency, the President of Uganda, Dr Apolo
Milton Obote (compiled by the Education Department of Uganda Argus) published by Longman (Uganda) Ltd. Kampala, 1970.
- "Obote, second liberation," by Vijay Gupta, published by Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, 1983.
- "From Obote to Obote," by Akena Adoko; published by Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, 1983.
- "Gold Crisis in Uganda," by Akena Adoko; published by Vikas, New Delhi,1985.
- "The Making of a President, Uganda Style," by Edward R.F. Sheehan, New York Times Magazine, January 22, 1967 pages 36-37.
- "East Africa," volume 40 number 2 (1968)by William P. Lineburry; publisher: H.W. Wilson Company, New York.
- "The political leadership of Obote in Uganda and Nyerere in Tanzania," (M.A. Dissertation/thesis, Utah State University, USA,
1971) by Hassam, Bahdurali Ahmed.
- "Mazrui, A.A. "Leadership in Africa: Obote of Uganda," in International Journal, Volume One number 3 of June 1970.
External links
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