OBOTE: The Enigma of a Man 1

OBOTE: The Enigma of a Man 1

There is an enigma that often times goes unnoticed in the life of President Dr. Appollo Milton Obote. The disjoint is particularly around the relationship skill of Dr. Milton Apollo Obote RIP. On the surface, he seemed to have great relationship skills with Presidents within the continent as evidenced by the fact that the Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere would host him in the period he was in exile in 1972 after his overthrow by Idi Amin; least we forget Kenneth Kaunda  the Zambian President that hosted him after his second removal from power by General Tito Okello Lutwa.  The second coup d’etat intriguing in that he fled to Kenya under the protection of  Daniel Arap Moi and later crossed over to Zambia where for some years, it was rumoured that he would return to Ugandan politics until his death in 2005. 

It’s possible to miss the eye that the two overthrows by Amin in Obote I and Tito Okello in Obote II by Tito Okello were executed by his right-hand men that he believed served him loyally to death. The fiercely loyal scene could be best described when Obote sent Amin on a private mission in 1965 in DRC to support the Simba rebel fighting the government of Mobutu Joseph. In exchange the rebels paid Amin in looted gold, coffee and ivory from Congo on behalf of Obote.

The opposition would soon learn about Amin’s illegal mission and the proceeds from the sales of the gold and ivory he had banked into an Ottman bank worth £ 3M (present day £88M). Over the months, this project was under covered by the parliament with a lot of evidence including bank statements presented to the house and Obote still protected Amin to death. Obote dismissed the idea of suspending Amin and opted to set up a commission of inquiry. To add salt to the injury, Obote appointed Amin as the new Army Commander replacing Brigadier. Shaban Opolot amidst all this chaos. He further assigned Amin with the responsibility to prepare a special task force that would later attack the 1966 Kabaka Palace living close to 1500 people dead.

That was how fiercely loyal Amin was to Obote but it would surprise you that he still betrayed him in 1971 coup d’etat. The million-dollar question is why they would such loyal cadre betray his leader all over a sudden? I guess it would be important to understand one of the shades underneath the man Obote for starters.

A story is told about an encounter that Abu Mayanja, one of the founding Uganda National Congress (UNC) had with Obote. Mayanja was a law school graduate, charismatic and a political genius. He seemed to be at the zenith of his political career when he welcomed Obote into the party (UNC) before independence on his return from Kenya and moved with him throughout Uganda’s provinces establishing new UNC branches. It’s believed he was more prominent than Obote and likely to have been the first President of Uganda if Obote didn’t make up a ploy to convince him into joining Mengo and fighting for UNC from within the Mengo establishment. This is an act that would kickstart Mayanja’s political tumble for no sooner had Abu Mayanja crossed than Obote took center stage to mud sling him for the move painting him as a traitor against the future of the UNC. This would be one of the most grievous mistakes Mayanja did as he forfeited the national politics where he had gained limelight.

Kakonge John: He was the first Secretary General for the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) immediately after Independence. In 1964 at the UPC Party Conference retreat in Gulu, Obote demoted him as the party Secretary General and replaced him with Grace Ibingira. It is believed he did this because Kakonge was more popular than many of the leading UPC members like Obote – a threat to his political ambitions. However, unaware to him the man he had appointed would be the one to push the vote of no confidence motion in him as President of Uganda during the Congo Gold scandal in Parliament demanding Obote arrest and investigation of involvement. 

Idi Amin Dada – Amin rose through the ranks in the army and was so close to Obote that he promoted him to Dept. Army Commander because he wasn’t well studied rough and crude in his methods. Historians believe he did this because he considered Amin illiterate and ignorant an act he would come to regret after Obote I for his naivety. 

Amin used his position as army commander to recruit his tribesmen loyal to him. He stealthy recruited some of them into the General Service Unit – a special paramilitary organisation directly accountable to Obote. He also recruited several Sudanese and Congolese into the National Army facilitating them from the sales from the loot he acquired from the Simba rebels. He cemented close ties with the Israeli and British intelligence that by the time Obote realised it was a little late as any move would split the army.

On 19 Dec 1969, Obote narrowly survived an assassination as he attended the party delegates conference at Lugogo. He was rushed to Mulago Hospital. Amin was the first suspect as he was absent at the meeting and given the past feud, they had with each other. Military officers were sent to go arrest Amin, but he ran through the back door to resurface at a meeting of senior army officers and was queried. Their misunderstanding would continue for a year until January 1971 when Obote flew out to Singapore for a Commonwealth conference leaving behind a memorandum to Amin requesting him to account for funds and proved himself innocence in his connection to the death of a senior army officer. This is when Amin saw that as an opportunity to overthrow his government and overthrow, he did on 25 January 1971

A quick flip above into the life of Obote before independence reveals he was a Machiavellian character for lack of a better word like most politicians. He was good at manipulating people and his skills embraced various strategies ranging from deception concealment false promises and threats. He was an accomplished conspirator and shameless operator when it came to power. He never desired anyone to outshine him or be the center of focus other than him from day one. This is clear in these cases whereas he had friends internationally he failed to build important relationships with the staff within his command. It’s no surprise that he was overthrow by loyalists in both regimes as they were uncertain of their fate basing on the past experience, they had with him. If he could back stab his close loyal colleagues in the past, the handwriting was clear on the wall, there was no need for a prophet as it was deducible that they were up next for betrayal with a man dealing with libido domenia. Animal instincts kicked in – survival for the fittest. Every man for himself and God for us all.