Milton Obote

Milton Obote was born at Akokoro village in Apac district in northern Uganda. He was the third born of nine children[3] of a tribal chief of the Oyima clan 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. Having intended to study law, a subject not taught at the university, Obote took a general arts course, including English and geography.[4] At Makerere, Obote honed his natural oratorical skills; he may have been expelled for participating in a student strike, or alternatively left after a place to study law abroad was not funded by the protectorate government.[5] 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 national 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.[6] 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 25 April 1962, appointed by Sir Walter Coutts, then Governor-General of Uganda. The following year the position of Governor-General was replaced by a ceremonial presidency to be elected by the parliament. Mutesa, the Kabaka (King) of Buganda, became the ceremonial President, with Obote as executive prime minister.[4]

From left to right: Grace Ibingira, Obote, and John Kakonge in 1962

In January 1964, a mutiny occurred at the military barracks at Jinja, Uganda's second city and home to the 1st Battalion of the Uganda Army. There were similar mutinies in two other eastern African states; all three countries requested the support of troops from the British military. Before they arrived, however, Obote sent his defence minister Felix Onama to negotiate with the mutineers. Onama was held hostage, and agreed to many demands, including significant pay increases for the army, and the rapid promotion of many officers, including the future president Idi Amin.[4] In 1965, Kenyans had been barred from leadership positions within the government, and this was followed by the removal of Kenyans en masse from Uganda in 1969, under Obote's guidance.[7]

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. Obote responded with an armed attack upon Mutesa's palace, which ended with Mutesa fleeing to exile. In 1967, Obote's power was cemented when the parliament passed a new constitution that abolished the federal structure of the independence constitution and created an executive presidency.

After his second removal from power, Obote fled to Kenya 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.[15] In September 2005, it was reported that Obote would return to Uganda before the end of 2005.[16] On 10 October 2005, Obote died of kidney failure in a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa.[17]

Milton Obote's grave

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 because he and Museveni had been bitter rivals.[18] Other groups, such as the Baganda survivors of the Luweero Triangle massacres, were bitter that Obote was given a state funeral.[19]

He was survived by his wife and five children. On 28 November 2005, his wife Miria Obote was elected UPC party president.[20]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Milton Obote.

• Adhola, Yoga. "The Roots, Emergence, and Growth of the Uganda Peoples Congress, 1600–1985".
• Adoko, Akena (c. 1983). From Obote to Obote. New Delhi: Vikas.
• Adoko, Akena (c. 1985). Gold Crisis. New Delhi: Vikas.
• Bloch, J.; Fitzgerald, P. (1982). British Intelligence and Covert Action: Africa, Middle East, and Europe since 1945. Dublin: Brandon. ISBN 0-86322-035-5.
• De la Rue, Andre (March 1967). "The Rise and fall of Grace Ibingira". The New African: radical. Cape Town.
• Gertzel, Cherry (1974). Party and Locality in Northern Uganda, 1945–1962. London: Athlone Press. ISBN 0-485-17616-5.
• Hancock, I. (April 1970). "The Buganda Crisis of 1964". African Affairs. 69 (275): 109–123. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a095989.
• Hutton, Pat; Bloch, Jonathan (1979). "How the West Established Idi Amin and Kept Him There". In Ray, E. (ed.). The CIA in Africa: Dirty Work. Secaucus, New Jersey: Lyle Stuart. ISBN 0-8184-0294-6.
• Hebditch, D.; Connor, K. (2005). How to Stage a Military Coup: From Planning to Execution. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-640-3.
• Ingham, Keneth (1994). Obote: A Political Biography. London/New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-05342-0.
• Martin, David (1974). General Amin. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 0-571-10585-8.
• Mittelman, James (1975). Ideology and Politics in Uganda: From Obote to Amin. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-0946-2.
• Mujaju, A. B. (October 1987). "The Gold Allegations Motion and Political Development in Uganda". African Affairs. 86 (345): 479–504. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a097945.
• Nyeko, Balam (1996). Uganda. ABC-Clio Inc. ISBN 1-85109-243-9.
• Obote, A. M. (16 November 1968). Myths and Realities – A Letter to a London Friend. Kampala (Uganda): African Publishers.
• Onyango Obbo, Charles (9 October 2001). "Root of Discontent: The Untold Story Of The Failed 1969 Obote Assassination (Part 1)". The Monitor. Kampala.
• Sathyamurthy, T. V. (c. 1986). The Political Development of Uganda: 1900–1986. Aldershot, UK/Brookfield, Vermont: Gower. ISBN 0-566-05247-4.
• Smith, Ivan (1980). Ghosts of Kampala. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-32662-9.