Prime
Remembering July 27, 1985, and July 27, 2006
Author: Harold Acemah. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- ‘‘What I saw confirmed rumours which had been making rounds for weeks”
July 27 reminds me every year of two significant events. One event is personal and the other event is political in nature.
On July 27, 2006, my dear father, Rev Canon Enoka Yada (RIP), went to be with the Lord. Although 15 years have elapsed since that sad day, at the back of my mind it seems like yesterday. I thank God for my father, for comforting and watching over us since 2006.
I am grateful to my father for his love for us, his children and grandchildren, his example which has guided and inspired me throughout my life and, above all, for his witness as a Christian leader of the Church of Uganda. May his soul rest in eternal peace!
The political event happened on July 27, 1985, and this year marks the 36th anniversary of the violent overthrow of the 2nd UPC administration led by President Milton Obote (RIP) who is, in my opinion, the first, the best and most patriotic president of post-colonial Uganda.
The reactionary and ill-advised military coup d’etat which took place on July 27, 1985, was led by Gen Tito Okello Lutwa (RIP) and Gen Bazilio Olara Okello (RIP).
The coup divided and weakened the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) whose commander was Gen Tito Okello and the chief of staff was Brig Smith Opon Acak.
July 27, 1985, began as a bright, normal and peaceful Saturday, but that day ended in chaos and turmoil. It’s a day I will never forget and lives in my memory as if the events of that tragic day occurred only yesterday. It was a day things fell apart in Uganda.
The events of that infamous day paved the way for another military coup which took place on January 25, 1986, and brought to power the corrupt, decadent and incompetent NRM regime which has done enormous and lasting damage to the body politic, economy, moral fibre and nation-building efforts of Uganda.
Saturday was a shopping day for my family and we planned to go to Nakasero market and Kololo shopping centre to buy groceries and household items for the following week.
Just before we left home, my then young daughter Brenda Adoch Acemah, who was playing with her friends outside rushed to me and said, “Daddy people are running” and what I saw confirmed rumours which had been making rounds for weeks about an impending coup. The rest is history.
Lessons learnt
The underlying cause of the July 27, 1985, military coup was not ideological, but ethnic chauvinism. According to records of a stormy meeting of elders convened by president Obote at Nile Hotel (now Kampala Serena Hotel) in June 1985 to reconcile senior UNLA officers, it was clear that the ruling elite of that day was sharply divided along tribal lines.
Only two Acholi officials at the meeting sided with Obote, namely then prime minister Otema Allimadi and then minister of Power, Mr Akena p’Ojok. Before the meeting broke up acrimoniously, Obote warned of dire consequences for the Acholi people and region if Acholi officers overthrew what he called “the UPC government.” I believe the 20-year insurgency in northern Uganda is the dire consequence Obote feared.
If the 1985 coup had not happened, the original NRA would never have grabbed power in 1986. Tribalism is a curse which must be eradicated urgently for the sake of good governance, political stability, national unity and economic prosperity in Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Africa.
I tell you, African leaders who are shamelessly fanning the flames of tribalism, nepotism and division are playing with fire. May the Lord have mercy!
Mr Acemah is a political scientist and retired career diplomat.
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