Milton Obote

Apollo Milton Opeto Obote (Akokoro, December 28, 1925 - Johannesburg, October 10, 2005) was a Ugandan politician, president of the Republic of Uganda on two occasions; the first period of them between 1966 and 1971, and the second between 1980 and 1985.

Political beginnings

He began his political career with Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya, after being denied an opportunity to study law in the United States by the British who presided over the colonial government of Uganda. Back in his country, he founded the Uganda National Congress (CNU) in 1955, to fight politically for independence. In 1958 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the country, still under British rule. In 1959 the CNU fractured, and Obote became head of the splinter Uganda People's Congress (CPU) party, which attempted to primarily represent the interests of the Acholi and Lango peoples, along with restricting the power of the southern kingdom of Buganda, under the King Mutesa II. After several years as leader of the opposition, Obote formed a coalition with Buganda, and was elected prime minister in 1961. In this position Obote became involved in gold smuggling, alongside Idi Amin. In 1966, when Parliament demanded an investigation into Obote and the ouster of Amin, Obote suspended the 1962 Constitution and arrested several members of his cabinet, stormed the Royal Palace, and forced Mutesa II to abdicate and go into exile, proclaiming a new Constitution. provisional that established a centralized republican state and abolished the monarchy and the federal state. He declared himself President of Uganda.

First presidency and exile

Parliament became a Constituent Assembly and drafted a new Constitution that came into force on September 8, 1967, which declared Obote President of Uganda for a period of 5 years. His government was accused of being authoritarian and corrupt. He implemented the persecution of some ethnic minorities and carried out a bloody repression against any type of dissent ^{[ citation needed ] . He decided to distance himself from the United Kingdom and condemned the apartheid of South Africa and Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe), later he would condemn the South African invasion of Namibia. In 1971 he was overthrown by the military coup led by his own collaborator, Idi Amin.}

He went into exile in Tanzania, where he was welcomed due to his good relations with the then president of that country, Julius Nyerere. The Amin regime, in power in Uganda, decided to invade Tanzania. The Tanzanian country, which had a vastly superior army, quickly countered the attack and intervened in Uganda, overthrowing Idi Amin. This was taken advantage of by Obote to take power again in 1980, through electoral fraud.

Second presidency

By taking power again, he allowed the revenge of the victims of Amin's regime of terror. His repressive policy revived the civil war already started by Amin, and in the midst of which guerrilla groups emerged that attacked his government, such as those led by Yoweri Museveni, who used Tutsi refugees to fight him. This and other factors led to Uganda entering directly into the conflicts in Rwanda and Zaire.

Second exile and death

In 1985, Obote was overthrown by Bazilio and Tito Okello. After this he went into exile in Zambia. For years it was rumored that he would return to politics, until in August 2005 he announced his decision to resign as leader of the CPU. In September 2005 it was said that he would return to Uganda before the end of the year.

On October 10, Obote died in a hospital in Johannesburg.

A state funeral, presided over by President Museveni, was held in Kampala, to the astonishment of many Ugandans, as the two were bitter rivals.

On November 28, his wife Miria Kalule was elected president of the CPU.