The murder that changed Uganda

The “IF” factor is important in Uganda’s history. Had Obote not abrogated the 1962 Constitution and triggered the 1966 crisis, Uganda might be different today. Similarly, had Ugandans voted for the Democratic Party in 1962 rather than the Uganda People’s Congress -Kabaka Yekka alliance, which consequently brought together Obote and Kabaka Edward Mutesa, the country might have taken a different path. How different, no one knows.

Mohsin contends that had Amin not murdered Okoya, Uganda might have been spared the years of “the troubles”, the killings, human rights abuses and the total disintegration of the economy. He believes the murder was a turning point in the country’s history. As he puts it, “That one murder fundamentally changed everything, forever.”

Exactly a year after the killings, on January 25, 1971, the army overthrew Obote. Amin became president and began purging the army and security forces, particularly the Acholi and Langi.

Mohamed was also targeted. He had investigated the gold and ivory smuggling scandal, the attempted assassination of Obote and the murder of Okoya and his wife. Amin’s name featured in these investigations.

Mohamed and two junior officers, SSP Wauyo and ASP Ochungi, were among those killed for investigating Amin.

Mohsin interviewed Indira Ghadia, Mohamed’s secretary and personal assistant, who recalled that several cases handled by her boss resulted in convictions.

“Even the Okoya case would have probably resulted in a conviction, as the evidence overwhelmingly implicated Idi Amin. Regrettably, the case never went on trial, as Amin overthrew the government before the case could be tried in court,” she said.

Ghadia travelled from London to attend the book launch.

Through interviews, Mohsin reconstructs his father’s final days. Eyewitness accounts describe about 700 prisoners, including his father, being transferred from Kampala to Mutukula Prison, where approximately 10 were shot every other day and buried in mass graves by fellow prisoners. Dr Charles Kwesiga, one of those involved in the burials, recounted the harrowing events at the launch.

During an attempted escape, a building where Mohamed was held was bombed. He emerged from the rubble, weakened by untreated diabetes, but a soldier struck him with a club and shot him.

Kwesiga and his team buried him in a mass grave. Orders later came from Kampala to exhume the body and transport it to the capital. After the body was recovered, it was shot twice in the back before being taken to Kampala. Authorities subsequently announced that Mohamed had been shot while attempting to escape from prison.

Of the 700 prisoners transferred to Mutukula, only 64 survived. Some who were released were later pursued and killed, although others escaped. Mohamed emerges from the book as a man shaped by displacement, duty and commitment to public service. His family, originally from India, was caught up in the turmoil surrounding independence and partition, ending up in Pakistan. After serving briefly in the Kenya Police, he found his professional calling in Uganda.

Mohsin’s achievement lies in telling his father’s story while reconstructing Uganda’s political history. He approaches the task not merely as a son seeking emotional closure, but as an investigator recovering suppressed history. The book thus brings together two investigators separated by time.

Mohamed followed evidence to establish the truth about crimes involving powerful people. Years later, Mohsin follows the traces his father left behind memories, records, testimonies and historical accounts to establish what happened to the investigator himself.

The irony is striking: a man who spent his professional life investigating other people’s crimes became the subject of an investigation by his own son.

Mohsin is not merely seeking to establish how his father died, but why he had to die and what his death reveals about Uganda’s political history. Mohamed’s story is not simply that of a policeman killed by a regime; it is about what happens when professional duty conflicts with political power.

Mohsin, therefore, takes up his father’s unfinished investigation, armed not with police authority and official files, but with memory, historical evidence and determination to answer questions history left unresolved.

Reading the book brings into focus a father’s pursuit of truth and a son’s pursuit of the truth about his father.

It is plausible that had Amin not murdered Okoya, events might have unfolded differently for both the Hassan family and Uganda. Equally, had Mohamed sensed the danger and fled, he might have survived to tell his story. But he apparently considered his work a professional duty. He even met Amin before his detention.

One day, soldiers arrived at his office saying Amin wanted to see him. That was the last time Ghadia saw him there. Days later, she located him at Luzira Prison.

X - @dmukholi1, dmukholi@gmail.com