How Amin's pilot was killed

By Muwonge Magembe

 Following my September 11, 2015 article (How Israeli security convinced Kenya to support Entebbe raid), one reader asked me about the whereabouts of Lt. Col. Andrew Joet Mukooza.

Mukooza served as the chief pilot of President Idi Amin until the regime collapsed on April 11, 1979. Mukooza’s mysterious disappearance thereafter prompted Grumman Corporation, the manufacturers of Gulf Stream II jets to place advertisements in the United States print media titled; “Where is Andrew Mukooza”. Grumman under the leadership of Joseph Gavin Junior as its president wanted to pay Mukooza his entitlement of US$20,000 from its provident fund he was associated to since 1973. Later in 1988; two years after George Martin Skurla’s tenure as Grumman president, the company confirmed Mukooza’s death from, among others, Col. Paul Babula.

Mukooza was murdered on the night of April 24, 1979; 13 days after Amin’s fall. He was murdered hours after he presented himself at Nile Mansions in the office of Lt. Col. David Oyite-Ojok the chief of staff of Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA). UNLA, through Radio Uganda broadcasts, induced Mukooza into surrender. Many other former officers in Amin’s army were induced that way like Lt. Col. Abdu Kisuule who, after surrender, temporarily resided at Imperial Hotel in room 208.

Mukooza was murdered at the age of 35 years having been born on July 21, 1944 in Mbulamuti, Busoga as the only child of Yoramu Mukooza who was murdered in Mbulamiti, when Mukooza was still a baby. The tragedy forced his mother, Erina to relocate to Muguluka, Jinja along with her baby, Mukooza. Days after she mourned her late husband, Mukooza’s mother was inherited as wife by her brother-in-law Gershom thereby fulfilling the popular Busoga slogan-muka mugandawo otwala butwale wazira nsonga. The couple was later blessed with two daughters; Gertrude and Kalivvamu.

Mukooza studied at Kiira College Butiki and Teso College Aloet. He afterwards joined Uganda Air Force along with Gad Wilson Toko, Anthony Bazaalaki and Mutono during Dr. Milton Obote I regime. Mukooza was also trained in USSR on flying MiGs. His first station of duty was Gulu Air force base. While there, he married Miriam, the daughter of Idah Nantumbwe and Benjamin Katumba fondly nicknamed Kijjalumonde by his fellow Buganda Lukiiko members because of his dancing style.

Katumba represented Bugerere County in the Lukiiko. Mukooza met Miriam when she was posted to Gulu Government Hospital after her July 1969 graduation in nursing and midwifery from Mulago School of Nursing. The youthful couple had their first born, Andrew (R.I.P) and later Becky, at St. Mary’s hospital, Lacor.

After Amin took over power, Mukooza along with Joseph Terikye and Patrick Rwakijuma were selected for training in flying and maintaining Gulfstream II model G-1159 at Savannah, Georgia. Hitherto, Israeli security experts advised Amin to purchase a Gulfstream II as his presidential jet unlike his predecessor Dr. Obote who used commercial airliners like British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).

Amin’s jet was one of the 258 Gulf Stream II jets Grumman manufactured. On its delivery to Entebbe; Grumman captain Tom Friedrich accompanied it to further guide Mukooza on its operation.

Indeed, Capt. Friedrich stayed in Uganda for some time with his wife Katherine and children; Steven, Lauries and Tom Junior.

During his stint as Amin’s pilot, Mukooza resided at Plot 38 Kitaasa road in Entebbe. His wife was also transferred from Gulu to Entebbe Grade A hospital headed by Edith Munube. Mukooza was blessed with more children like Thomas Mukooza born in 1975 at Nsambya hospital headed by Dr. Dagan. Mukooza named his other son, Peter as per the suggestion of his close friend Brig. Isaac Lumago, Uganda’s ambassador to Lesotho.

Following the 1978/1979 war between Uganda and Tanzania, Amin directed Mukooza and his co-pilot Capt. Levi Mugyenyi to fly a MiG17 and bomb part of Northern Tanzania. They accomplished the task although their jet survived narrowly from being hit by a rocket launched by Tanzanian army.

On February 25, 1979, when Mukooza realised that Amin was losing the war, he directed Hussein the driver of his commercial mini bus that plied Kampala-Jinja route to deliver his wife and children to Kaababbi in Busiro. On March 27, 1979, Mukooza’s wife left Busiro to check on him at Entebbe. On March 28, 1979, Mukooza bid farewell to his wife as she returned to the village to take care of their children. On the same day, Mukooza who was donning overall green attire drove to Entebbe Airbase in his dark green Peugeot 504 registration number UVQ 099 which he purchased from Lt. Andrew Lutaaya.

At the peak of the war, on April 6, 1979, Mukooza was flown from Entebbe to Kimaka in Jinja in a helicopter by his junior at the rank of lieutenant. Before he left Entebbe, Mukooza entrusted the custody of his Peugeot to a friend working with Uganda Airlines who later scandalously sold it. While in Jinja, Mukooza briefly stayed at his house at Wakitaka which he hitherto bought from Mulyagonja.

On April 23, 1979, Mukooza first attempted to surrender to UNLA but changed his mind. Then on April 24, 1979, Mukooza finally travelled to Kampala on a friend’s motorcycle. His choice of a motorcycle was intended to avert being arrested on the suspected military check points staged along Kampala-Jinja road which focused mainly on travellers in vehicles.

On arrival at Nile Mansions; Mukooza was escorted into Oyite-Ojok’s office. Oyite-Ojok angrily asked Mukooza why he refused to assassinate Amin when he was reportedly contacted through Bazaalaki and a clique of Basoga pilots that had earlier defected from Amin’s air force. In response, Mukooza pleaded to Oyite-Ojok that his refusal was in respect to his professional code of conduct as a soldier and pilot.

Indeed, when Amin verified through State Research Bureau that Mukooza rejected Bazaalaki and his group’s plot to eliminate him, Amin promoted Mukooza to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in appreciation of his loyalty.

After Oyite-Ojok finished interrogating Mukooza, he directed Radio Uganda management to record Mukooza as he affirmed his surrender; which journalist Mukalazi Kyobe did.

On the morning of April 25, 1979, Mukooza’s lifeless body was found dumped in Mbuya hospital compound with bullet wounds around his chest.

Policemen from Jinja Road police station later collected it. His driving permit was intact in his trousers’ pocket detailing his particulars. However the officer on duty at Jinja Road Police station concealed the driving permit and instead described the body in the station’s diary as “an unidentified male-dark-tall body”. From Jinja Police station, the body was dumped at Mulago mortuary.

In May 1979, Mukooza’s brothers-in-law; Elly Malagala and Barnabas

Katumba rode on a Raleigh bicycle from Busiro to Entebbe hoping to find him alive at his former residence. However, they found Mukooza’s house vandalised and valuables looted. At the entrance of his house, there was a stray dog lying asleep.

Although Mulago Hospital mortuary records of May 2, 1979 specified Bukasa near Kirinya as where Mukooza was buried in a mass grave; his body was never found there on exhumation days after. This particular mass grave contained 26 bodies including that of a two year old baby girl and a white man.

The writer is a researcher