Soldier to the end
HE was one of the few educated and highly trained officers in Idi Amin’s army. That should have earned Maj. Gen Francis Were Nyangweso credit from his boss. Instead, it got him into a lot of trouble.
By Andrew Ndawula Kalema
HE was one of the few educated and highly trained officers in Idi Amin’s army. That should have earned Maj. Gen Francis Were Nyangweso credit from his boss. Instead, it got him into a lot of trouble.
During his stint as army chief of staff and later commander, several attempts were made on Nyangweso’s life.
Later, after retiring from the army, the towering soft spoken former army officer would recall those days when he outsmarted several murder squads sent to finish him off. “I finished them off instead,†he would say, without elaborating how.
The late major general, who passed away last Tuesday evening at 7.00pm in Mulago Hospital, is a man who knew how to take care of himself.
Whether in the boxing ring, on the battle field, or on the diplomatic circuit, Nyangweso moved with the confidence of a man who knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it.
It is that quiet confidence that, in 1962, made an impression on Col William Chayne, a British army officer who was commander of Uganda’s only army battalion, based in Jinja, during the run up to independence.
Impressed by his composure under “fire†in the ring, the white officer approached Nyangweso, then a young bank clerk, and convinced him to ditch his budding banking career and join the army.
After training in Jinja, Nyangweso and several other young officers were taken abroad for further military training. On his return home, Nyangweso’s climb through the ranks was rapid, though he was careful to stay out of the limelight during the turbulent years that followed independence.
“He avoided politics and any other form of controversy. He was just a career soldier whose only interest was sports,†recalls retired captain Andrew Tindikawa, who served with Nyangweso in the early 1960s.
But despite his best efforts to avoid it, controversy still stalked Nyangweso through his military career and later as a sports administrator.
During the 1965 gold scandal, when Daudi Ochieng, a member of parliament accused Amin and Obote of stealing gold from the Congo, Nyangweso’s name came up as one of the officers who had been detailed to transport the gold bullion from West Nile to Kampala.
Nyangweso, who at the time was a platoon commander in Nebbi, maintained his usual composure and waited for the politicians to sort themselves out. The storm eventually blew over and Nyangweso continued with his military career.
In the wake of the 1966 crisis, Nyangweso was among the army officers suspected to be sympathetic to ousted Kabaka Mutesa. Such officers were transferred to Moroto, where it would be impossible for them to cause trouble.
“He just carried on with his duties, without causing any trouble. He was a very polished officer, it was almost impossible to fault him,†recalls Capt Tindikawa, who was one of the first officers to get exiled to Moroto for the same reason.
In the end, most of the officers who had been “exiled†to Moroto following the 1966 Mengo crisis, were discharged from the army. But Nyangweso stayed on. By the 1971 coup, Nyangweso was a colonel and one of Amin’s most trusted officers.
It was Nyangweso who rescued IT minister, Aggrey Awori, then Uganda Television director, from Malire barracks (now Mengo palace) where he was about to be executed by Amin’s excited soldiers. Later Nyangweso helped Awori escape into exile in Kenya.
A very suspicious man by nature, Amin trusted very few people. One of them, at least for some time, was Nyangweso. It could be their common passion for boxing that brought the two men together. Each of them had been a boxing champion at his prime. Or it could be Nyangweso’s amiable nature and professionalism that endeared him to Amin. Whatever it was, Amin trusted Nyangweso enough to, at one point, appoint him army commander, besides assigning him several other sensitive duties. This, however, did not go down well with some officers who felt they were more deserving.
Soon Amin started receiving reports accusing Nyangweso of setting up a private army, with plans of linking with the Uganda exiles in Tanzania. Like it was with the Congo gold scandal, it was hard to tell whether the stories were true, or just fabrications.
But it seems Amin believed them because soon after this, strange armed men started lurking around Nyangweso’s home at very awkward hours. In his usual quiet style, Nyangweso managed to thwart several attempts on his life.
All the same, by the time Amin was ousted in 1979, the bond between the two former boxing champions no longer existed. While his former boss fled into exile, Nyangweso stayed on and moved into sports administration, going through the ranks to become one of the top ranking officials in the International Olympic Committee.
For almost three decades, Nyangweso managed to hold onto the Uganda Olympic Committee seat, in spite of several attempts to unseat him. Drawing on his vast experience as a soldier, diplomat and sportsman, he always managed to outsmart his opponents.
Even when ill health set in, Nyangweso retained his dignity, stoically absorbing the pain like a true soldier. As the people who saw him at last week’s UOC assembly can testify, the wheelchair-bound Nyangweso still managed to look dignified. Although his body had been crippled by diabetes, his soldiering spirit remained intact to the end.
FACTFILE
1939: Born to the late Daudi Were in Busia district
He studied at Namilyango College, where he was attracted to boxing
1954-1955: Becomes the light middle weight champion in Uganda
1958: Represents Uganda at the Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales
1961: Champion of Southwest London and also London ABA champion at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
Wins accolade of Sportsman of the Year
1963: Joins the King’s African Rifles (KAR) as Officer Cadet; trains at a military academy in Great Britain
1965: Attends further military training at the Infantry School in Uganda and Alder-Short in England
Wins gold medal in the light middle division during the Hapeal Sports Festival held in Israel
1970-72: Serves as minister of defence, minister of culture and community development and Uganda’s Ambassador to the Central African Republic
1972-1994: Chairman Uganda Amateur Boxing Association (UABA)
1972-1975: Chairman National Council of Sports (NCS)
1979-2009: President of the Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC)
In 1988: Becomes life member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Founding chairman of the National Games in Uganda
Vice president Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA)
Vice president of the Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA)
Member Lions Club and other charitable organisations
HE was one of the few educated and highly trained officers in Idi Amin’s army. That should have earned Maj. Gen Francis Were Nyangweso credit from his boss. Instead, it got him into a lot of trouble.
During his stint as army chief of staff and later commander, several attempts were made on Nyangweso’s life.
Later, after retiring from the army, the towering soft spoken former army officer would recall those days when he outsmarted several murder squads sent to finish him off. “I finished them off instead,†he would say, without elaborating how.
The late major general, who passed away last Tuesday evening at 7.00pm in Mulago Hospital, is a man who knew how to take care of himself.
Whether in the boxing ring, on the battle field, or on the diplomatic circuit, Nyangweso moved with the confidence of a man who knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it.
It is that quiet confidence that, in 1962, made an impression on Col William Chayne, a British army officer who was commander of Uganda’s only army battalion, based in Jinja, during the run up to independence.
Impressed by his composure under “fire†in the ring, the white officer approached Nyangweso, then a young bank clerk, and convinced him to ditch his budding banking career and join the army.
After training in Jinja, Nyangweso and several other young officers were taken abroad for further military training. On his return home, Nyangweso’s climb through the ranks was rapid, though he was careful to stay out of the limelight during the turbulent years that followed independence.
“He avoided politics and any other form of controversy. He was just a career soldier whose only interest was sports,†recalls retired captain Andrew Tindikawa, who served with Nyangweso in the early 1960s.
But despite his best efforts to avoid it, controversy still stalked Nyangweso through his military career and later as a sports administrator.
During the 1965 gold scandal, when Daudi Ochieng, a member of parliament accused Amin and Obote of stealing gold from the Congo, Nyangweso’s name came up as one of the officers who had been detailed to transport the gold bullion from West Nile to Kampala.
Nyangweso, who at the time was a platoon commander in Nebbi, maintained his usual composure and waited for the politicians to sort themselves out. The storm eventually blew over and Nyangweso continued with his military career.
In the wake of the 1966 crisis, Nyangweso was among the army officers suspected to be sympathetic to ousted Kabaka Mutesa. Such officers were transferred to Moroto, where it would be impossible for them to cause trouble.
“He just carried on with his duties, without causing any trouble. He was a very polished officer, it was almost impossible to fault him,†recalls Capt Tindikawa, who was one of the first officers to get exiled to Moroto for the same reason.
In the end, most of the officers who had been “exiled†to Moroto following the 1966 Mengo crisis, were discharged from the army. But Nyangweso stayed on. By the 1971 coup, Nyangweso was a colonel and one of Amin’s most trusted officers.
It was Nyangweso who rescued IT minister, Aggrey Awori, then Uganda Television director, from Malire barracks (now Mengo palace) where he was about to be executed by Amin’s excited soldiers. Later Nyangweso helped Awori escape into exile in Kenya.
A very suspicious man by nature, Amin trusted very few people. One of them, at least for some time, was Nyangweso. It could be their common passion for boxing that brought the two men together. Each of them had been a boxing champion at his prime. Or it could be Nyangweso’s amiable nature and professionalism that endeared him to Amin. Whatever it was, Amin trusted Nyangweso enough to, at one point, appoint him army commander, besides assigning him several other sensitive duties. This, however, did not go down well with some officers who felt they were more deserving.
Soon Amin started receiving reports accusing Nyangweso of setting up a private army, with plans of linking with the Uganda exiles in Tanzania. Like it was with the Congo gold scandal, it was hard to tell whether the stories were true, or just fabrications.
But it seems Amin believed them because soon after this, strange armed men started lurking around Nyangweso’s home at very awkward hours. In his usual quiet style, Nyangweso managed to thwart several attempts on his life.
All the same, by the time Amin was ousted in 1979, the bond between the two former boxing champions no longer existed. While his former boss fled into exile, Nyangweso stayed on and moved into sports administration, going through the ranks to become one of the top ranking officials in the International Olympic Committee.
For almost three decades, Nyangweso managed to hold onto the Uganda Olympic Committee seat, in spite of several attempts to unseat him. Drawing on his vast experience as a soldier, diplomat and sportsman, he always managed to outsmart his opponents.
Even when ill health set in, Nyangweso retained his dignity, stoically absorbing the pain like a true soldier. As the people who saw him at last week’s UOC assembly can testify, the wheelchair-bound Nyangweso still managed to look dignified. Although his body had been crippled by diabetes, his soldiering spirit remained intact to the end.
FACTFILE
1939: Born to the late Daudi Were in Busia district
He studied at Namilyango College, where he was attracted to boxing
1954-1955: Becomes the light middle weight champion in Uganda
1958: Represents Uganda at the Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales
1961: Champion of Southwest London and also London ABA champion at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
Wins accolade of Sportsman of the Year
1963: Joins the King’s African Rifles (KAR) as Officer Cadet; trains at a military academy in Great Britain
1965: Attends further military training at the Infantry School in Uganda and Alder-Short in England
Wins gold medal in the light middle division during the Hapeal Sports Festival held in Israel
1970-72: Serves as minister of defence, minister of culture and community development and Uganda’s Ambassador to the Central African Republic
1972-1994: Chairman Uganda Amateur Boxing Association (UABA)
1972-1975: Chairman National Council of Sports (NCS)
1979-2009: President of the Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC)
In 1988: Becomes life member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Founding chairman of the National Games in Uganda
Vice president Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA)
Vice president of the Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA)
Member Lions Club and other charitable organisations