Obote had taste for cute women
ONE of my earliest childhood memories is periodic, but brawny presence of Milton Obote in our family house in Mbale. Milton Obote, Adoko Nekyon, Felix Onama and others were colleagues of my father E. Mashate as founders of the UPC. Adoko Nekyon and Felix Onama once reminded me in Kampala in late 198
By Jesse Mashate
ONE of my earliest childhood memories is periodic, but brawny presence of Milton Obote in our family house in Mbale. Milton Obote, Adoko Nekyon, Felix Onama and others were colleagues of my father E. Mashate as founders of the UPC. Adoko Nekyon and Felix Onama once reminded me in Kampala in late 1980s of how they used to lap me.
Our home was the fulcrum of UPC in the area. I remember Obote would leave his friends to sit with us children. He once said to me; “I can assure you that you shall one day become the Prime Minister of Ugandaâ€.
Everyone at home was excited with his prophecy that later proved inaccurate as I have never engaged in politics except criticising poor political performers
I recall Obote had befriended my mum’s younger sister, Nancy. I think he later helped her to work as a welfare officer in Tororo. One day Obote joked to my mother: “How comes that your father only produced the most beautiful daughters?†And we all joined in laughing at this joke. Later, Obote slept at the house of my maternal uncle, Kidasa.
Obote used to wear wavy trousers that I think some of his friends jokingly called a ‘wind-vane’. One UPC activist called Nakiganda (local district councillor) once joked to Obote “Kyokka Milton Eyo empale gyoyambade bagiyitta masavu gabayindi†(those trousers of yours are called the thin fat of Indians). Obote took no offence of that distasteful joke and he joked back “Oyagalla nyo omukyomo (you really love roast beef)†Obote understood and spoke relatively good Luganda.
In his early days, Obote frequently shared my dad’s personal items including clothing. He enjoyed smoking and a good drink.
Obote was full of humour and the desire to win over the younger generation. I recall as I had learnt my alphabet, I routinely joked to Obote saying, “You are both AM and PM†(for Apollo Milton and Prime Minister). He liked the jokes. I remember Obote used to joke often that DP lived in one of his pockets and he could decide to throw it away at will.
In the early 1990s in London, I contacted Obote and Amin wishing to write their honest biographies. Obote refused on grounds that “Uganda’s problem is Museveni and not personal biographies. You should join UPC for us to fight Museveni out of power and biographies can come later.â€
I insisted that he (Obote) owed the future generations an insight of his that facts behind the machinery of his government on matters like the abolition of the kingdoms, abrogation of the Constitution, the Luwero war and other important political developments attributable to his rule. Obote was angered and said; “You are one of the worst people Uganda has ever had. You concocted FOBA calling it Force Obote Back.†This helped Museveni kill many innocent people. This is not the time for biographies. It is time to fight Museveni. You should join UPC to do this.â€
I again contacted Obote in late 1997 and early 1998 seeking to enlist him amongst the world leaders opposed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons in Africa. I was a consultant for the State of the World Forum, San Francisco under late Senator Cranston, of Los Altos, California. Obote refused suggesting that Africa faced small arms proliferation and not nuclear weapons.
I shall remember Milton Obote as a man that was argumentative, less conspiratorial and more manoeuvring and occasionally cunning for effect. He was a nationalist who never promoted his own community above others.
Obote took tough decisions to streamline Uganda from its British image, which included giving back Bunyoro its land, giving Bugisu, back its urban centre of Mbale, enabling a republican state and removing the ingredients of a civil strife that had latently bedevilled Uganda. Museveni’s biggest mistake is to try, without success, to reverse Obote’s abolition of monarchies and Amin’s expulsion of Asian traders. By abolishing monarchies. By expelling Asians, Amin had immensely helped achieve true national independence.
Obote’s main blunder was to undermine democratic institutions for his political ambitions. This weakened political opposition and led to militarisation of politics. This mistake backfired and sealed his political life. Obote remains a great imprint in my mind.
The writer is a journalist
based in London
ONE of my earliest childhood memories is periodic, but brawny presence of Milton Obote in our family house in Mbale. Milton Obote, Adoko Nekyon, Felix Onama and others were colleagues of my father E. Mashate as founders of the UPC. Adoko Nekyon and Felix Onama once reminded me in Kampala in late 1980s of how they used to lap me.
Our home was the fulcrum of UPC in the area. I remember Obote would leave his friends to sit with us children. He once said to me; “I can assure you that you shall one day become the Prime Minister of Ugandaâ€.
Everyone at home was excited with his prophecy that later proved inaccurate as I have never engaged in politics except criticising poor political performers
I recall Obote had befriended my mum’s younger sister, Nancy. I think he later helped her to work as a welfare officer in Tororo. One day Obote joked to my mother: “How comes that your father only produced the most beautiful daughters?†And we all joined in laughing at this joke. Later, Obote slept at the house of my maternal uncle, Kidasa.
Obote used to wear wavy trousers that I think some of his friends jokingly called a ‘wind-vane’. One UPC activist called Nakiganda (local district councillor) once joked to Obote “Kyokka Milton Eyo empale gyoyambade bagiyitta masavu gabayindi†(those trousers of yours are called the thin fat of Indians). Obote took no offence of that distasteful joke and he joked back “Oyagalla nyo omukyomo (you really love roast beef)†Obote understood and spoke relatively good Luganda.
In his early days, Obote frequently shared my dad’s personal items including clothing. He enjoyed smoking and a good drink.
Obote was full of humour and the desire to win over the younger generation. I recall as I had learnt my alphabet, I routinely joked to Obote saying, “You are both AM and PM†(for Apollo Milton and Prime Minister). He liked the jokes. I remember Obote used to joke often that DP lived in one of his pockets and he could decide to throw it away at will.
In the early 1990s in London, I contacted Obote and Amin wishing to write their honest biographies. Obote refused on grounds that “Uganda’s problem is Museveni and not personal biographies. You should join UPC for us to fight Museveni out of power and biographies can come later.â€
I insisted that he (Obote) owed the future generations an insight of his that facts behind the machinery of his government on matters like the abolition of the kingdoms, abrogation of the Constitution, the Luwero war and other important political developments attributable to his rule. Obote was angered and said; “You are one of the worst people Uganda has ever had. You concocted FOBA calling it Force Obote Back.†This helped Museveni kill many innocent people. This is not the time for biographies. It is time to fight Museveni. You should join UPC to do this.â€
I again contacted Obote in late 1997 and early 1998 seeking to enlist him amongst the world leaders opposed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons in Africa. I was a consultant for the State of the World Forum, San Francisco under late Senator Cranston, of Los Altos, California. Obote refused suggesting that Africa faced small arms proliferation and not nuclear weapons.
I shall remember Milton Obote as a man that was argumentative, less conspiratorial and more manoeuvring and occasionally cunning for effect. He was a nationalist who never promoted his own community above others.
Obote took tough decisions to streamline Uganda from its British image, which included giving back Bunyoro its land, giving Bugisu, back its urban centre of Mbale, enabling a republican state and removing the ingredients of a civil strife that had latently bedevilled Uganda. Museveni’s biggest mistake is to try, without success, to reverse Obote’s abolition of monarchies and Amin’s expulsion of Asian traders. By abolishing monarchies. By expelling Asians, Amin had immensely helped achieve true national independence.
Obote’s main blunder was to undermine democratic institutions for his political ambitions. This weakened political opposition and led to militarisation of politics. This mistake backfired and sealed his political life. Obote remains a great imprint in my mind.
The writer is a journalist
based in London