Obote dead
Oct 10, 2005
Former President Apollo Milton Obote is dead. Obote, 81, who has been living in exile in Lusaka, Zambia since his overthrow in 1985, died yesterday at 5:30pm in a Johannesburg hospital in South Africa.
By Charles Etukuri and Macrines Nyapendi
Former President Apollo Milton Obote is dead. Obote, 81, who has been living in exile in Lusaka, Zambia since his overthrow in 1985, died yesterday at 5:30pm in a Johannesburg hospital in South Africa.
He was flown to South Africa a week ago suffering from acute respiratory problems. He was admitted to Morningside Medi-Clinic, a high profile private hospital in Sandton city in Johannesburg. The hospital records indicated Albert Ogwal, his nephew who lives in South Africa, as the next of kin.
President Yoweri Museveni said in a statement yesterday the Government had been informed by the South African government of Obote’s death. He said the Government was in touch with the family and the public would be informed of any developments.
Foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa yesterday said, “We have just learnt of his death with shock. We are making arrangements with the family to see their desire for burial arrangements.â€
The news of Obote’s death was first broken by Olga Manda, a Zambian journalist based in Lusaka, who went to his residence and found people mourning. “I talked to his personal doctor, Ben Opieto and he told me he is dead,†she said. She said Zambian government officials gathered at his residence.
Obote’s son Jimmy Akena was at his deathbed in South Africa and called some members of his family in Lira and Kampala to announce the death. Obote’s wife Miria has been living in Nairobi, Kenya. It was not clear if she had travelled to Johannesburg.
His death comes just a day after Uganda celebrated its independence and at a time when the Uganda People’s Congress party is rocked by leadership wrangles. His rush to put the party affairs to order when he sacked the Presidential Policy Commission chief, Dr. James Rwanyarare and others heightened speculation that his demise was near.
Obote, who led the country to independence in 1962, is the second former president to die in exile after Idi Amin died in 2003 in Saudi Arabia and was buried there.
President Museveni has in the past been reluctant to allow past presidents return, accusing them of having criminal records.
When he wanted to come back in May, the Government insisted that Obote would be held liable for the atrocities in the Luweero Triangle, where about 300,000 people were alleged to have been massacred during the bush war between the National Resistance Army and the Uganda National Liberation Army.
In South Africa, the news of his death was received with shock. “We are saddened by his death,†said Mohammed Segujja, the chairman of the Ugandan community in Johannesburg.
In Kampala, most UPC officials were tightlipped about Obote’s condition.
But after four hours of repeated denials from UPC officials, Adoko Nekyon, Obote’s cousin, broke the news on Radio One before 9:00pm.
Earlier, the Constitutional Steering Committee chairman Badru Wegulo had said that Obote was fine.
Even in Apac, his birthplace, many people were not aware of his death.
Obote was scheduled to return to the country in May this year only to make a sudden u-turn. Recently UPC announced that Obote would be returning to the country at the end of this year to handover the UPC leadership after the party’s delegates’ conference.
A condolence book will be opened today at UPC’s headquarters at Uganda house and at Adoko Nekyon’s residence at Plot 5 Naguru Hill.
By press time, party officials and relatives were keeping vigil at Nekyon’s residence.
Nekyon said the burial arrangements would be announced later though he did not say where Obote would be buried.
While in exile, Obote remained a strong critic of Museveni’s regime, saying he had an infamous desire to be a czar of Uganda.
Obote had devoted much of his exile life to intellectual work and strategic thinking for his party. His memoirs were this year published in the press.
Unconfirmed reports said Obote’s nephew Sam Akaki collapsed in London after the news of the death. But Adoko could not confirm this.
Additional reporting by Felix Osike
and Geresom Musamali
Former President Apollo Milton Obote is dead. Obote, 81, who has been living in exile in Lusaka, Zambia since his overthrow in 1985, died yesterday at 5:30pm in a Johannesburg hospital in South Africa.
He was flown to South Africa a week ago suffering from acute respiratory problems. He was admitted to Morningside Medi-Clinic, a high profile private hospital in Sandton city in Johannesburg. The hospital records indicated Albert Ogwal, his nephew who lives in South Africa, as the next of kin.
President Yoweri Museveni said in a statement yesterday the Government had been informed by the South African government of Obote’s death. He said the Government was in touch with the family and the public would be informed of any developments.
Foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa yesterday said, “We have just learnt of his death with shock. We are making arrangements with the family to see their desire for burial arrangements.â€
The news of Obote’s death was first broken by Olga Manda, a Zambian journalist based in Lusaka, who went to his residence and found people mourning. “I talked to his personal doctor, Ben Opieto and he told me he is dead,†she said. She said Zambian government officials gathered at his residence.
Obote’s son Jimmy Akena was at his deathbed in South Africa and called some members of his family in Lira and Kampala to announce the death. Obote’s wife Miria has been living in Nairobi, Kenya. It was not clear if she had travelled to Johannesburg.
His death comes just a day after Uganda celebrated its independence and at a time when the Uganda People’s Congress party is rocked by leadership wrangles. His rush to put the party affairs to order when he sacked the Presidential Policy Commission chief, Dr. James Rwanyarare and others heightened speculation that his demise was near.
Obote, who led the country to independence in 1962, is the second former president to die in exile after Idi Amin died in 2003 in Saudi Arabia and was buried there.
President Museveni has in the past been reluctant to allow past presidents return, accusing them of having criminal records.
When he wanted to come back in May, the Government insisted that Obote would be held liable for the atrocities in the Luweero Triangle, where about 300,000 people were alleged to have been massacred during the bush war between the National Resistance Army and the Uganda National Liberation Army.
In South Africa, the news of his death was received with shock. “We are saddened by his death,†said Mohammed Segujja, the chairman of the Ugandan community in Johannesburg.
In Kampala, most UPC officials were tightlipped about Obote’s condition.
But after four hours of repeated denials from UPC officials, Adoko Nekyon, Obote’s cousin, broke the news on Radio One before 9:00pm.
Earlier, the Constitutional Steering Committee chairman Badru Wegulo had said that Obote was fine.
Even in Apac, his birthplace, many people were not aware of his death.
Obote was scheduled to return to the country in May this year only to make a sudden u-turn. Recently UPC announced that Obote would be returning to the country at the end of this year to handover the UPC leadership after the party’s delegates’ conference.
A condolence book will be opened today at UPC’s headquarters at Uganda house and at Adoko Nekyon’s residence at Plot 5 Naguru Hill.
By press time, party officials and relatives were keeping vigil at Nekyon’s residence.
Nekyon said the burial arrangements would be announced later though he did not say where Obote would be buried.
While in exile, Obote remained a strong critic of Museveni’s regime, saying he had an infamous desire to be a czar of Uganda.
Obote had devoted much of his exile life to intellectual work and strategic thinking for his party. His memoirs were this year published in the press.
Unconfirmed reports said Obote’s nephew Sam Akaki collapsed in London after the news of the death. But Adoko could not confirm this.
Additional reporting by Felix Osike
and Geresom Musamali