Mengo Crisis

UPC-KY coalition In 1960, Milton Obote helped to establish a political party in Uganda, known as the Uganda People's Congress (UPC). The UPC aimed to erode the power and influence of the "Mengo Establishment", a group of traditionalist Baganda that led the sub-national kingdom of Buganda. The Mengo establishment was plagued by rivalries and infighting, but most of its members, as Protestant Christians, were united by their dislike of the Democratic Party (DP), which was dominated by Catholics. The DP won a majority in Uganda's first free national elections in 1961, and formed a government. The UPC and traditionalist Baganda both disliked the Catholic orientation of the DP, but were diametrically opposed to each others' ideals. Despite this, the UPC gave Grace Ibingira, a conservative member of its ranks, the responsibility of making contact with the Baganda to establish an alliance to unseat the DP. The UPC chose him for the role because he was personally acquainted with the Kabaka (King) of Buganda, Mutesa II. After several negotiations, the UPC and Baganda leaders held a conference whereupon an agreement was reached. Soon afterwards the Baganda created the Kabaka Yekka (KY), a traditionalist party that entered an alliance with the UPC. Following the UPC's victory in the April 1962 general elections, Obote was tasked with forming a government. He became Prime Minister of a UPC-KY coalition government. The KY held mostly insignificant portfolios, while Obote obtained control of the security services and armed forces. Ibingira was made Minister of Justice. Uganda was granted independence from the United Kingdom on 9 October 1962. In 1963 Mutesa was elected President of Uganda, a largely ceremonial post. Obote supported his election with the intention of appeasing the Baganda population. Ibingira's and Obote's rivalry , leader of the UPC's right wing; Milton Obote, Prime Minister of Uganda; and John Kakonge, leader of the UPC's left wing In 1964 Ibingira initiated a struggle to gain control of the UPC with the ultimate goal of deposing Obote from the party presidency. At a party conference in April he challenged the left-leaning John Kakonge for the secretariat-general of the UPC. He convinced Obote that Kakonge posed a threat to his leadership of the UPC. With Obote's support, Ibingira ousted Kakonge by two votes. He used his new position to purge the party of a number of leftists. Meanwhile, Mutesa increasingly feared that the UPC would deny his kingdom its traditional autonomy and concluded that in order to retain power he would have to garner influence in national politics. He proceeded to instruct Baganda members of Parliament to join the UPC with the goal of bolstering Ibingira's position and unseating Obote, thus allowing for a reorientation of the UPC-KY alliance that would be more favorable to Buganda. As his working relationship with Mutesa improved, Ibingira amassed a coalition of non-Baganda southerners, dubbed the "Bantu Group". Meanwhile Obote began appealing to DP MPs to defect and join his party in Parliament. He successfully convinced several to do so, including the DP floor leader. On 24 August 1964 Obote, with the UPC having consolidated a majority in Parliament, declared that the coalition with KY was dissolved. In December 1964 Ibingira, under the cover of checking on his ranch in Ankole, traveled to the United States to raise funds to support anti-socialist causes. Upon his return, he successfully used the money to expand his following. By 1965 it was apparent that the UPC had divided into an Ibingira-led wing and an Obote-led wing. When Ibingira attempted to convene a UPC conference in his capacity as party secretary general, the police shut it down. The lost counties referendum The 1962 constitution granted Buganda a federal autonomy, but it did not provide a resolution to a territorial dispute surrounding the counties of Buyaga and Bugangaizi. The two regions had been annexed by Buganda from the Kingdom of Bunyoro around the turn of the 20th century with the United Kingdom's consent. Bunyoro had demanded the return of the "lost counties" before independence, but this did not occur. Ochieng's motion was soon thereafter tabled in Parliament and debated by its members. It read as follows: That this House do urge Government to suspend from duty Col Idi Amin of the Uganda Army forthwith pending conclusion of police investigations into the allegations regarding his bank account which should then be passed on to the appropriate public authority whose final decision on the matter shall be made public. During the speech in which he presented the motion, Ochieng also accused Obote, Onama, and Minister of Planning and Community Development Adoko Nekyon of being complicit in Amin's alleged activities. During the intense debate that followed, Foreign Minister Sam Odaka, referencing previous dubious corruption allegations made by Ochieng, accused Ochieng of abusing his parliamentary immunity to attack the standing of government ministers and failing to reinforce his claims with adequate evidence. Minister of Internal Affairs Basil Bataringaya appointed a commission to investigate the accusations. Historian A.B.K. Kasozi states that the meeting was organized by the cabinet in an attempt to appoint a new commission of inquiry into the gold scandal. According to Lumu and historian P. G. Okoth, the meeting was called by Obote. The arrested ministers had all been parties to Ibingira's wing in the cabinet, and all had attended the 4 February meeting. Upon hearing about the arrests, Vice President William Nadiope fled to Kenya and remained there for three weeks. Though the threat posed by Ibingira to his leadership was eliminated, Obote decided to consolidate his position by deprecating his ex-rival's allies, specifically Mutesa. He announced that Mutesa was involved in a military coup plot to overthrow his government. On 23 February he moved Opolot to the position of Chief of Defence Staff, and Amin was made Chief of Army and Air Force Staff. Officers loyal to Opolot were moved to more marginal positions while those with connections to Obote were transferred to more politically advantageous positions. Obote also appointed three judges to his own commission to investigate the gold scandal allegations. == The "Obote Revolution" ==

On 24 February 1966, Obote announced the suspension of Mutesa from his duties as president, citing his reaction to the lost counties referendum, his ordering of troop movements without ministerial consultation, and his seeking of foreign military support. Mutesa later admitted to having "sounded out" the British high commissioner and several African ambassadors for military assistance. Mutesa also appealed to United Nations Secretary-General U Thant to intervene. On 4 March, Obote declared he would assume the powers of the presidency. == Battle of Mengo Hill ==

, Kabaka of Buganda On 23 May, the Uganda Army cordoned off the Lubiri Palace and arrested three Bugandan chiefs who had strongly supported the Lukiko's 20 May resolution. Many Bugandans began rebelling against the central government. Early the following morning, the army attacked the Luburi Palace under Amin's direct command. As the soldiers attacked they machine-gunned a group of elderly volunteers who slept outside the palace, alerting the royal guards. The palace was defended by 120–160 guards armed with Lee–Enfield rifles, three carbines, six Sterling machine guns and six automatic rifles. The army's attack was slowed by rain. Concluding that they could not win, the guards decided to help Mutesa flee. The king and 20 guards escaped by scaling a palace wall, though Mutesa injured his back in the process. At the palace, the remaining guards continued to offer heavy resistance for hours, and the Uganda Army only secured the complex by 2 pm. The government troops murdered several people who tried to surrender, and brutalized prisoners. Excited soldiers also killed "unarmed passerby [...] without reason". The king's brother, Prince Alexander David Ssimbwa was captured at the palace and tortured by the Uganda Army. The troops plundered and demolished the entire palace; a Makerere University historian reportedly saw drunken soldiers carry off the ancient Bugandan royal regalia. Volunteers carried over 200 bodies of fallen Baganda to the morgue, while the military buried uncounted numbers in mass graves. Amin personally delivered the Kabaka's persidential flag and military uniform as "trophies of the battle" to Obote's office. Obote went before Parliament and declared "There is nothing to regret. The oneness of Uganda must be assured." While the army completely secured Kampala, unrest spread throughout the rest of Buganda. The central government issued an emergency decree and dispatched the army throughout the kingdom to restore order. Violence subsided over the following days. == Aftermath ==

Within a few days, the Kabaka and two of his bodyguards were able to cross the border to Burundi and exile. After brief stays in Nairobi and Addis Ababa he was given asylum in the United Kingdom where he stayed until his death, under mysterious circumstances, in 1969. Various Baganda chiefs, members of the royal family and others thought loyal to the Kabaka, were imprisoned. The Lubiri Palace was almost completely destroyed in the course of the fighting and the looting which followed. Historic artifacts and royal regalia were stolen and destroyed, including the Mujaguzo drums. This desecration caused immense psychological suffering for many Baganda who regarded the event as an apocalypse. The Mengo crisis led to lawsuits being brought against Obote's government. Members of the Mengo establishment that were jailed by the new regime sued for their release. Sir Egbert Udo Udoma, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, granted it to them in his decision for Uganda v Commissioner of Prisons, Ex Parte Matovu. When the Bugandan government petitioned the court to declare Obote's actions invalid, Udoma ruled that Obote had orchestrated a coup which, according to international law, was a legitimate means of assuming power. He thus declared that Obote's government was legal and that the new constitution was in force. The former cabinet ministers that had been arrested were transferred to Karamoja as per a colonial law, the Deportation Ordinance, that allowed for the detention and removal of "undesirable" persons. They subsequently petitioned the courts for a writ of habeas corpus. In Grace Ibingira & Others v Uganda, a Uganda High Court judge found the detention legal and denied the petition, but the East African Court of Appeal ruled that the ordinance violated a Ugandan citizen's constitutional right to freedom of movement and ordered a writ of habeas corpus to be granted. The ministers were released and then immediately rearrested outside the courthouse in Buganda under the colonial Emergency Regulations, and the government passed the Deportation Act to cover its actions. The ministers filed a new suit, but in a hearing the court affirmed the legality of the new law. The cabinet ministers remained incarcerated until Amin released them following his seizure of power in 1971. Following the crisis, Obote moved to increase his power by growing his appeal in the military through patronage, particularly through increased defence expenditure in the 1966 budget. Soldiers who had served loyally during the crisis were rewarded for their fidelity. In 1967 he introduced a third constitution which abolished all of Uganda's traditional kingdoms. For his role in the Mengo Crisis, Obote also continued to promote and favor Amin until their eventual falling-out. Bugandan royalists sought to mobilize an underground resistance against Obote's government. Activists such as "General Muzinge", Obadiah Tamusange, and Kasane Mulindwa spread inflammatory pamphlets, organized demonstrations, and sought to mobilize common people against the government. Most activists remained completely anonymous, adopting a collective persona dubbed the "Secret Council" which remained in use for years. Obote's security forces launched operations against Buganda activists, with Amin focusing on dismantling networks such as the "Secret Council" and "Buganda Liberation Army". These efforts failed to fully suppress dissident groups. In December 1969, Obote was nearly killed in an assassination attempt at a political rally; police identified a Bugandan underground cell as being responsible. Kabaka Mutesa II died in exile in 1969, but was allowed to be buried in Buganda by Idi Amin after the latter's seizure of power in 1971. After becoming president, Amin initially tried to appease Bugandan royalists, but quickly turned against them upon perceiving their continued loyalty to the abolished monarchy as a threat. Amin promoted the narrative of a Muslim boy from the poor outskirts of the country taking on the Christian leader of Uganda's dominant tribe. The mystique of this action granted him greater legitimacy at least in some sub-populations. == Legacy ==

Many Baganda collectively hold Obote responsible for the 1966 Crisis. They also blame him for the disestablishment of the Buganda Kingdom and Mutesa's flight into exile. The Lubiri Palace was restored in 1993. == Notes ==