Happy Birthday, Uganda



Milton Obote on the Uganda shilling. (image via banknotes)

Marie reminded me via email that Sunday was Uganda's 43rd birthday (since independence). Curiously, one day later, Milton Obote died. Obote was Uganda's first "Prime Minister," but in actuality he was just another punk-ass thug dictator. Perhaps, having been named "Milton" in Uganda caused him to lash out at the universe. Whatever. He died impoverished, just as he left Uganda, which is just now repairing itself after his -- and Amin's -- tyrannical misrule.

Obote began his political career with the best of intentions. The Wikipedia account:

" In 1959 ... Obote became head of the newly formed Uganda People's Congress (UPC). After several years as head of the opposition, Obote formed a coalition with the Buganda royalist party, Kabaka Yekka, and was elected prime minister in 1961. He assumed the post on April 25, 1962, with Sir Walter Coutts as Governor-General of Uganda. The following year, he deposed Queen Elizabeth II as Ugandan head of state, and Mutesa II of Buganda, the kabaka (king) of Buganda, became the ceremonial president, with Obote as executive vice-president.
As prime minister, Obote was implicated in a gold smuggling plot, together with Idi Amin, then deputy commander of the Ugandan armed forces.

"When the the Parliament demanded an investigation of Obote and the ousting of Amin, he suspended the constitution, abolishing the roles of leaders of Uganda's five tribal kingdoms and giving himself almost unlimited power under state-of-emergency rulings; he had several members of his cabinet arrested. Obote's judiciary cleared him of the gold-smuggling charges, but the episode created tensions between him and Mutesa, who was critical of Obote for suspending the constitution. Obote staged a coup against Mutesa and had himself declared president on March 2, 1966." (More here)

The Corsair was born in Uganda on June 4, 1971. Looking back at the old home from our new home, America, we wish Uganda, fondly, the best.