{UAH} Obote and Commander Ssekidde!

Forum,

In the fourth week of July 1985, all that stood between President Obote and a second exile was a UNLA officer and UPC member Major Robert Ssekidde.

If the proof of a good commander is how much he is willing to use his command knowledge to die a little for his Commander-in-Chief, then it can be said that Ssekidde failed his leader miserably.

Perhaps if he had done his work, he could have delayed the coup of the Okellos and given Obote a breather for a few more months or weeks.

 

You see, on 20^th February 1985, Peter Otai (Minister of State for Defence), Chris Rwakasisi (Minister of State Office of the President), Prof Ephraim Kamuntu (Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Office of the President), Brigadier Smith Opon Acak (UNLA Chief of Staff), Hon. Isingoma (UPC MP Masindi East) and ironically Mr. Ogenga Otunnu (Makerere University Guild President) plus the NUSU President whose name I forget, addressed a public rally at Masindi Stadium.

It was to mark the day the NRA 'bandits' attacked, overran and ransacked UNLA 15th Battalion and School of Infantry at Masindi the same day a year before.

Why senior government officials and army bosses chose to commemorate a day that represented the biggest political and military humiliation of the administration will never be understood.

Peter Otai told the crowd that the 'bandits' were able to 'cause havoc' but they cannot anymore because 'Captain Ssekidde is here!' and Major Mukhwana, who was battalion commander when NRA attacked, was 'removed for good' and 'what happened here last year will never be allowed to happen again'. In the evening there was party at Masindi Hotel, where I tasted beer for the first time, thanks to the big people's visit.

Fast forward to July 22 1985. Bazilio Okello's militia from Labwordwong had marched into Lira, creating havoc in the town while waiting for the group from Gulu to allow them head for Kamdini. Ssekidde was to stop them at the Karuma Bridge and 'hold that bridge to the last man' with Obote hoping that if the coup makers tried coming through the eastern route, Brigadier George William Nyero Marafuku, the Eastern Brigade Commander who was loyal to Obote, would hold them off and hopefully allow the president to sort out the rebellion that was triggered off by events in Fort Portal and Kampala.

But the coup makers were thinking fast. First, they attempted to assassinate Masindi Assistant District Commissioner Tom Rubaihayo  (also head of National Security Agency in Masindi), Rwakasisi's right hand man in Masindi. They injured him at the gate of his house opposite Kabalega Secondary School but killed his wife.

Having just two weeks before survived a NRA ambush around Kakooge where his car burnt but he came through unscathed, Rubaihayo, known by locals as 'Tom Vibaya' , was rushed to Kampala for treatment, never to return to Masindi and nothing is known of what happened to him after.

Major Ssekidde deployed a unit to reinforce those at Karuma Bridge. However, Ssekidde was a commander of a unit that was comprised largely by majority Acholi officers and men.

While Ssekidde was apparently trying some last ditch efforts to old off the Okellos at Karuma, he was told is fighters had refused to fight the big force coming from Gulu on 25 July 1985.They drove in one huge convoy into Masindi Barracks and were welcome by Lt Peter Olaa, the Second-in-Command who had 'deposed' Ssekidde and Ssekidde simply fled towards Kampala.

 

In Dar es Salaam, Prime Minister Otema Allimadi and Dr Luwuliza Kirunda who had been sent by Obote to ask for some Tanzanian rapid deployment to stem the fast creeping coup, were instead made to wait in hotels, with Nyerere unwilling to help, having already made up his mind to send some weapons to the NRA instead.

On July 26, 1985, the huge convoy drove off from Masindi towards Kampala, blowing horns and flutes and singing war songs as the confused crowd watched along the streets of Masindi-Kirasa road. Along the way, the unit at Nakasongola, commanded by another officer sympathetic to the coup makers, simply let the convoy drive through.

 

The next day, the coup was announced and Obote had fled. Of course Ogenga Otunnu became a key figure in the Military Council government while another Otunnu became Minister of Foreign Affairs and Prof Amii Omara Otunnu became advisor to Bazilio.

Major Ssekidde, as the last line of defence between his commander-in-chief and the coup makers, had also fled to Kampala and not much was heard of him and it is not sure whether he switched sides later.

Today, Lt. Col (Rtd) Robert Ssekidde is a billionaire, owning the SEROMA GROUP of companies, which includes SEROMA HARDWARES and SEROMA CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOLS in Mukono and Buikwe. 

Incidentally, most of the students at SEROMA CHRISTIAN schools are from the Lango and Acholi sub-regions.

 

Military historians will ask whether even the most loyal military officer could stave off an assault against his commander-in-chief, if he put his mind to it and whether Ssekidde could have bought a few weeks, even months for Dr Obote.

 

Billie

In the fourth week of July 1985, all that stood between President Obote and a second exile was a UNLA officer and UPC member Major Robert Ssekidde.

If the proof of a good commander is how much he is willing to use his command knowledge to die a little for his Commander-in-Chief, then it can be said that Ssekidde failed his leader miserably.

Perhaps if he had done his work, he could have delayed the coup of the Okellos and given Obote a breather for a few more months or weeks.

 

You see, on 20^th February 1985, Peter Otai (Minister of State for Defence), Chris Rwakasisi (Minister of State Office of the President), Prof Ephraim Kamuntu (Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Office of the President), Brigadier Smith Opon Acak (UNLA Chief of Staff), Hon. Isingoma (UPC MP Masindi East) and ironically Mr. Ogenga Otunnu (Makerere University Guild President) plus the NUSU President whose name I forget, addressed a public rally at Masindi Stadium.

It was to mark the day the NRA 'bandits' attacked, overran and ransacked UNLA 15th Battalion and School of Infantry at Masindi the same day a year before.

Why senior government officials and army bosses chose to commemorate a day that represented the biggest political and military humiliation of the administration will never be understood.

Peter Otai told the crowd that the 'bandits' were able to 'cause havoc' but they cannot anymore because 'Captain Ssekidde is here!' and Major Mukhwana, who was battalion commander when NRA attacked, was 'removed for good' and 'what happened here last year will never be allowed to happen again'. In the evening there was party at Masindi Hotel, where I tasted beer for the first time, thanks to the big people's visit.

Fast forward to July 22 1985. Bazilio Okello's militia from Labwordwong had marched into Lira, creating havoc in the town while waiting for the group from Gulu to allow them head for Kamdini. Ssekidde was to stop them at the Karuma Bridge and 'hold that bridge to the last man' with Obote hoping that if the coup makers tried coming through the eastern route, Brigadier George William Nyero Marafuku, the Eastern Brigade Commander who was loyal to Obote, would hold them off and hopefully allow the president to sort out the rebellion that was triggered off by events in Fort Portal and Kampala.

But the coup makers were thinking fast. First, they attempted to assassinate Masindi Assistant District Commissioner Tom Rubaihayo  (also head of National Security Agency in Masindi), Rwakasisi's right hand man in Masindi. They injured him at the gate of his house opposite Kabalega Secondary School but killed his wife.

Having just two weeks before survived a NRA ambush around Kakooge where his car burnt but he came through unscathed, Rubaihayo, known by locals as 'Tom Vibaya' , was rushed to Kampala for treatment, never to return to Masindi and nothing is known of what happened to him after.

Major Ssekidde deployed a unit to reinforce those at Karuma Bridge. However, Ssekidde was a commander of a unit that was comprised largely by majority Acholi officers and men.

While Ssekidde was apparently trying some last ditch efforts to old off the Okellos at Karuma, he was told is fighters had refused to fight the big force coming from Gulu on 25 July 1985.

They drove in one huge convoy into Masindi Barracks and were welcome by Lt Peter Olaa, the Second-in-Command who had 'deposed' Ssekidde and Ssekidde simply fled towards Kampala.

 

In Dar es Salaam, Prime Minister Otema Allimadi and Dr Luwuliza Kirunda who had been sent by Obote to ask for some Tanzanian rapid deployment to stem the fast creeping coup, were instead made to wait in hotels, with Nyerere unwilling to help, having already made up his mind to send some weapons to the NRA instead.

On July 26, 1985, the huge convoy drove off from Masindi towards Kampala, blowing horns and flutes and singing war songs as the confused crowd watched along the streets of Masindi-Kirasa road. Along the way, the unit at Nakasongola, commanded by another officer sympathetic to the coup makers, simply let the convoy drive through.

 

The next day, the coup was announced and Obote had fled. Of course Ogenga Otunnu became a key figure in the Military Council government while another Otunnu became Minister of Foreign Affairs and Prof Amii Omara Otunnu became advisor to Bazilio.

Major Ssekidde, as the last line of defence between his commander-in-chief and the coup makers, had also fled to Kampala and not much was heard of him and it is not sure whether he switched sides later.

Today, Lt. Col (Rtd) Robert Ssekidde is a billionaire, owning the SEROMA GROUP of companies, which includes SEROMA HARDWARES and SEROMA CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOLS in Mukono and Buikwe. 

Incidentally, most of the students at SEROMA CHRISTIAN schools are from the Lango and Acholi sub-regions.

 

Military historians will ask whether even the most loyal military officer could stave off an assault against his commander-in-chief, if he put his mind to it and whether Ssekidde could have bought a few weeks, even months for Dr Obote.

 

Billie