{UAH} ON THIS DAY 1980...

On this day in 1980, revolutionary leader and Head of State Marshal Tito (left) President of Yugoslavia, passed away in the countries capital Belgrade. In regards to Africa, his main role was in the creation of the Non-Aligned Movement, and its support to African countries independence.

The organization was a group of countries that refused to belong either to the Western Bloc or the Eastern bloc as the Cold war days demanded.

Almost the entire African continent joined the Non-Aligned Movement with African leaders like Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, and Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. In total over 120 Third World countries from around the world, including 53 from Africa, and others from Asia, the Middle East, South America, and the Carribean Islands, were part of the international group.

It was actually Indian independence Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who first came up with the ideology, and was joined by historic Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Marshal Josip Bros Tito of Yugoslavia as the three founders of the Non-Aligned Movement.

My late father signed Uganda up into the Non-Aligned Movement stating that "Uganda must be free to work amicably with all countries, and not be forced to belong to the Western bloc or the Soviet bloc".

In the Havana Declaration, President Fidel Castro mentioned the purpose of the Non-Aligned Movement as "to ensure the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries in their struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, exploitation, interference or hegemony as well as against global bloc politics."

Obviously the Non-Aligned Movement was systematically undermined by the two blocks and today remains a shadow of its forner self.

In this picture from the late 70's, my late father visited Marshal Tito in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (known as Serbia today). The young kid getting excited about the animals in the enclosure? That's me.

At that age I already had my own opinions and never feared to speak my mind to my father even on state issues. I remember always asking questions and even intervening to get some people out of jail. One example which I think I have narrated on social media before was the case of Rt Hon. Henry Kajura who is in Hoima district today. At the time I was in primary school with his children who were my friends, and I was saddened because they had all become so sad after their father was arrested by police. So one evening I asked my father to do something for them.

For the record, it was a corruption case involving stealing government funds. Though I think to this day Mr. Kajura himself does not actually know how or why he was released from jail. He was pardoned (a presidential pardon on compassionate grounds).

By the way I think even Yoweri Museveni was also once arrested and detained at Mbarara military barracks on the more serious terrorism charges, but was also released by Amin. Obviously this release was an act without which Museveni would not be enjoying the State house that he is enjoying today. Remember that at the time terrorism and murder were capital offenses which under the criminal justice system and the rule of law were punishable by firing squad.

What happened between Museveni and the Amin government after that remains classified information.

Anyway in this picture as my father was busy discussing bilateral issues of the state with Marshal Tito, I stopped listening to their discussions and got carried away by the animals in the enclosure. It was a memorable three day state visit which I remember in great detail. Especially the famous Brioni island that is a great tourism destination in Serbia today. At the time I also used to speak fluent Russian after spending two years in Moscow, and I think Marshal Tito and his wife were really impressed about that.

People in Yugoslavia widely spoke Russian at the time because they had first been under the Soviet Union after World War II like other Eastern European countries, until they later broke away to start the Non-Aligned movement. So I even acted as a personal interpretor for my father on what Tito and his wife were saying. Though today besides the greeting, I cannot even remember a single word in that language. But Moscow was a great, beautiful city even during the Soviet Union.

A few years after this visit, Marshal Tito passed away. And as we all know, his country then plunged into ethnic civil war between the Serbs, the Croats, and the Bosnians. Leading to the country breaking apart into Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina.

Basically Marshal Josip Bros Tito is internationaly credited for holding the people of his country together until his death when it all suddenly collapsed, resulting in a terrible, decade-long civil war that saw over a million people loosing their lives and over 4 million displaced.

For the record, a similar mayhem and civil war of tribalism, and religious sectarianism also happened in Uganda after Field Marshal Idi Amin. Anarchy complete with genocides, mass murders, 6 coups in 7 years by people fighting amongst themselves for power, total economic collapse, looting of state enterprises and government assets, severe poverty, a failed state and mass graves of human skulls around the country. A Ugandan civil war that started in 1980 with the famous "Museveni Bush War", and which resulted in over a million and ahalf Ugandans dead by the time it all actually ended in 2006 with Joseph Kony and the Lords Resistance Army.

However on this day we remember the late Marshal Josip Bros Tito of Yugoslavia. A World War I & World War II hero who resisted both Nazi Hitler and fascist Italy, and was instrumental in cementing the independence of African nations through the creation of the Non-Aligned Movement.

He therefore enjoyed unrestrained recognition and acknowledgement from African leaders, African historians, and the people of Africa.

May his soul rest in eternal peace.

Signed: Hussein Lumumba Amin

4th/05/2020.

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