1944 - 1971
Yoweri
Kaguta Museveni was born in 1944 to Mzee Amos Kaguta and Maama Esteri
Kokundeka in the Ntungamo district of southwestern Uganda. At the time
Uganda was still a part of the British Empire, and Museveni's father
Amos had recently returned as a veteran of World War II, fighting under
the British flag. Museveni’s name was, in fact, derived from Abaseveni, a
regiment of Ugandan soldiers who had been drafted into the Seventh
Regiment of the Kings African Rifles, in which his father served.
Although most of the children in the rural area didn’t have any formal
schooling, Amos, a cattle rancher by trade, insisted on all of his
children receiving a thorough education. Museveni attended Kyamate
Primary School, Mbarara High School and the college-prep Ntare School.
In 1962 Uganda gained its independence from Britain, and even though the
18-year-old Museveni now had his first taste of being a free citizen of
the kingdom of Uganda, it would be many years before he would see his
country enjoy any lasting stretch of peace and prosperity.
It
was during Museveni’s time at Ntare School that he began to take an
interest in the politics of his country, and he didn’t wait very long
before engaging in the political struggle. In 1966 he fought to convince
the Ankole peasants in his home region to fence off their lands and to
defend their right to not be evicted by colonial adventurers.
Museveni
later enrolled at the Dar es Salaam University College of Education in
Tanzania and obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and
Political Science in 1970. His political interest also extended beyond
the classroom: as an active Marxist and pan-Africanist, he formed the
University Students' African Revolutionary Front (USARF) activist group
with an international mix of students, many of which would later become
influential politicians in various countries. Museveni also led a
student delegation to Mozambique, which was still under Portuguese rule
at the time, to work with the Liberation Front of Mozambique (FRELIMO)
and to receive training in guerrilla warfare.
In
1970, the 26-year-old Museveni returned to Uganda, which had since
become a republic headed by President Apollo Milton Obote, and joined
the national intelligence service. Museveni only held this position for a
year before a military coup led by Idi Amin saw Obote toppled and Amin
taking control of the country. Along with thousands of other Ugandans,
Museveni was forced to seek refuge in neighbouring Tanzania.
