How Amin smuggled his family from Entebbe fire to Libya
Amin introduces Gaddafi to some of his senior soldiers during the Libyan leader’s visit to Uganda in 1973. Internet photo
Upon arriving in Kampala, we were tentatively
enrolled at Buganda Road Primary School by the chief presidential
protocol officer Nasr Ondoga, who was responsible for all the
president’s personal affairs, for the final duration of our childhood
stay in our beloved country.
All the children who had left Kabale Preparatory
School (apart from Mwanga Alemi who went to reside with his mother at
Command Post Kololo and Asha Mbabazi who went to reside with her mother
in Kololo as well), were resident with Mama Sarah Kyolaba at the present
day Kampala State House, Nakasero (formerly Nakasero Lodge).
During this time, no one was residing at Entebbe
State House and it was only used for State Functions as Entebbe was near
the war front and constant infiltration from the porous “Masaka, Mpigi
shoreline” rendered it unsafe to stay there. This was mostly in March
1979 and Kampala was taken in April 1979.
Dad’s bombastic propaganda statements continued on
radio. On March 26, 1979 Radio Uganda announced that the President was
“cut off at Entebbe.” We would go so much as to affirm dad’s victory
announced by the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation on March 26, 1979 when
it announced that “the President was cut off at Entebbe but managed to
repel the enemy forces with the support of loyal troops”.
Announcements through the radio
The announcement by the radio station might have had some truth in it since this was the exact time dad was negotiating with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to receive his immediate family into Tripoli, and he needed the still useful Entebbe International Airport. The invading troops were still more than 70 miles away from Kampala when dad was negotiating with Gaddafi to receive us. Since vanguards of the so-called liberation forces had possibly already infiltrated some parts of the route to Entebbe by the time dad was frantically trying to get us out of Uganda, he addressed the nation asking “Ugandans who believe in God to pray day and night.”
The announcement by the radio station might have had some truth in it since this was the exact time dad was negotiating with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to receive his immediate family into Tripoli, and he needed the still useful Entebbe International Airport. The invading troops were still more than 70 miles away from Kampala when dad was negotiating with Gaddafi to receive us. Since vanguards of the so-called liberation forces had possibly already infiltrated some parts of the route to Entebbe by the time dad was frantically trying to get us out of Uganda, he addressed the nation asking “Ugandans who believe in God to pray day and night.”
The liberators intensified their efforts because
they were hell-bent on overthrowing dad. On March 27, 1979, the
“liberation” bombs commonly referred to as “Saba-Saba”, landed on the
compounds of the Republic House at Mengo (Bulange building) and the Army
Shop nearby in the evening. Meanwhile, a cabinet in waiting had been
formed by the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) in Moshi on March
24 and 25, 1979. This cabinet had been formed out of 22 political groups
that had emerged in opposition to dad’s regime.
On March 28, 1979, at about 9am, Lt. Col.
Pangarasio Onek, the CO (commanding officer) of General Headquarters,
Mbuya, instructed his troops to commandeer any available means of
transport: matatus, trucks, tractors, cars, taxis, etc, to take their
families “home.” My avatar [my cousin with whom I have done a lot of
research on our family], Yuga Juma Onziga, knew there and then that it
was “a game over” for dad’s regime. Dad’s army was in total disarray and
now fighting to “save their skins.”
The war ended at Lukaya when most of the soldiers
and Secret Service Personnel either said “Congo na gawa” or “Sudan na
gawa” or high tailed it out of the country. Some even said let him fight
this out with his favorite Air Force and Marines – a reminder of the
dangers of favouring particular units in the military over others.
As dad’s army continued to disintegrate, his
bombastic propaganda statements continued on state controlled radio but
by now dad knew better. On March 28, 1979, Radio Uganda claimed that dad
had “smashed through the Tanzanian forces and reopened the road to
Entebbe” which had been closed by the invading forces. The bluff and the
bombast that had served him well for eight years were rapidly losing
its effect. As a consolation, dad was now fighting a private war to
evacuate some 80 members of his family and close associates to safety in
Libya.
Commissioner urges people to work
Meanwhile the district commissioner of Kampala, Muhammad, addressed a rally in Kampala where he urged people to turn up for work and business as usual, yet the rebels were actually 20 miles outside Entebbe at the time.
On March 28, 1979 at about 4pm, Yuga Juma Onziga along with his wife and a two-week-old baby girl, his father and brother, fled to Arua. Between Kiryandongo Hospital and Karuma Falls, the car, a Toyota matatu they had rented, overturned and some people were injured but none seriously. The matatu was totally written off and Juma lost his JVC radio and stereo cassette in this accident.
Meanwhile the district commissioner of Kampala, Muhammad, addressed a rally in Kampala where he urged people to turn up for work and business as usual, yet the rebels were actually 20 miles outside Entebbe at the time.
On March 28, 1979 at about 4pm, Yuga Juma Onziga along with his wife and a two-week-old baby girl, his father and brother, fled to Arua. Between Kiryandongo Hospital and Karuma Falls, the car, a Toyota matatu they had rented, overturned and some people were injured but none seriously. The matatu was totally written off and Juma lost his JVC radio and stereo cassette in this accident.
Fortunately, his younger brother, who was driving
later from Kampala also to Arua, stopped by and conveyed his wife and
child along to Arua. The rest of them transferred to a nearby lorry and
arrived in Arua early in the morning of March 29. They finally converged
at their clan village of Rugbuza later that afternoon. The rest is
history!
The same day March 28, 1979,Tanzanian long-range
artillery began bombing Kampala. At about 11:20pm, Radio Uganda
broadcast a news flash saying the attack was close by. “Tonight ... is
the first time when the Tanzanian aggressors with mercenaries and
traitors, using long-range artillery, have bombarded Kampala...” said a
newscaster. This admission of truth by the national radio made Ugandans
realise how close dad’s fall was.
At that time the truth about dad’s impending
downfall remained concealed by the Kampala authorities. However, BBC
World Service regularly intercepted Radio Uganda broadcasts from their
monitoring station at Caversham Park in England. Ugandans who were brave
and bold enough to follow the events at the risk of being discovered by
the notorious State Research Bureau intelligence agents continued to
quietly keep track of BBC broadcasts and the truth about dad’s impending
defeat. They had begun to do so early in the war.
How we flew to Libya
The day my family flew out of Entebbe to Libya we could hear the artillery shells in the distance getting closer. It was amazing and there was a sense of disbelief. Dad was having 60 to 80 seats installed in a cargo plane for all of us. He was talking to Gaddafi on the phone, telling him, “My children are coming”. Dad sent us ahead because he wanted to stay on to make his last stand, even though he knew that the war was lost.
The day my family flew out of Entebbe to Libya we could hear the artillery shells in the distance getting closer. It was amazing and there was a sense of disbelief. Dad was having 60 to 80 seats installed in a cargo plane for all of us. He was talking to Gaddafi on the phone, telling him, “My children are coming”. Dad sent us ahead because he wanted to stay on to make his last stand, even though he knew that the war was lost.
Apparently, a reluctant Egyptian pilot had to be commandeered
and he was paid cash down in hard currency so that he could accept to
fly the president’s children out of the country to safety. The
bombardment was only 20 miles away then. The Boeing 707 cargo plane had
recently come in from one of its expensive cargo transport flights
taking coffee to the USA and he (the pilot) was very tired. It had no
seats whatsoever.
So, some 60 to 80 seats were hurriedly placed in
the plane to accommodate probably 60 persons who were given blankets
against the cold emanating from the bare aluminum floor. I had actually
been hurriedly discharged from Mulago Hospital following a sprain of my
ankle and still had an itchy plaster on.
The Boeing 707 managed to take off under strange
circumstances, due to the fact that artillery shellfire was now raining
into the airport area. It was on the night of March 27! The bodyguards
were forced to place four cars around the plane and they raced down the
runway like lighting for the pilot until we were airborne!
What an uncomfortable ride to safety this was, all the way to Tripoli, Libya!
What an uncomfortable ride to safety this was, all the way to Tripoli, Libya!
The plane ride to Tripoli was rough and
uncomfortable. I have often reflected about what could have gone wrong
with a plane that had no seats and was flown by a reluctant Egyptian
pilot that had to be commandeered and paid in hard currency, before
accepting to fly the President’s children out of the country to safety.
I have often wondered what would have happened if the Egyptian pilot
didn’t honour the hefty bribe he received from dad to fly us out of
Uganda to safety but decided not to dwell on the predicament. Some say
it was the fatigue that built the reluctance and no civilian pilot wants
to work under a war situation, which was understandable under the
circumstance.
We left behind some very prized items. I still see
in my mind’s eye an ornate golden Mantle Clock left in my dad’s State
House bedroom that had been given to dad by Tito of Yugoslavia on one of
his last state visits to the Balkans. That visit holds a lot of meaning
to me since dad had promised me that if my grades improved, he would
take me on his next visit abroad. My grades did improve but my brother
Lumumba was chosen on that particular trip and I remember my kid brother
feeding a giraffe in the Belgrade Zoo on a photo shoot with the World
War II hero. I remember asking my stepmother Mama Sarah if she had
remembered to bring the Mantle Clock and she regretted that it had
stayed in State House Entebbe.
Continues next week
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‘Memories of our last hours in Uganda’
I will never forget the last days of our stay
in Uganda due to the constant boom-boom sound made by the “Saba-Saba
BM21” artillery fired into the capital Kampala by the liberators. Having
been picked up from dad’s residence in Nakasero where we were residing
at the time, we were all gathered at Command Post in Kololo, another of
dad’s residences.
Then we set off in a convoy towards Munyonyo (Cape Town View) and used the Garuga detour towards Entebbe, coming out near Kajansi since some liberation troops had already cut off – and probably laid an ambush – on the main road probably around the Lubowa Estates area. We arrived at the old colonial residences (State House Entebbe), to await the planned flight to Tripoli, Libya.
Then we set off in a convoy towards Munyonyo (Cape Town View) and used the Garuga detour towards Entebbe, coming out near Kajansi since some liberation troops had already cut off – and probably laid an ambush – on the main road probably around the Lubowa Estates area. We arrived at the old colonial residences (State House Entebbe), to await the planned flight to Tripoli, Libya.
Mama Sarah Kyolaba had preferred to stay at
Nakasero Lodge in Kampala even though she and dad’s other wife, Mama
Madina, previously jointly shifted to State House Entebbe, which has a
better defense position following attempts to raid the Kampala
residences by insurgents.
In 1978, Mama Madina had left for Iraq together with Mama Nabirye, the presidential bodyguard dad married the same year, 1978, for medical treatment. Mama Nabirye had previously been in residence at the Cape Town View Resort before leaving for Iraq.
In 1978, Mama Madina had left for Iraq together with Mama Nabirye, the presidential bodyguard dad married the same year, 1978, for medical treatment. Mama Nabirye had previously been in residence at the Cape Town View Resort before leaving for Iraq.
Mama Madina had a detached retina while the
expectant bride, Mama Nabirye, went for precautionary tests. After the
fall of dad’s government, the two women ended up first in Central Africa
then in Paris, France after the fall of Jean Bedel Bokassa, president
of the Central African Republic and dad’s friend, also in 1979.
My sister Zam Zam (Mama Nabirye’s daughter)
was born in Bangui the capital of the Central African Republic on the
night of the Military coup against Bokassa. Then she and Mama Madina
left together for Mobutu’s Kinshasa in 1979 via Paris, France where
Catherine Bokassa had taken refuge.
=============================================
Friendship with gaddafi
Idi Amin and Muammar Gaddafi struck up a friendship. After Idi Amin’s government was overthrown in Uganda, Muammar Gaddafi welcomed him and his entourage into Libya where the Libyan government took care of them for several months. On the little known occasion relating to Amin threatening to walk to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia if Gaddafi did not offer him safe passage to the holy land of Sunni Islam, Amin had felt betrayed by Gaddafi because Gaddafi wanted to be the Chairman of the Organisation of African Unity in 1979.
Idi Amin and Muammar Gaddafi struck up a friendship. After Idi Amin’s government was overthrown in Uganda, Muammar Gaddafi welcomed him and his entourage into Libya where the Libyan government took care of them for several months. On the little known occasion relating to Amin threatening to walk to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia if Gaddafi did not offer him safe passage to the holy land of Sunni Islam, Amin had felt betrayed by Gaddafi because Gaddafi wanted to be the Chairman of the Organisation of African Unity in 1979.
To increase his chances of getting elected to
the chairmanship of the OAU, Gaddafi had to “befriend” Julius Nyerere,
the President of Tanzania who was responsible for Amin’s ouster from
power in Uganda.
Source: amazon.com
Consolidating Democratic Gains, Promoting African Prosperity March 29, 2013
Source: amazon.com
Consolidating Democratic Gains, Promoting African Prosperity March 29, 2013
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