Anthony Ochaya (25 December 1932 – 6 July 1998) was a Ugandan politician and economist. He was the Minister of Planning and Economic Development under the Ugandan National Liberation Front government and was also commissioner for economic affairs at the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

Early life and education

Early life

Anthony Ochaya was born in the town of

Atiak Atiak is a town in the Northern Region of Uganda on the Gulu-Nimule Road, the primary trade route between Uganda and South Sudan. Location Atiak is in Kilak County the Amuru District. It is approximately , by road, north of Gulu, the largest cit ...

, in the

Amuru District Amuru District is a Districts of Uganda, district in Northern Region, Uganda, Northern Uganda. Like most Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Amuru, Uganda, Amuru, where the district headquarters are located. Location Amuru Dist ...

of Northern

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

on 25 December 1932.

Education

Anthony Ochaya began his education at St. Joseph's Primary School, in

Gulu Gulu is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the commercial and administrative centre of Gulu District. The coordinates of the city of Gulu are 2°46'54.0"N 32°17'57.0"E. The distance from Gulu to Kampala, Uganda's capital and large ...

, Uganda. He then matriculated on to St. Joseph's Secondary School, again in

. Afterwards, he attended St. Aloysisus College Nyapea in Zombo, Uganda from 1952 until 1955, and then he began working for his Bachelor of Arts in 1956 from

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, and graduated from

in 1956.

Career

Early career

After graduating from

in 1956, Anthony Ochaya worked as a civil servant in a variety of low-level positions. He first worked as an assistant district commissioner in the

Moyo District Moyo District is a district in Northern Region of Uganda. Like many other Ugandan districts, it is named after its "chief town", Moyo, where the district headquarters are located. Location Moyo District is located in Uganda's extreme north, in ...

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

, a position he held until 1960. He then worked as an administrative officer for the

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

Celebrations Office based in

, before transferring to work as an administrative officer in the Office of the Chief Minister of the

Uganda Protectorate The Protectorate of Uganda was a protectorate of the British Empire from 1894 to 1962. In 1893 the Imperial British East Africa Company transferred its administration rights of territory consisting mainly of the Kingdom of Buganda to the Brit ...

under Chief Minister

Benedicto Kiwanuka Benedicto Kagimu Mugumba Kiwanuka (8 May 1922 – 22 September 1972) was the first prime minister of Uganda, a leader of the Democratic Party, and one of the persons that led the country in the transition between colonial British rule and indepe ...

from 1960 until 1962. In 1962, the position of Chief Minister of the Uganda Protectorate was renamed to the Prime Minister of the Uganda Protectorate, but Anthony Ochaya's position and role in the office of Prime Minister

stayed the same despite the position's name change in the lead up to the Independence of Uganda from the United Kingdom. Under the first

Milton Obote Apollo Milton Obote (28 December 1925 – 10 October 2005) was a Ugandan political leader who led Uganda to independence from British colonial rule in 1962. Following the nation's independence, he served as prime minister of Uganda from 1962 to ...

administration, Anthony Ochaya held various medium-level positions in the newly independent nation of

. In 1962, he became the Assistant Secretary for the Ministry of Finance. In 1963, he worked in the Ministry of Finance, before being appointed the Principal Assistant Secretary for the Ministry of Health in 1964. He worked as the Principal Assistant Secretary for the Ministry of Health for one year before moving into the Ministry of Planning and Community Development as the Principal Assistant Secretary in 1965. He then returned to the Ministry of Finance, being promoted to the role of Under Secretary in 1966.

Career at the World Bank

In 1966, Ochaya left

and moved to the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in the United States of America to take a position at the Economic Development Institute at the

. He worked in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Division of the

afterwards, a position he held until 1979 when he returned to

Return to Uganda

While abroad working at the

in the

, Ochaya began getting involved with the

Uganda National Liberation Front The Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) was a political group formed by exiled Ugandans opposed to the rule of Idi Amin with an accompanying military wing, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA). UNLA fought alongside Tanzanian forces in ...

, a group of predominantly exiled prominent Ugandans who opposed the regime of Ugandan President

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

and who sought to remove Idi Amin from power and then to establish immediately an interim civilian government. When the

took provisional control of the Government of

in 1979, Anthony Ochaya returned to the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, this time being appointed as Minister of Planning and Economic Development by the

government. As Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Ochaya repeatedly clashed with newly appointed

Governor of the Bank of Uganda The Governor of the Bank of Uganda is chief executive officer and the chairman of the board of directors of the Bank of Uganda. The current governor was Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, who was first appointed to this position on 1 January 2001, and wa ...

, Gideon Nkojo. One issue that particularly divided them was the issue of inflation. Ochaya wanted scholars from

to conduct an academic study of inflation in Uganda before making any changes to economic policy, while Nkojo wanted to immediately combat the "economic and social malaise" of Uganda, believing that would solve the inflation problem. Ultimately, the Minister of Finance mediated the dispute and attempted an economic restructuring of

to combat inflation, in the process expanding the jurisdiction that the

Bank of Uganda The Bank of Uganda ( sw, Benki Kuu ya Uganda) is the central bank of Uganda. Established in 1966, by Act of Parliament, the bank is wholly owned by the government but is not a government department. History In 1979 and again in 1987, the Ba ...

had on the Ugandan economy. In 1984, Ochaya founded the

Nationalist Liberal Party The Nationalist Liberal Party ( es, Partido Liberal Nacionalista, PLN) was a political party in Nicaragua. When Anastasio Somoza García took power in 1936, the party aligned itself with the United States and other caudillos in Latin America, li ...

alongside Tiberio Okeny Atwoma,

Cuthbert Joseph Obwangor Cuthbert Joseph Obwangor (1 November 1920 – 19 May 2012) was a longtime Ugandan minister and legislator. He was a minister and a political prisoner for the Apollo Milton Obote regime after he opposed Obote's extension of power while Obwangor was ...

, and Francis Bwengye. The Nationalist Liberalist Party was a splinter group from the leading opposition party at the time, the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. The Nationalist Liberal Party was created in response to former acting Secretary General of the

Tiberio Okeny Atwoma's unsuccessful challenge to Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere for the leadership of the

Democratic Party (Uganda) The Democratic Party ( sw, Chama cha Kidemokrasia; DP) was a moderate conservative political party in Uganda led by Norbert Mao. The DP was led by Paul Ssemogerere for 25 years until his retirement in November 2005. John Ssebaana Kizito replac ...

. Anthony Ochaya assumed the role of Secretary General for the Nationalist Liberal Party upon its creation. The party was short-lived, and eventually was absorbed back into the

by 1986 with Okeny ultimately rejoining the Democratic Party of Uganda.

Personal life

During the Uganda Tanzania War between Uganda and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

, there was a massacre of civilians in

Arua Arua is a city and commercial centre within the Arua District in the Northern Region of Uganda. Location Arua is approximately , by road, north-west of Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda, Arua is about , by road, west of Gulu, the ...

, in the Northern Region of Uganda. A number of civil servants and some families sought protection from the fighting in the hall of the White Rhino Tourist Hotel, where they were massacred. Anthony Ochaya and fellow minister Moses Apiliga who led the Ministry of Supplies, both had "a number of relatives" who were killed in the attack.

Death

Anthony Ochaya was admitted into

Mulago Hospital Mulago National Specialised Hospital, also known as Mulago National Referral Hospital, is a component of Mulago Hospital Complex, the teaching facility of Makerere University College of Health Sciences. It is the largest public hospital in Ug ...

, Uganda on 24 June 1998, on suspicion of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

and

Kidney disease Kidney disease, or renal disease, technically referred to as nephropathy, is damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephritis is an inflammatory kidney disease and has several types according to the location of the inflammation. Inflammation can ...

. He died on 6 July 1998. He is buried in Agwe, a village near

, Uganda.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ochaya, Anthony 1932 births 1998 deaths Government ministers of Uganda Makerere University alumni People from Amuru District Ugandan expatriates in the United States World Bank people Ugandan nationalists Democratic Party (Uganda) politicians Deaths from kidney failure Deaths from pneumonia in Uganda Ugandan economists