Tito Lutwa Okello (1914 – 3 June 1996) was a
Ugandan
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
military officer and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
. He was the eighth
president of Uganda
The president of the Republic of Uganda is the head of state and the head of government of Uganda. The president leads the executive branch of the government of Uganda and is the commander-in-chief of the Uganda People's Defence Force.
The ...
from 29 July 1985 until 26 January 1986.
Background
Tito Okello was born into an ethnic
Acholi family in circa 1914 in Nam Okora,
Kitgum District
Kitgum District is a district in Northern Uganda. It is named after its major town of Kitgum, where the district headquarters is located. It has suffered many deaths and social disruption resulting from the 20-year civil war within the region duri ...
.
He joined the
King's African Rifles
The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a multi-battalion British colonial regiment raised from Britain's various possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s. It performed both military and internal security functions within ...
in 1940 and served in the
East African Campaign of World War II. As a career military officer, he had a variety of assignments.
As follower of President
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 ...
, Okello went into exile following the
1971 coup d'état that resulted in
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 ...
becoming Uganda's new ruler. In 1972,
rebels invaded Uganda to restore Obote. Okello was one of the leaders of an insurgent group which targeted
Masaka
Masaka is a city in the Buganda Region of Uganda, west of Lake Victoria. The city is the headquarters of Masaka District.
Location
Masaka is approximately to the south-west of Kampala on the highway to Mbarara. The city is close to the Equato ...
. The invasion was defeated by loyalist
Uganda Army troops.
Okello took part in the
Uganda–Tanzania War
The Uganda–Tanzania War, known in Tanzania as the Kagera War (Kiswahili: ''Vita vya Kagera'') and in Uganda as the 1979 Liberation War, was fought between Uganda and Tanzania from October 1978 until June 1979 and led to the overthrow of Uganda ...
. He was one of the commanders in the coalition between the
Tanzania People's Defence Force
The Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF) ( sw, Jeshi la Ulinzi la Wananchi wa Tanzania) is the military force of the United Republic of Tanzania. It was established in September 1964, following a mutiny by the former colonial military force ...
and the
Uganda National Liberation Army
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 ...
(UNLA) that removed Amin from power in 1979. In 1980, Obote was restored to presidency. Okello was selected to be the Commander of the UNLA from 1980 to 1985.
Coup d'état
In July 1985, together with
Bazilio Olara-Okello
Bazilio Olara-Okello (1929 – 9 January 1990) was a Ugandan military officer and one of the commanders of the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) that together with the Tanzanian army organized the coup d'état that overthrew Idi Amin ...
, Tito Lutwa Okello staged the
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
that toppled President Obote. He ruled as president for six months until he had to transfer power to the
National Resistance Army
The National Resistance Army (NRA), the military wing of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), was a rebel army that waged a guerrilla war, commonly referred to as the Ugandan Bush War or Luwero War, against the government of Milton Obote, and l ...
(NRA) operating under the leadership of the current president,
Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...
. He went into exile in
Kenya
)
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after his tenure was forcefully terminated by Museveni.
Extended family
Tito Okello's son
Henry Oryem Okello
Henry Oryem Okello is a Ugandan lawyer and politician. He is the current State Minister for Foreign Affairs (International Affairs). He was appointed to that position in 2004. In the cabinet reshuffles of 1 June 2006, that of 16 February 2009 ...
is the current State Minister for Foreign Affairs responsible for International Affairs.
In 2002, Tito Okello's younger brother,
Erisanweri Opira, was abducted from his home in
Kitgum District
Kitgum District is a district in Northern Uganda. It is named after its major town of Kitgum, where the district headquarters is located. It has suffered many deaths and social disruption resulting from the 20-year civil war within the region duri ...
by the rebel group, the
Lord's Resistance Army
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), also known as the Lord's Resistance Movement, is a rebel group and heterodox Christian group which operates in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Co ...
(LRA). His abduction was considered unusual as the LRA usually kidnapped teenagers and young people to use as prospective soldiers or sex slaves. Opira was in his late seventies when he was abducted.
Final years
Okello remained in exile until 1993, when he was granted amnesty by President Museveni and returned to Kampala. He died three years later, of an undisclosed illness, on 3 June 1996. He was almost 82 years old at the time of his death. His remains were buried at his ancestral home in Kitgum District.
Legacy and honours
In January 2010, Okello was posthumously awarded the Kagera National Medal of Honor for fighting against the
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 ...
dictatorship in the 1970s.
See also
*
Uganda since 1979
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sout ...
, part of the
History of Uganda
The history of Uganda comprises the history of the people who inhabited the territory of present-day Uganda before the establishment of the Republic of Uganda, and the history of that country once it was established. Evidence from the Paleolithic ...
series.
*
President of Uganda
The president of the Republic of Uganda is the head of state and the head of government of Uganda. The president leads the executive branch of the government of Uganda and is the commander-in-chief of the Uganda People's Defence Force.
The ...
*
Politics of Uganda
Uganda is a presidential republic in which the President of Uganda is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government business. There is a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is ...
*
Okello Oryem
References
External links
Analysis of Uganda's Political and Military Turmoil in the 1970s and 1980s
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okello, Tito
1910s births
1996 deaths
Acholi people
British Army personnel of World War II
British colonial army soldiers
King's African Rifles officers
Leaders who took power by coup
Military personnel of the Uganda–Tanzania War
People from Kitgum District
Presidents of Uganda
Ugandan exiles
Ugandan generals