Today in History: Obote's Second Government Falls in Military Coup

What the report says

Nile Post, in a “Today in History” account, revisited the July 27, 1985 military coup that removed President Milton Obote’s second government in Uganda. The report says the takeover was led by General Tito Okello Lutwa and Brigadier Basilio Olara-Okello, ending Obote’s nearly five-year return to power and creating another major rupture in the country’s post-independence politics.

According to the publisher, the coup followed worsening divisions inside the Uganda National Liberation Army, especially between Lango officers aligned with Obote and Acholi officers who had moved into open rebellion. Nile Post reports that Vice President and Defence Minister Paulo Muwanga alerted Obote in the early hours that troops loyal to the government had deserted positions as rebel forces advanced on Kampala. Obote was eventually persuaded to leave before dawn, travelling through roadblocks in a small convoy before crossing into Kenya at Busia and later going into exile in Zambia.

The report says Acholi-led soldiers reached Kampala by mid-morning, with short-lived resistance and gunfire in the city before the capital fell in the early afternoon. Radio Uganda then announced the fall of the Obote II government, and Tito Okello later addressed the country claiming victory. Nile Post adds that the aftermath included looting and insecurity, prompting some foreign missions to increase security and evacuate non-essential personnel.

Two days later, Okello was sworn in as head of state and chair of the Military Council, while Basilio Olara-Okello became army chief. The new military administration sought a coalition with rebel groups, including Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Army, but the NRA rejected the offer. The instability set the stage for the NRA’s capture of Kampala in January 1986 and Museveni’s ascent to power.