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Derek R Peterson

Aug 27, 2021 • 14 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X

Scrolly

I've been fascinated at the Kenya Daily Nation's reporting on John Okello, the 'Field Marshall' who overthrew the Sultan's gov't in Jan. 1964.

Here's Okello & colleagues with the flag of the newly-founded People's Republic of Zanzibar, 19 Jan. 1964.

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Okello came to power when he & 200 men stormed a police station, armed with bows & arrows. After they captured the armory they gained the upper hand over the Sultan's police.

The Kenyan papers were fascinated with Okello: early reports held him to be a Kenya citizen.

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In January and Feb 1964 Okello--at the head of his heavily-armed supporters--made a series of incendiary speeches: those who opposed the revolution wld be 'cut into little pieces and thrown into the sea'.

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On 20 Feb Okello made an unannounced trip to Kenya, arriving on a commercial flight to Mombasa. Within a few days he was said to be in Uganda.

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On 28 Feb. he visited Jomo Kenyatta in Nairobi; he is said also to have met with Obote. 'There is nothing mysterious about him', said Achieng Oneko.

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On 11 March he gave a press conference in Nairobi. By that time he had been banned from returning to Zanzibar--he was not even allowed to collect his personal possessions.

The Nation heralded his ouster, calling him an embarrassment to the Zanzibar government.

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Here's a (silent) video clip of Okello's press conference in Nairobi.

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By 16 March he was in Kampala, staying in a top hotel and driving a brand-new Peugeot--evidently given to him by an Ethiopian supporter.

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In the time that followed his triumphant arrival in Kampala Okello's fortunes were steadily diminished. Within a few weeks he had wrecked his Peugeot in a car crash. In October he was arrested in Tanzania.

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He spent the rest of his life in and out of prison, accused by the governments of Kenya, Uganda & Tanzania of conspiring against them.

In November 1964, for example, Hastings Banda accused him of planning to overthrow Malawi's government.

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He spent the first anniversary of the Zanzibar Revolution at a small hotel in Nairobi, hoping to get a meeting with Jomo Kenyatta.

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He was imprisoned by Obote in 1967; shortly after his release he was imprisoned in Kenya & held for several years.

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John Okello had a cordial meeting with Idi Amin early in 1971. Amin guaranteed Okello's freedom of movement.

Later that year Okello was killed--apparently by Amin's men.

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John Okello was a key figure in eastern Africa's political history: a threat to the cloistered power of Nyerere, Kenyatta, Banda & Obote.

He was also a charismatic figure in religious life: the Legio Maria regarded him as the Angel Gabriel, sent to end evil in the world.

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Derek R Peterson

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Oct 9, 2024

Happy Independence Day to colleagues & friends in Uganda.

Here's the original version of the anthem by George Kakoma. The 1st phrase was 'Oh Uganda, thy people praise thee'. A week before independence, tho, the Church of Uganda bishop protested that God was nowhere mentioned. 1/

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Milton Obote hastily agreed to change the phrase to 'May God uphold thee'. The new version had to be printed in great haste. It is the latter phrase that Ugandans will be singing today.

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In 2022 colleagues @ugandamuseums and I put together an exhibition to mark the 60th anniversary of independence.

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Like many others, I am sorry to hear of the passing of journalist and public intellectual John Nagenda.

His was an extraordinary life. Here's a short thread. 1/

(Below: Nagenda in 1989, courtesy @GettyImages).

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Late Nagenda's parents were William and Sala Nagenda, who were--with Simeon Nsibambi--the central figures in the early history of the East African Revival.

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John Nagenda studied at King's College, Budo--his marks are detailed below. Thereafter he went to Makerere, where he read English literature.

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The father of new British PM--Rishi Sunak--was born in Kenya & emigrated to London in the 1960s. He was one of several thousand Asians who fled in the years after independence, seeking financial security. Short thread.

Here's Tom Mboya, Minister for Economic Planning, 1968. 1/

Mboya: while some Asians have left, 'I wld rather have that than have disloyal, disaffected people...who are not prepared to cooperate in promoting nation-building'.

In 1969 the Trade Licensing Act barred Asians from owning important businesses in & outside Nairobi.

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As a result of the Act, some 3,000 Asian businessmen were put out of work. Many sought to emigrate to Britain--but strict quotas made it hard for them to relocate.

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Below: Raila speaks at a convention of opposition leaders, 1992. 1/

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Raila studied engineering in Germany; by 1975 he was a manager at the Kenya Bureau of Standards. Below: a thought piece from the Nation about 'Standardisation'.

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Fifty years ago, on 4 August 1972, Idi Amin announced that Uganda's Asian community--over 50,000 people--had 90 days to leave the country.

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'One’s mind boggles at the thought of the effects of the sudden withdrawal of all Asians from Ugandan life', wrote a British diplomat a few days after the announcement. 'Practically everything one can think of has Asian somewhere in the system'.

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The Uganda government argued that the expulsion was an orderly and logical. Here's a remarkable clip: Grace Ibingira, UN representative for Uganda, defending the expulsion of the Asians at the United Nations.

As far as I know, this is the only place where Ibingira is on film.

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In Kenya students marched to the Soviet embassy, carrying signs calling the invasion 'An Act of Imperialism of the Vilest Decree'. Other signs: 'Russians Go Home' & 'New Hitlerism'.