Post

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
Click again on or Share Via icon
Click on Copy Link to Tweet
Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
More info at Twitter Help

Derek R Peterson

Sep 30, 2021 • 9 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X

Scrolly

John Babiiha was a veterinarian, a politician, & one of the great survivors of Uganda's history.

Here he is in Sept. 1968, at the second anniversary celebration of the founding of Uganda's republican government. With him was the CO of the Uganda Army, Gen. Idi Amin.

Thread. 1/

2/
Babiiha entered public life in the 1950s as the treasurer of the Tooro Kingdom.

Here he is in 1958, arguing for the 'Dignity and Conventional Prerogatives' of the kings of western Uganda. He feared that Buganda would 'swamp us & take the leading part in the country'.

3/
In 1955 Babiiha was made Member of the colonial-era Legislative Council.

His platform for the 1958 LegCo election: he 'sees no authenticity in unfounded rumors or street corner politics. He maintains that it is unsalutary for a Mutoro...to involve himself in rumors'.

@NationAfrica

4/
After Uganda's independence PM Milton Obote nominated Babiiha to Parliament & made him Minister of Animal Industry, Game & Fisheries.

Here's a @NationAfrica profile, Feb. 1963.

@NationAfrica

@NationAfrica 5/
In 1966 Obote consolidated power in his own hands. He abolished the presidency held by Edward Muteesa. The VP, William Wilberforce Nadiope, was ousted at the same time.

That's how Babiiha became Uganda's 2nd Vice President. Here he is opening a milk plant in Tooro, Oct. 1970.

@NationAfrica

@NationAfrica 6/
On 21 Jan. 1971--a few days before the govt was overthrown by Idi Amin--VP Babiiha sent a telegram to Milton Obote, who was then in Singapore.

Babiiha: 'Your stand will remain in history as the greatest service in modern times to the advancement of the African revolution.'

@NationAfrica

@NationAfrica 7/
Within a week of sending that telegram Obote had been ousted. The new president--Idi Amin--imprisoned & eventually murdered many of Obote's ministers.

But he had a high view of Babiiha: 'This old man has done splendid work for Uganda. You should copy him'.

@NationAfrica

@NationAfrica 8/
Babiiha became a sometime advisor to Pres. Amin. In Dec. 1972 Amin sent him--together with Apolo Kironde, then Minister of Tourism--to tour the United States & 'explain Uganda's position abroad'.

@NationAfrica

@NationAfrica 9/
Babiiha survived the 1970s--& in 1980 he was made chairman of the resurgent Uganda People's Congress, the party of Milton Obote, who came back to the presidency.

John Babiiha--whose political longevity is possibly unmatched in Uganda's history--passed away in Feb. 1982.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @Unseen_Archive

Derek R Peterson

@Unseen_Archive

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/

2/
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.

Here's a photo of the independence celebrations, October 1962.

3/
In 2022 colleagues @ugandamuseums and I put together an exhibition to mark the 60th anniversary of independence.

Here's the documentary film we made for 'Uganda at 60', featuring interviews with Miria Obote, late Joyce Mpanga, Rhoda Kalema & others.

Read 7 tweets

Derek R Peterson

@Unseen_Archive

Mar 5, 2023

@GettyImages

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).

@GettyImages

@GettyImages 2/
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.

Here's William Nagenda with colleague Yosiya Kinuka in 1936.

@GettyImages

@GettyImages 3/
John Nagenda studied at King's College, Budo--his marks are detailed below. Thereafter he went to Makerere, where he read English literature.

Read 12 tweets

Derek R Peterson

@Unseen_Archive

Oct 24, 2022

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.

3/
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.

Here Asians demonstrate outside the British High Commission in Nairobi, demanding support from the British govt.

Read 7 tweets

Derek R Peterson

@Unseen_Archive

Aug 8, 2022

@RailaOdinga

Kenyans go to the polls on Tuesday. Here's a thread about one of the contenders for the presidency, @RailaOdinga. In the 1980s & 90s he played a key role in bringing down the dictatorship of Daniel arap Moi.

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

@RailaOdinga

@RailaOdinga 2/
Raila married Ida Betty Akoth Oyoo in September 1973. She was to play a key role in his political career: as an advocate, a defender of his liberty, a spokesperson, and a public face--at a time when Raila himself was in detention & out of view.

@RailaOdinga

@RailaOdinga 3/
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'.

Read 15 tweets

Derek R Peterson

@Unseen_Archive

Aug 4, 2022

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.

Here he is at 'Command Post' in Kololo on 6 August, explaining the policy to the diplomatic corps.

Short thread. 1/

@GettyImages

2/
'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'.

Here's a @GettyImages report.

@GettyImages

@GettyImages 3/
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.

Read 8 tweets

Derek R Peterson

@Unseen_Archive

Feb 28, 2022

On 20 Aug. 1968 250,000 soldiers from the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia, putting an end to the 'Prague Spring'.

The invasion caused outrage in eastern Africa. Here students in Tanzania lob rotten eggs at the Soviet embassy--& express sympathy to the Czech ambassador. 1/

2/
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'.