Ernest Obitre Gama

Ernest Obitre Gama (born 1 November 1940) is a former lieutenant colonel in the Uganda People's Defence Force and was the first soldier in Uganda to be appointed minister when Idi Amin appointed him to become his first Minister of Internal Affairs.[1] He later was an ambassador for Yoweri Museveni to Japan, Italy, and Sudan.[2]

Ernest Obitre Gama
Minister of Internal Affairs of Uganda
In office
2 February 1971 – 12 October 1973
PresidentIdi Amin
Preceded byBasil Kiiza Bataringaya
Succeeded byCharles Oboth Ofumbi
Ugandan Ambassador to Japan
In office
1986–1987
PresidentYoweri Museveni
Ugandan ambassador to Italy
In office
1987–1988
PresidentYoweri Museveni
Ugandan ambassador to Sudan
In office
1988 – April 1995
PresidentYoweri Museveni
Personal details
Born (1940-01-01) 1 January 1940
Olevu, Maracha District, West Nile sub-region, Northern Region, Uganda
NationalityUgandan
Spouse(s)Zilipah Enaru
ChildrenSix Children with his wife, including Judy Obitre–Gama, Eyoki Obitre Gama, Jocelyn Obitre Gama, Robina Obitre Gama, Afimani Obitre Gama, and Gordon Obitre Gama. He also claims to have other children
ResidenceArua, West Nile sub-region, Northern Region, Uganda
Alma materBusoga College
Military service
AllegianceUganda Army
Branch/service Uganda
Years of service1964 - 1979

Early life

Ernest Obitre Gama was born into a Lugbara family of farmers in the West Nile sub-region in the Northern Region of Uganda.[3] He was born in the village of Olevu, in Maracha Town, in the West Nile sub-region on 15 November in 1940.[4] He was orphaned at a young age, and did not attend school until he was 12 years old.[2]

Education

Obitre Gama attended local schools in Maracha Town area from 1952 to 1960, when, at the age of 20, he enrolled in Busoga College, a boarding secondary school located at Mwiri Hill in the Jinja District of Uganda.[3] He earned his school certificate in 1963. His goal was to become a marine engineer and work in Mombasa, Kenya, but his guardians objected and told him to enlist in the Uganda People's Defence Force.[2]

Career

Armed Forces

On 5 June 1964, Obitre Gama joined the Uganda Army.[5] In January 1965 he was commissioned and went to the Specialist Weapons School at Battlesbury Barracks in Warminster, Wiltshire in the United Kingdom where was trained to be a platoon commander.[4][6] Upon his return to Uganda he was immediately sent to Zaire, but after a short time in Zaire he became the director of the Officer Cadet's Training School in Jinja, Uganda.[3] In Jinja, Uganda, he performed the first paratroop jump by a Ugandan paratrooper in Ugandan airspace.[2] This was also when he first met Idi Amin.[1]

After serving as the director of the Officer Cadet's Training School in Jinja, Uganda, Obitre Gama travelled extensively on behalf of the Uganda People's Defence Force. In December 1967 he attended advanced military training in India, then went to the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, New Zealand, after which he traveled to Israel for a five-month long course in parachute training.[7] Following his parachute training course in Israel, Obitre Gama became the commandant and founder of the Ugandan School of Paratroopers.[7] In 1969, Obitre Gana went on a tour of India, the Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia where he represented the Uganda People's Defence Force.[7]

When the 1971 Ugandan coup d'état occurred on 25 January 1971, Obitre Gama was working in Trinidad and Tobago. He was sent by President Apollo Milton Obote to represent Uganda as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations who were assisting in the military tribunals of members of the Black Power Revolution, a series of demonstrations and strikes that attempted to effect socio-political change in Trinidad and Tobago.[7] Obitre Gama was observing the trials of Raffique Shah and Rex Lassalle, members of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force who mutinied in response to Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Eric Williams calling a state of emergency and arresting leaders of the Black Power Revolution.[8]

Minister of Internal Affairs

Following the 1971 Ugandan coup d'état, Idi Amin called for Obitre Gama to return to Uganda immediately.[1] Obitre Gama learned of the coup d'état in his home country through a BBC Radio broadcast.[1] He was appointed to be Minister of Internal Affairs on 2 February,[9] replacing the imprisoned and soon-to-be executed Basil Kiiza Bataringaya.[10] He was the first soldier to be a member of the Cabinet of Uganda, a role he tried to turn down and a role he did not seek.[1] Obitre Gama's most influential action as Minister of Internal Affairs was leading a mechanized battalion to restore order to Kampala in February 1972 following ethnic conflict within the city.[7]

Cracks quickly emerged between Obitre Gama and Idi Amin. Obitre Gama refused to promote Juma Butabika,[11] the violent Idi Amin ally, to the role of Senior Superintendent of Police out of what Obitre Gama described as concerns for his violent behavior.[1] In May 1972, Amin allegedly snubbed a hand shake from Obitre Gama at a conference at Serena Hotel, Kampala, saying "I don't want to see you. You want to overthrow me".[1] The ever erratic Idi Amin actually followed this by appointing Obitre Gama to be Minister of Power, Transport, and Communication in June 1972,[5] a role that he served concurrently with his role as Minister of Internal Affairs, although he was retired from both roles by Idi Amin "for the public interest".[1] Charles Oboth Ofumbi replaced Obitre Gama as Minister of Internal Affairs.[12]

Interim Period

Obitre Gama returned to his home in Olevu in Maracha Town following his retirement from Minister of Internal Affairs. In 1979, during the Uganda–Tanzania War, the Uganda People's Defence Force attempted to recall Obitre Gama back into the armed forces, but he declined.[2] He did not flee into the Democratic Republic of the Congo nine kilometers from his home like many other former Idi Amin officials,[13] rather he stayed when the Tanzania People's Defence Force came in and met with new Ugandan President Godfrey Binaisa who promised Obitre Gama safety and allegedly asked Obitre Gama to become Minister of Minerals, a position Obitre Gama declined.[2] Obitre Gama kept a low profile during the second Apollo Milton Obote administration.

Ambassador for Museveni

When Yoweri Museveni took power, Obitre Gama reentered Ugandan political life, this time as a diplomat. He was appointed Ambassador to Japan in 1986, then Ambassador to Italy in 1987, and Sudan in 1988.[2] He remained as ambassador to Sudan until 1995, when Uganda suspended relations with Sudan following Ugandan military assistance of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army and their sending of Ugandan troops into Sudan.[14]

Life after Politics

Obitre Gama has worked since 2000 as the Chairman of the Amnesty Commission's North-Western Region Directorate.[1] The Amnesty Commission came out of the Amnesty Act of 2000 which states that "any forces that are fighting the government (of Uganda) and wish to give-up are free to report and will be forgiven when they denounce their activities".[15]

Personal life

Obitre Gama is a diabetic.[2]

Obitre Gama married Zilipah Enaru before he became Minister of Internal Affairs.[7] He lives with her in the same house in Olevu in Maracha Town since he left the Ministry of Internal Affairs.[2] Obitre Gama has six children with his wife, including Eyoki Obitre Gama, Jocelyn Obitre Gama, Robina Obitre Gama, Afimani Obitre Gama, Gordon Obitre Gama, and Judy Obitre–Gama, who is the current Executive Director of the National Identification and Registration Authority in Uganda, previous Board Secretary of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau, and is a noted scholar and environmental lawyer.[2][16][17][18][19][20] He also claimed in an interview with Sidney Miria of the New Vision newspaper to have other children.[2]

Obitre Gama was a noted sportsman as well, winning Ugandan-wide competitions in Rugby union and Squash.[7]

References
  1. Mugabe, Faustin (10 October 2015). "I was forced to be minister". Daily Monitor. Kampala, Uganda. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  2. Miria, Sidney (19 September 2009). "Uganda: Obitre-Gama -Soldier, Diplomat and Father". All Africa. New Vision. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  3. Mediavilla, Victor Herrero (1973). African Biographical Archive. Munich. p. 286.
  4. Africa South of the Sahara 1973: Third edition of a survey and reference book of the countries south of the Sahara presented in a continental perspective (Third ed.). London, the United Kingdom: Europa Publisher. 1973. p. 285.
  5. Africa South of the Sahara 1973: Third edition of a survey and reference book of the countries south of the Sahara presented in a continental perspective. London, the United Kingdom: Europa. 1973. p. 288.
  6. "Specialist Weapons School, Warminser". Army UK.
  7. Dickie, John; Rake, Alan (1973). Who's who in Africa: The Political, Military and Business Leaders of Africa. London, the United Kingdom: African Development. p. 287. ISBN 9780950275505.
  8. Teelucksingh, Jerome (2014). "The Black Power Movement in Trinidad and Tobago". Black Diaspora Review. 4 (1): 157–186. ISSN 2334-1521.
  9. Legum 1971, p. B-193.
  10. Decker, Alicia C. (15 November 2014). In Idi Amin's Shadow: Women, Gender, and Militarism in Uganda. Ohio University Press. ISBN 9780821445020. Archived from the original on 12 January 2019.
  11. Alan Tacca (11 August 2013). "The ideological direction of NRM MPs is fascism". Daily Monitor. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  12. "Uganda Minister of Health Defects; Tells of Killings Ordered by Amin". The New York Times. 5 June 1977. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  13. Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Lake Edward: The source of Uganda, DRC row | DW | 12 July 2018". DW.COM. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  14. Brian Raftopoulos and Karin Alexander (2006). Peace in the balance: the crisis in the Sudan. African Minds. p. 19.
  15. Ministry of Internal Affairs: Republic of Uganda (2019). "Amnesty Commission". Ministry of Internal Affairs: Republic of Uganda. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  16. Masaba, John (23 July 2015). "National Registration Authority to oversee ID issuance". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  17. NIRA (2015). "Message From The Executive Director". Kampala: National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA). Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  18. Mbanga, Jeff (5 November 2009). "Stock market top dog fights boot". The Observer. Kampala. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  19. WCFJC (2013). "Women's Center for Job Creation: Judy Obitre–Gama, Uganda – Director". Brooklyn Park, MN: Women's Center for Job Creation (WCFJC). Archived from the original on 25 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  20. URSB (2015). "Ms. Judy Obitre–Gama". Kampala: Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB). Retrieved 26 May 2016.

Bibliography
  • Legum, Colin, ed. (1971). Africa Contemporary Record : Annual Survey and Documents : 1970–1971. III. London: Rex Colongs. OCLC 867231758.
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