UGANDA

119. Uganda Freedom Movement (1980 –
1987)
CENTRAL CONFLICTS
The Uganda Freedom Movement (UFM) was a rebel group
formed and led by Dr. Lutaakome Andrew Kayira 484 to
fight the Government of the late Dr Apollo Milton Obote.
After leading the Uganda Freedom Union while in exile
from the dictatorial government of the then President
Idi Amin Dada 485
K a y i r a
returned
t o
225
Uganda after Amin’s
overthrow in 1979. He
quickly formed the UFM
to fight the Obote II
Government, alleging that
the 1980 elections were
rigged in favour of Uganda
People’s Congress (UPC). 486
Shortly thereafter, on 23
February 1981, Kayira’s UFM
successfully attacked the Lubiri
army barracks in a battle lasting
eight hours. His movement
continued to concentrate on
central Uganda while allying
themselves with other rebel groups,
such as Museveni’s National Resistance
484 Omara-Otunnu, A. (1992) The struggle for democracy in Uganda. The Journal of Modern African Studies.
30 (3). p. 449
485 WeInformers. (2012) Late DP military man Andrew Litaakome Kayira committed two crimes state records
indicate. WeInformers [Internet], Available from:
[Accessed 13
August, 2012]; Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. (1996) Uganda: Information on the Ugandan
Freedom Movement (UFM) including its history, organization and how it was coopted by the government.
[Internet], Available from: [Accessed 13
August 2012]
486 Kibirige, D. (2004) Who killed Kayira? Ugnet [Internet], Available from: [Accessed 14 August 2012]