UGANDA

COMPENDIUM OF CONFLICTS IN UGANDA
18. Insurgency Against Amin by Kikosi Maalum and Front for National
Salvation (FRONASA) (1972)
A year after toppling the first Obote Government, Amin met stiff opposition from former
Government forces and leaders who were exiled to Tanzania in 1971. In September
1972, a group of predominantly Acholi and Langi anti-Amin forces organised themselves
into ‘Kikosi Maalum’ (meaning ‘Special Force’ in Kiswahili). The group was commanded
by Colonel Tito Okello, with Lt.-Col. Oyite-Ojok as second in command, and was loyal to
Obote. 141 They were later joined by Museveni’s Front for National Salvation (FRONASA).
The move came after Amin announced in August 1972 that he intended to invade Tanzania
to capture some territory that he claimed belonged to Uganda. This announcement
prompted Tanzania to support the Ugandan exiles in their attempt to attack Amin and
overthrow his government. 142 The invasion by Ugandan exiles took place from Mutukula,
Tanzania, but the forces were defeated immediately and suffered heavy losses. 143 Time
Magazine reported that “the invasion in retrospect was both futile and foolhardy”. 144
Many insurgents were killed, wounded or captured alive, and the survivors retreated
back to their base in Tanzania. This invasion strained the relationship between Uganda
and Tanzania, and prompted a quest for other ways to resolve the conflicts. These
culminated in the signing of the Mogadishu Agreement in 1972 and the Addis Ababa
Pledge in 1973 that required Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere to stop helping Ugandans
fight Amin. 145 Participants from Mbarara District (close to the Tanzanian border) argued
that this attempt to overthrow Amin was devastating to the civilian population and is
still affecting communities today. It also changed Amin’s character for the worse, having
deadly spillover effects throughout Ugandan communities. 146
PHASE V: Liberation & Civil War (1979 – 1986)
After the Liberation War that saw the second military overthrow of the central
Government, a number of old and new rebel groups, dissatisfied with the return
to power (through contested elections) of Uganda’s first head of Government
(Obote), took to the bush. The Government army and the different rebel groups
fought each other in a deadly civil war, centred around the Luwero Triangle.
This period was a continuation of the cycle of violence that citizens had already
suffered from for a decade. A coup in 1985 was quickly followed by another in
1986, bringing to power the regime that remains in power today.
141 Phares, M. (1992) Uganda since independence, a story of unfulfilled hopes. Kampala, Fountain Publishers
Ltd
142 Ibid
143 Research conducted in Mbarara and Arua Districts
144 The Black Hole of Kampala (1972) Time [Internet] 2 October. Available from:
145 Acheson-Brown, D. (2001) The Tanzanian invasion of Uganda: A just war? International Third World
Studies Journal and Review, 12, pp. 1-11
146 Participants from Mbarara District say the 1972 attempt to overthrow Amin reminds them of the
Kazuguzugu (the sound of Amin’s fighter jets flying all over to drop bombs on the rebels and suspicious
places) killing many people and causing destruction of numerous civilian properties
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