‘I was forced to be minister’

Retired Lt Col Ernest Obitre Gama set the record as the first Ugandan serving soldier to be appointed a Cabinet minister. Against his wish, he was appointed minister for Internal Affairs in the first post-1971 coup military government of Gen Idi Amin. While many intellectuals felt proud to serve as ministers in Amin’s government, Lt Col Gama did not.
Months before president Milton Obote was toppled, he had assigned Lt Col Gama official duty to go to the Trinidad & Tobago, a Caribbean island. Owing to the circumstances prevailing in Uganda, especially in the military, it would seem that Obote wanted to isolate Amin, the army commander from his intelligent soldiers from the West Nile region.

“One Saturday, around October/November 1970, I was on my way home to Arua. I was driving myself in my private car. As I approached Bombo town, suddenly, a Land Rover came from behind, passed me and stopped across the road. When I got out of the car and asked what the matter was, I was told by the men in the other car that I should return to Kampala and report to the president at his Parliament office. So we returned to Kampala. The president was with Oyite Ojok and Akena Adoko. They told me that there was an assignment for me to go to Trinidad and Tobago to be a member on the Commonwealth General Court Martial, which was going to try some soldiers who had attempted a coup there and that I was to go the following Monday. “I raised several objections. They said no, everything has already been arranged for you to go, so on Monday, I set off. I was told that I would be there for about three to four months.”

Gama accused
It was while in Trinidad & Tobago that Obote was toppled by the Uganda army on January 25, 1971, while he was on official duty in Singapore. On how he received the news about the coup in Uganda, Lt Col Gama says: “First, it was the BBC radio which said there had been a coup in Uganda. BBC knew that I was in Trinidad & Tobago. They were already there [covering the Court Martial proceedings]. They came to my hotel to interview me. They said I was the one who planned the coup here [Uganda] and went to Trinidad & Tobago. They asked: “Are you aware that there is coup in Uganda?” I said no, I don’t know. They said the coup has happened. “It is you who planned it and ran here to judge ours sons.” I had it rough until the government [Trinidad & Tobago] came to my rescue.
“I could not anticipate a coup in Uganda at the time because of the problems the army was facing. At that time, the army was divided between Acholis and Langis against the people from West Nile after the death of Brig Okoya [January 1970].

Gama named minister
It was while he was away that Lt Col Gama received the news of his appointment. “I received communication from the government of Trinidad & Tobago that I was required back home, and that I had been appointed minister of Internal Affairs in absentia. We had to make arrangements for me to fly back home. So on February 7, 1971, I went through London and then to Entebbe airport. When I was going Trinidad & Tobago, I flew in ordinary class but returned in first class. I was given VIP treatment.

“On February 8, 1971, I arrived at Entebbe Airport. I did not want to go through the military parade mounted in my honour – because I wanted to be seen as an ordinary soldier. You can say that I was forced to be a minister because I was not a politician. I was a trained soldier from Britain”.
President Amin, some army officers, ministers and other government officials received him at Entebbe airport. “All this happened because they knew I would not accept to be a minister. In the afternoon, I was sworn –in as the minister for Internal Affairs at Entebbe [State House]”.

Upon being made a minister, Lt Col Gama told Amin and other ministers: “Now you have decided to make me the minister for Internal Affairs, it is our business as ministers. At that time, all ministers were former Permanent Secretaries. They were all technocrats. I was the only soldier who was a minister. I told these people, including Amin: “You had a coup, and you gave 18 reasons for toppling Obote. But make sure that all these wrongs in the 18 reasons you have given should be corrected. Let us make these 18 reasons our Bible. This will make our work easier.”

Unfortunately, that was not to be and soon, disagreements between Amin and Gama emerged. Gama wanted professional management of the government but others did not care. They, for instance, disagreed when Lt Col Gama did not promote Juma Oka from the rank of Inspector of Police (IP) to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP). “There are many things I could not accept. For instance, I did not want a situation where someone would come to Amin and say: “Affande, nimemumaliza’ translated into English meaning: ‘Sir, I have finished or killed him”.

Gama sacked
“I made sure that I tried to do what we needed to do to correct what Amin had listed as wrongs in the Obote government. Of course, this was not easy and I disagreed with Amin on several occasions. Then in May 1972, at a conference hosted at the International Conference, now Serena Hotel Kampala, Amin sacked Gama and took on the portfolio.
Before the conference started, Amin snubbed a handshake from Gama. Amin said: “I don’t want to see you. You want to overthrow me”. In public, Amin humiliated the man with whom they been friends since 1964, when Gama joined the Uganda Army.

“If I had not been trained as a military officer to absorb pressure, I would have collapsed and died there,” the Ambassador says.
“I just said okay, thank you”. Ironically four months later, Amin reappointed him as minister of Power, Transport and Communication. On October 12, 1973, Amin retired Gama in what he called public interest. Gama and his wife packed their belongings on a private lorry and went home in present day Maracha District, where they live to date.