Max Omeda: The ‘bishop’ rebel leader goes to rest

Not even a disadvantaged childhood and being orphaned young could hold Max Omeda back as he steadily worked his way through the regular police, Special Branch, exile days and Bush War through to Cabinet.
Born in 1946, in Adivala Village, Atira Sub-county in Serere District, Omeda was orphaned at an early age. To gain education, his mother married off his sister at an early age to use the dowry to send Omeda to school.
From Atira Primary School, Omeda moved to Kadungulu Primary School in Kasilo County, before joining Serere Junior School and moving onto Aggrey Memorial School, Uganda’s first private school.

Completing his O-Level in 1964, Omeda was forced to cut short his education to join the police Force because of financial constraints.
During an interview with this newspaper in 2014, Omeda said: “I never waited for the results to be released because I knew I did not have the financial ability to go for further studies. By the time the results were out, I had already joined Police Training School in Kibuli.”
With the nine months training done, Omeda topped his class at passing out, earning himself a lanyard to hold the whistle unlike other constables who were given a chain.

Deployment
From Kibuli, Omeda was deployed as a clerk during the referendum on the lost counties of Buyaga and Bugangaizi in Bunyoro.
With the referendum done, Omeda was returned to the police training school as an instructor and lecturer. But being an ambitious young man, he rejected the deployment. This marked him out as a possible trouble maker in the Force.
Instead of dismissing him outright, his superiors decided to deploy him at a very sensitive place where a single mistake attracted an automatic dismissal from the Force. He was deployed at the Very Important People (VIP) lounge at Entebbe airport and being watched.
But another opportunity opened up. When the police carried out internal recruitment for the Special Branch, Omeda grabbed the opportunity and joined the Special Branch. He was one of the pioneer officers to be taken to Nairobi, Kenya for training.

From Nairobi, Omeda went to Israel for more training. Upon return in 1967, he was deployed on the security team in the Office of the Prime Minister and promoted to Assistant Inspector of Police.
In 1969, Omeda was chosen among the team of security officers from the Prime Minister’s officer to train for three years at Vishram College in Moscow, Russia, earning a diploma in military law, and clandestine work. In 1971, Omeda comprised the advance security team for President Milton Obote’s trip to Singapore, during which trip Obote was overthrown.

As Obote went in to exile, and so did Omeda. As the exiles planned to return home, Omeda was tasked with coming back first to carry out clandestine work for the planned return.
Upon return and reporting back to the police headquarters, he was deployed to Mpigi as the district’s head of special branch.
Omeda used his position to gather intelligence and forward it to Ugandan exiles in Tanzania.
But he was soon transferred to Soroti in the same capacity.

Accessing vital information
It was while in Soroti that Amin learnt of his presence. Amin was not happy that Omeda was still serving in the police, but Omeda pleaded to be transferred, and he was transferred to the ministry of health’s security department.
His transfer to the internal affairs ministry allowed him access to vital information to the exiles in Tanzania.

During an interview with this newspaper in 2014 at his home in Serere, Omeda revealed: “In all these places, I was gathering information and passing it on to the group I left in Tanzania. But this put my life at risk. With this kind of clandestine work, I had to find a way of getting another job to keep me moving in and out of the country without raising suspicion.”
Soon, Omeda joined Coffee Marketing Board (CMB), based at Malaba on the Uganda-Kenya border, giving him access to unquestioned movement in and out of the country as he established another CMB office in Kisumu on the Kenyan side.

After the fall of Amin, Omeda was appointed chairman of finance committee of Soroti District Council, a post he held until the fall of Obote’s regime in 1985.
Omeda bounced back to local administration after the fall of Gen Tito Okello Lutwa when he was appointed the Resistance Council (RC III) chairman for Atira Sub-county. But he soon ran into conflict with the District Administrator Soroti, and he fled his home to the bush to start a rebellion against the NRM government.
In the bush, he was joined by several others fleeing arrest for having worked with the UPC government.

He was joined by people like Eregu, nicknamed Hitler, after the German politician and Nazzi party leader, former army lieutenants, captains and deserters, forming the Uganda People’s Army (UPA).
A former rebel member, who preferred not to be named, says Omeda was nicknamed bishop because he was opposed to killing and torture of civilians by the rebels.
“When three Teso ministers in the NRM government were kidnapped, he ordered rebel leader Sam Otai to take them out of home area of Serere if he insisted on not releasing them. The captives were moved to Katakwi, but Omeda still followed them, insisting the ministers should be released, saying they did not go to the bush to oppress people.”

Joining Parliament
In 1992, his group abandoned rebellion, but his people kept the faith in him.
In 1994, Omeda was elected delegate to represent the people of Serere County in the Constituent Assembly (CA), the Parliament that made the country’s laws in 1995.
After CA, Omeda joined the 6th Parliament in 1996, during which time he was appointed State minister for Housing.
He also served in the ministries of Health in the same capacity and later as Minister of State for General Duties.
But Omeda lost his seat in the 2001 General Election. He was then appointed RDC for Gulu, and was the first to reach out to the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels.

From Gulu. he was moved as RDC for Soroti, then Amuria before retiring from active politics.
Omeda then settled into private life at his home in Serere until his death on November 6.
He was laid to rest at his home ancestral home in Adipala in Serere District, after succumbing to severe anemia.
Fare-thee-well Max Omeda.

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