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From the British, Amin to Museveni: Military judges arise

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Mr Charles Onyango-Obbo

Last week, the Uganda Supreme Court, in a majority decision, threw a cat among the pigeons by declaring that trying civilians in military courts was unconstitutional. It directed that cases against civilians in military courts must cease and be transferred to civilian courts.

The response from the Uganda People's Defence Forces was swift and defiant. Basically, they told the judges to burn in their wigs, asserting that the trials of civilians in military tribunals would continue. General and President Yoweri Museveni weighed in, writing that Uganda is not governed by judges, including some who are "foreign-oriented," but by the people. He suggested that the Constitution would be amended to enable soldiers to try civilians. All this suggests that the trials of individuals like veteran opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye will remain in the General Court Martial. Almost 39 years ago, there were Ugandans who predicted that this day would come.

Since between 75 and 80 percent of Ugandans are under 35-years-old, many will likely not know Yash Tandon, a son of the soil. A scholar, public intellectual, and Pan-African activist on various issues, Tandon was part of what former president Godfrey Binaisa called the "Gang of Four" during the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) government after the ousting of Field Marshal Idi Amin's military regime in April 1979.

The other members were Edward Rugumayo (who chaired the interim parliament, the National Consultative Council, NCC), scholar, author, and activist Prof Dani Wadada Nabudere (RIP), and the admirable Omwony Ojok (RIP). All four were members of the NCC, the first and last legislative body in Uganda that had more power than the executive.

In 1989, Tandon published Militarism and Peace Education in Africa: A Guide and Manual for Peace Education and Action in Africa. Publishing it in 1989 meant he began writing it shortly after Museveni became president at the head of the victorious National Resistance Army rebels in January 1986.In his book, Tandon traces the roots of militarism in Uganda back to colonial times. He argued that in post-independence Uganda, militarism continued in various forms. It reached its peak during Amin's rule, characterised by state terrorism, personal rule, widespread violence, human rights abuses, and the militarisation of society. Tandon wrote that with Museveni and the National Resistance Movement (NRM) coming to power, militarism did not end but evolved. 

While it brought some stability and reforms, under Museveni and the NRM, state violence, particularly in dealing with dissent and opposition, persisted, which Tandon categorises as forms of state terrorism. Although Museveni's military courts are somewhat more open and allow legal representation, Tandon likely wouldn’t have imagined years ago that he would be proven so correct.

While tracing militarism to the colonial period, Tandon suggested that the NRM was more likely to resemble Amin's regime (under Milton Obote I, civilians were not tried in court martial). In 1973, Amin raised the authority of military tribunals several notches higher, placing them above the civil law system. He also created the Economic Crimes Tribunal (composed of soldiers) in 1975 to try economic crimes including "economic sabotage," smuggling, hoarding goods, overcharging, and the like. It can only be expected that if the president gets his way, a future constitutional amendment will also establish an economic crimes military court.

The courts did not disappoint. They, particularly the Military Tribunal, served Amin well. Badru Semakula, an infamous robber in Kampala, was the first civilian convicted and sentenced to death by a military tribunal in January 1973. He was promptly executed by firing squad.

In September 1977, Abdalla Anyuru, the former chairman of the Public Service Commission, along with 11 other high-profile Ugandans, were found guilty of "treason" by the military tribunal and executed by firing squad at Kampala's Clock Tower. These executions were highly publicised, and intended as a warning to others.

In February 1973, James Karuhanga, a former mathematics teacher at Kyambogo College, and 12 others were accused of various crimes, including treason and economic sabotage, found guilty by the soldiers, and executed. Karuhanga was tied to a tree and shot by a firing squad in Mbarara town.

In 1975, Denis Hills, a British lecturer at Kyambogo, was sentenced to death by the military court for calling Amin a "village tyrant" in his book The White Pumpkin (people can be brave). Due to international pressure, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and he was eventually released.

Apart from being tools for control, fear, and repression, Amin's tribunals also serve as an end-of-times mechanism for regimes. Amin also needed the military tribunals to give him cover, so he alone couldn’t take the blame for all the killings. For these reasons, despite the Supreme Court's ruling, the military court might be entering its golden era.


Mr Charles Onyango-Obbo is a journalist, writer, and curator of the “Wall of Great Africans.” X (Twitter) @cobbo3