A tribute to Onyango Odongo, a foremost public intellectual 

Norbert Mao

What you need to know:

  • In retirement, he continued to write and research. He died at 104 years of age.
  • As expected, Mamdani stood his ground and even got a chance to bring to light more issues. 

In my undergraduate days, Makerere University was well known for hosting several debates a week. There was the famous “Mawazo” Social Science seminars where scholars unveiled their findings and got feedback from their peers and other seminar participants. They would then use the feedback for improving their work before publication.
 
A star attraction was Prof Mahmood Mamdani who we all admired. Many of us feasted on his books that told the story of Ugandan’s unstable politics with a fresh outlook. 
His language was also very colourful. We literally sat on the edge of our seats whenever Mamdani took to the podium. The University Main Hall would be packed to the brim with some students craning their necks from outside trying to see what was going on inside from the windows. 
Mamdani was not one to challenge easily because he was an authority on campus. An intellectual colossus comparable to the likes of Dani Nabudere and Ali Mazrui. Whenever he would end his public lectures, there would be few comments or questions. 

One time after Mamdani had given a powerful lecture, the moderator asked whether anyone had a question or a comment. The hall was silent. Then the moderator noticed a hand in the back. We wondered who had the courage to question or even contemplate adding anything to Mamdani’s outstanding submission. 
The moderator recognised the participant who then introduced himself as Onyango Odongo from the National Resistance Movement Secretariat. He then proceeded to question some of the premises on which Mamdani based his conclusions and also disputed some of the facts Mamdani had stated. He sounded well composed, knowledgeable and confident. The year was 1989!

The Cold War was at a decisive stage, the Soviet bloc was sagging at the seams. The Berlin Wall was only a few months away from starting its journey to complete demolition. The collapse of communist governments in Eastern Europe was to launch a chain reaction that would shake the world and turn the tide of history in favour of the Western world. 

That was the context in which that day’s debate took place. As expected, Mamdani stood his ground and even got a chance to bring to light more issues. But I was still in awe of the courageous old man who had dared to contradict Mamdani. Onyango Odongo was then more than 70 years old. 
From what I was able to glean from various sources, Odongo was born in Puranga, in the then Acholi District, on March 7, 1917. When he completed his basic education, he joined Edward L. Bateman Limited, a South African company where he remained until 1956. 

From there he joined the Uganda Credit and Savings Bank, where in 1960 he became only the second Black African to be appointed bank manager in East Africa. 
From 1958 to 1960, the colonial governor appointed Odongo to represent the Northern Province on the Uganda Labour Advisory Board. 

That was also the same time he was elected councillor to Acholi District Council. In that same period he became a member of the National Executive Committee of the Democratic Party (DP) where he served from 1960 to 1963. In 1964, Odongo became secretary to the Opposition in the Uganda Parliament. He held that post until 1966, when Milton Obote abrogated the 1962 Independence Constitution. 
In 1986, President Museveni appointed Odongo a Special District Administrator and posted him to Bundibugyo. In 1988, he was appointed director of information and mass mobilisation at the NRM Secretariat. He retired in 1995.

In retirement, he continued to write and research. He died at 104 years of age. He leaves behind books capturing his core convictions. Among his books are A Political History of Uganda: Museveni’s Referendum 2000, Alternative Draft Constitution of Uganda, The Early History of the Central Lwo, The Central Lwo during the Aconya (with J.B. Webster), Why Uganda Independence Constitution failed, Armed Conflict in Northern Uganda and The Need for National Dialogue to Redeem Uganda: An Overview of Important Historical Events.

His main theme was that colonial miseducation created educated people who are incapable of independent thinking and this makes society vulnerable to predatory politics which turns citizens into slavish subjects. 
He was a lifelong advocate for federalism and the renegotiation of the Ugandan State through a national dialogue.