By Sekaggya Seka Moses
November 11, 1985, marks a pivotal moment in Uganda’s turbulent past.
On this day, President General Tito Okello Lutwa made a desperate plea to Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi to intervene in negotiations with the National Resistance Army (NRA) rebels, led by Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
The request was simple: return a hijacked plane and release the hostages onboard.
The hijacked plane, a Uganda Airlines Fokker Friendship 27, was commandeered by NRA Captain Innocent Bisangwa.
Bisangwa stormed the domestic jetliner carrying 48 passengers and crew members, with the objective of using the hijacked plane as leverage to secure the release of NRA hostages held by the government, including prominent rebel Serwanga Lwanga.
General Okello expressed concern for the hostages, describing them as “innocents caught in the violent crosswinds of a raging civil war”.
Museveni assured the public that the hostages would be safely returned to their families, and they were eventually released.
This incident was one of many dramatic moments in Uganda’s history, shaped by Okello’s coup and the rise of the NRA.
In July 1985, General Tito Okello, alongside Bazilio Olara-Okello, orchestrated a coup that removed President Milton Apollo Obote and his Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) from power.
Obote had previously been overthrown by Idi Amin Dada in 1971 and returned to power after Amin’s overthrow in 1979.
Okello’s rule lasted only six months before he was forced to relinquish power to the NRA rebels, marking the beginning of Museveni’s presidency.
This pivotal moment had far-reaching consequences, shaping Uganda’s political landscape for years to come.
Following his removal from power, Okello remained in exile until 1993, when he was granted amnesty by President Museveni and returned to Kampala.
He died three years later, on June 3, 1996, at the age of almost 82, due to an undisclosed illness.
He was laid to rest at his ancestral home in Kitgum District.
