The mover of the famous ‘‘Congo gold loot’’ Daudi Ochieng has been hailed as a man of high moral value and integrity.
Daudi Ochieng was hailed by speakers on Monday during a golden memorial lecture in Gulu to mark 50 years since his passing. Speakers described as an astute politician who could not be compromised.
Ochieng was a member of Parliament (MP) for Mityana in the Lukiiko (Buganda parliament) who moved a motion which implicated former Prime Minister Milton Apollo Obote and the then deputy army commander Col Idi Amin Dada on gold said to have been looted from Congo.
The accusations arose out of the involvement of the Ugandan army in the fight against rebels in Congo. Prime Minister Obote had entrusted Idi Amin with leading the battle against Moise Tshombe’s fighters.
Ochieng died on June 1, 1966 after he complained of stomach pain following an alleged poisoning by his ‘enemies’.
Martine Okumu, Ochieng’s kinsmen said at the memorial lecture that Ochieng smuggled the document which pinned Obote and Amin into parliament by folding it and hiding in a bandage that he wrapped around his head.
Okumu explained that Ochieng had to fake a head wound to avoid getting detected by the security officers at parliament who were instructed to search the body of anyone entering the building.
According to Okumu, the document was a bank statement in the name of Amin, one of the alleged suspects in the ‘looting’ of gold and ivory from Congo (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).
One of his two surviving sons, Daudi Omara Ochieng said his father found Amin’s bank’s statement deposited into his post office mail box number 3611 which was opposite the Standard Bank.
Samuel Oduny, a political commentator who was one of the guest speakers said what raised suspicion was the over 300, 000 shillings deposited in Amin’s bank account. In the 1960’s when the shillings was strong, this was quite a substantial amount of money.
Oduny told the audience that besides what had been deposited in Amin’s Uganda bank account, more money was put in the Colonel’s United Kingdom and Israel bank accounts.
In his memory prayers will be held tomorrow , Wednesday, at his Awaranga home, 4 kms West of Gulu town.
3 Comments
True, Obote and Amin were implicated in the ‘gold loot’ in the Congo, gut evidence eventually pointed to Amin, not Obote. What commentators often forget to write is that Obote was not a thief; he was the most honest politician Uganda has ever seen. Obote may be accused of something else, but not corruption. In fact, it was mostly his honesty which created most enemies for him in Uganda. Most loathed a president who believed in honest practices. They wanted power and ill-gotten wealth so that they can steal and destroy the country and that is what they did eventually. Those who accused Amin of theft were worse thieves just that theirs were theft in waiting.
Obote must have known about Amin’s misdeeds, but probably tried to cover for him, given there was a lot of political opportunism in the country at the time. Those who accused Amin did so, not in the interest of honest practice and love for the country, but for political malice and corrupt power greed and twisted ambitions. Amin however became Obote’s menacing Achilles hills. The tragic contemplation was that, Obote only relied on Amin, given his apparent, but untrustworthy loyalty. Amin in other words was a fake Obote loyalist and Obote bought into the gimmicks. The result was an attempted assassinations against Obote in which Amin was also implicated.
When Obote left for the Commonwealth conference in Singapore, he had instructed his security officials to arrest Amin. Unfortunately, there were moles everywhere in the UPC who tipped Amin and the latter fled, only to return with an army of foreign stocks with which Obote’s government was toppled. Since that fateful day, Uganda has never seen peace. It will continue to live in bloodshed and violence till true justice, freedoms and peace returns under a democratic and honest government.
Mr Okun, blind loyalty like the one you exhibit here, is the reason Uganda is suffering today. Which Obote was the most honest leader Uganda has ever seen, certainly not Milton Obote. Obote was incompetent and a failure. It is an open secret that he was involved in the Congo loot and failed to address the aftermaths of his loot with Amin. He was overthrown from office twice, was that for his honesty? We need to get real when we talk about things that are in the open, but like M7 loyalists, the Obote loyalists will always cover his incompetence which has led us to where we are, they will blame others.
Politics is dirty. Pe i cwak jami ata. Kineko Acoli maloyo kakki ducu i Uganda pi cung ma Acoli gutinge gucung i kom Obote labongo ngeyo komgi. I kare ma Obote tye i ker en obedo ka winynyo piya pa ludito Langi mogo ma guwaco ni myero kicul kwor me lweny ma naka yam Luo gulwenyo ci kiwango Langi i mac. Obote oye me nekko Acoli ma tye ka cung i kome. Nying dano ma kiryeogi ci Amin obino onekogi ducu ni, anga mutimo ka pe Langi? Man pe me pokko dano ento myero kiwpony gin mo ki i can ma dong dano gudeno ni. Lutino Acoli adi ma Langi guneno i kare ma Obote otur. Lutino ma nongo gitye kakwan i Lango?