Mr. Senyonjo:
This question was authoritatively answered by Grace Ibingira (a lawyer, and former Secretary-general of the UPC and Minister of Justice) in his book African Upheavals Since Independence. I posted an excerpt in which he stated, categorically, that Muteesa II never did attempted to use arms to overthrow the government of Uganda.
On the other hand, Obote sought the arms from a foreign embassy for the overthrow the DP government.
I repost some of it below (more later), with parts highlighted :
�Apolo Milton Obote, as leader of UPC, inherited the independence government on 9 October 1962. On February 22 1966, he abrogated the constitution and concentrated power in his own hands. His declared reasons for this seizure of power are considered in detail later. However, they were allegedly to forestall Kabaka Muteesa�s attempt to employ foreign troops to overthrow the government and to prevent a number of his leading colleagues, whom he arrested, from promoting instability in the party and country. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is wisely said in jurisprudence that a case should never be decided without hearing both parties (audi alteram partem). The case for Obote�s seizure of power, which unleashed Uganda�s instability, has been exhaustively stated by him and his supporters since 1966 in the press, in the Parliament, in court cases, and in varied literature1. But there has been to date no coherent explanation or alternative interpretation of what truly happened.�
Obote was one of the most articulate advocates of a democratic system in Uganda and his public pronouncements up to independence (and indeed up to the 1966 revolution) bear this out. But in fact while he was outwardly espousing this, he was privately preparing to use brutal illegal force, not against the colonialists, who had already agreed to leave anyway, but against any Ugandan political party other than UPC that inherited power. A few months before independence, as minister of justice responsible for constitutional affairs, I accompanied him to London to press the British government to advance Kenya�s independence date. In our free time, Obote introduced me first to the secretary of a certain European embassy in London with whom he had had a long-established contact. When we later returned to our hotel, my astonishment was immense as he categorically told me ha had made preparations to overthrow the DP government by force if the UPC lost the preindependence (sic) elections in April 1962. The diplomat�s country, according to him, had already agreed to provide the necessary training and materials, such as arms.
�. After becoming prime minister, Obote would often confide in some of his close colleagues (like B.K. Kirya and myself) that he would never under any circumstances relinquish power voluntarily. He would quote from John Milton�s Paradise Lost, relating how Lucifer, having been deposed from heaven, told other fallen angels, �to rule is worth ambition though in hell. It is better to rule in hell than serve in heaven.� The implication was unmistakably emphasized that it was preferable to turn Uganda into chaos in order to stay on top than to lose to another party in a peaceful election.
----Original Message Follows----
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--- Begin Message ---Mr. Opoka-Okumu,
What proof is there that Mutesa had ordered arms? And if so in what quantity? And if it were true that indeed he had ordered arms? Was overthrowing the constitution the best means to handle the situation? What about legal sanctions? Did the Kabaka have enough means and support to overthrow the government?
Joseph
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