Today in History: When Museveni hijacked Obote’s plane

Okello’s Coup and the Rise of the NRA

A few months before the hijacking incident, in July 1985, General Tito Okello, along with Bazilio Olara-Okello, orchestrated a coup that removed President Milton Apollo Obote and his Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) from power.

This was Obote’s second stint as President; he had previously been overthrown on 25 January 1971, when Idi Amin Dada seized control. Less than a month after Obote’s ouster, on 20 February 1971, Amin declared himself a full general, suspended elections “for at least five years,” and ruled Uganda until he was overthrown in 1979, paving the way for Obote’s return. Following Obote’s second removal, Okello’s rule lasted only six months before he was forced to relinquish power to the NRA rebels.

The Hijacking Orchestrated by NRA Captain Bisangwa

The hijacked plane, a Uganda Airlines Fokker Friendship 27, was reportedly commandeered by NRA Captain Innocent Bisangwa, a former presidential aide and General Manager of Luwero Industries Limited.

Bisangwa stormed the domestic jetliner carrying 48 passengers and crew members. According to the co-pilot, Firoz Khimji, who recounted the incident to journalist Matthias Mugisha in 2008, “Somebody swung the door open and stumbled into the cockpit of the Uganda Airlines Fokker Friendship 27 plane. We all looked behind. We saw a man. To our horror, he had a gun. A pistol. He cocked it and pointed it at my face. He was the kind of man who would not hesitate to shoot if we did not cooperate. His name was Innocent Bisangwa.”

The NRA’s objective was to use the hijacked plane as a bargaining tool to secure the release of NRA hostages held by the government, most notably Serwanga Lwanga, a prominent NRA rebel. The government eventually agreed to release Lwanga as part of the negotiated exchange.

Assurances from Both Sides

In a statement broadcast on Radio Uganda, the only station available on Ugandan airwaves at the time, General Okello expressed concern for the 44 passengers and 4 crew members on the Fokker Friendship, describing them as “innocents caught in the violent crosswinds of a raging civil war.”

Museveni, on the other hand, assured the public that the 48 passengers and crew would be safely returned to their families, saying they were being well-treated and housed at NRA’s expense in a hotel in Kasese district. The incident ended with the safe return of the hostages, but it left a lasting mark on the history of Uganda’s struggle for power.