Word: binaisa
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...generally agreed that he is today little more than a figurehead. Whatever real power exists in Uganda's government, diplomats believe, is wielded by Vice President and Defense Minister Paulo Muwanga. Last May Muwanga orchestrated the fall of Uganda's second post-Amin head of state-Godfrey Binaisa-and installed himself as chairman of the six-man military commission that ruled the country until last December's elections. Muwanga presided over the ballot counting that gave Obote's U.P.C. a majority over the rival Democratic Party, which has since accused Muwanga of tampering with the results...
After deposing Binaisa, the commission announced its intention to appoint a junta of at least four members to run the country until the next election, which it promised to try to hold before the end of September. "Corruption is the hallmark of the Binaisa government," a commission message said by way of explanation for the coup...
...Binaisa's downfall was not unexpected. After taking over from Yusufu Lule, Amin's first successor, who was deposed after only ten weeks, the chubby lawyer barely survived a string of no-confidence motions brought against him in the country's parliament. The immediate cause of Binaisa's overthrow was his attempt to dismiss Brigadier David Oyite Ojok as army chief of staff, reportedly because Ugandan troops, ordered to conduct house-to-house searches for arms in Kampala, had looted many of the homes. Troops loyal to Ojok quickly seized the radio station in Kampala...
...President learned of it while at his official state home 21 miles away in Entebbe. There he remained, closeted and lonely, insisting that he was still President. In the midst of the rebellion, Binaisa dispatched plaintive letters to the leaders of three neighboring countries, Tanzania's Julius Nyerere, Kenya's Daniel arap Moi and Sudan's Gaafar Mohamed Nimeiri. The letters to Arap Moi and Nimeiri were intercepted by the Ugandan military. "Dear Brother Gaafar," said the missive to Nimeiri, stamped TOP SECRET, "I am in the middle of a political crisis... I ask you to make...
...into Uganda, and he has watched over the troubled land with a godfatherly eye ever since. Some 10,000 Tanzanian soldiers have remained there, ostensibly to ensure internal peace. Though the takeover reportedly surprised Nyerere, he instructed his troops not to oppose the Ugandan army, but only to protect Binaisa from execution. Kenya, meanwhile, remains apprehensive about Nyerere's motives; Nairobi has long feared that the Tanzanian leader plans to turn Uganda into a client state permanently...