Former Ugandan Presidents And The Remains Of Their Expensive Cars (See PHOTOS)
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Past Ugandan Presidents And The Remains Of Their Expensive Cars
Edward Muteesa II
Edward Muteesa II was the first Uganda President. He assumed the office on 9 October 1963. He was also the monarch of the Kingdom of Buganda in Uganda.
In 1966, there was a power struggle between him and his Prime Minister, Milton Obote.
When Muteesa II resisted a change in their constitution, Obote sent the Ugandan Army, led by a certain Idi Amin Dada, to squelch the resistance. Muteesa’s guards and his subjects were ill-equipped to stand up against the machine guns and weapons of the army
Obote’s soldiers overran his palace in 1966, forcing him into exile in Britain where he died in 1969.
During his reign, Muteesa was known to have acquired a number of choice cars. They included 10 Rolls-Royces and a Bentley given to him by Queen Elizabeth II.
Soldiers who forcefully took ownership of the palace at the time vandalized his cars, among others, during Milton Obote’s regime.
Owing to poor handling, the vehicles were carelessly removed and they are in scattered parts. Remains of some of the cars can be still be found at the Kings Palace Twekobe in Mengo.
After failing to capture or kill Kabaka Muteesa, the soldiers destroyed much of the kingdom property at Lubiri, the king’s official residence. They also invaded and looted the seat of the Kabaka’s government at Bulange, Mengo, to search for a hidden cache of arms.
Obote being driven to the independence day celebration in 1962.
Milton Obote served as Ugandan President from 1966 to 1971.
He led his country to independence in 1962. He served as Prime Minister and later President of Uganda. On January 25, 1971, he was overthrown by Idi Amin in a military coup d’état. The seizure of power took place while Obote was abroad attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Singapore. He regained power in 1980 a year after Amin’s 1979 overthrow. His second period of rule was marred by repression and the deaths of many civilians as a result of a civil war known as the Ugandan Bush War.
Both his two terms as one of Ugandan Presidents (both of which were ended by military coups) were consumed by struggles between Uganda’s northern and southern ethnic groups.
Idi Amin Dada
Amin alighting from his famous Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman W100.
Idi Amin achieved worldwide notoriety for a brutal rule and the massacre of his own people. The number of Ugandans murdered by his regime is unknown but is estimated at anywhere between 80,000 people to half a million.
During his time as president, he rode in several choice cars including a Citroën SM and a Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman W100.
In 1978, Amin attempted to annex Tanzania’s Kagera Region. However, Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere would have none of it. His troops invade Uganda; they captured Kampala on 11 April 1979 and ousted Amin from power.
In 1980, Obote regained power and was in power until 1985.
His second period of rule was marred by repression and the deaths of many civilians because of a civil war known as the Ugandan Bush War.
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The Mercedes Benz on the right (Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman W100) belonged to one of the former Ugandan presidents, late Idi Amin. He used it during his presidency between 1972 to 1979. The one on the left belonged to his predecessor the Late President Milton Obote. Both mobiles are currently parked at the Uganda museum (new transport gallery) for viewing.