Battle Of Masaka
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The Battle of Masaka (
Kiswahili Swahili, also known as as it is referred to in the Swahili language, is a Bantu language originally spoken by the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent littoral i ...
: ''Mapigano ya Masaka'') was a battle of the
Uganda–Tanzania War The Uganda–Tanzania War, known in Tanzania as the Kagera War (Kiswahili: ''Vita vya Kagera'') and in Uganda as the 1979 Liberation War, was fought between Uganda and Tanzania from October 1978 until June 1979 and led to the overthrow of Ugand ...
that took place on 23 and 24 February 1979 in the town of
Masaka Masaka is a city in the Central Region, Uganda, Buganda Region in Uganda, west of Lake Victoria. The city is the headquarters of Masaka District. Location Masaka is approximately to the south-west of Kampala on the highway to Mbarara. The ...
,
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
. Following artillery bombardment, most of the Ugandan government forces fled and Tanzanian and Ugandan rebel forces captured the town. Colonel
Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 30 May 192816 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until Uganda–Tanzania War, his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a Military dictatorship, ...
had seized power in a military coup in Uganda in 1971 and established a brutal dictatorship. Seven years later he attempted to invade Tanzania to the south. Ugandan troops occupied the Kagera Salient and subsequently murdered local civilians and destroyed property. The attack was eventually repulsed, and Tanzanian President
Julius Nyerere Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian politician, anti-colonial activist, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika (1961–1964), Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as presid ...
, unsatisfied with Amin's refusal to renounce his claims to Tanzanian territory and the international community's failure to strongly condemn the invasion, ordered his forces to advance into southern Uganda with the aim of capturing the towns of Masaka and
Mbarara Mbarara City is a city in the Western Region, Uganda, Western Region of Uganda and the second largest city in Uganda after Kampala. The city is divided into 6 boroughs of Kakoba Division, Kamukuzi Division, Nyamitanga Division, Biharwe Division, ...
. After careful planning, the
Tanzania People's Defence Force The Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF) () is the military force of the United Republic of Tanzania. It was established in September 1964, following a mutiny by the former colonial military force, the Tanganyika Rifles. From its inception, ...
(TPDF) crossed the border in January 1979 and moved steadily northward. Masaka was garrisoned by several thousand Ugandan troops, including the Suicide Battalion. Their performance was undermined by low morale and internal divisions. The TPDF surrounded the town on three sides and on 23 February, after beating off several harassing Ugandan probes, initiated an artillery barrage, concentrating on the Suicide Battalion's barracks. Several Ugandan units withdrew to Lukaya, leaving the Suicide Battalion alone to defend Masaka. The TPDF's 201st and 208th Brigades attacked at dawn. A
battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...
of Ugandan rebels and the 207th Brigade—bolstered by a tank squadron—also moved in on the town. The Suicide Battalion withdrew towards the village of Villa Maria, and, aside from opposition at Kasijagirwa camp, the TPDF seized the town with minimal resistance. As revenge for the damage wrought by the Ugandans in Kagera, the TPDF razed much of Masaka. The loss of the town greatly hurt the morale of the Ugandan forces and troubled Ugandan commanders. Amin ordered a counter-attack which was defeated in Lukaya. His promise to exact revenge on the local civilians for welcoming the invasion partly contributed to Nyerere's decision to attack
Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...
. Much of Masaka was later rebuilt.


Background

In 1971 Colonel
Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 30 May 192816 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until Uganda–Tanzania War, his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a Military dictatorship, ...
launched a military coup that overthrew the President of
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
,
Milton Obote Apollo Milton Obote (28 December 1925 – 10 October 2005) was a Ugandan politician who served as the second prime minister of Uganda from 1962 to 1966 and the second president of Uganda from 1966 to 1971 and later from 1980 to 1985. A Lango, ...
, precipitating a deterioration of relations with the neighbouring state of
Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
. Amin installed himself as president and ruled the country under a repressive dictatorship. In October 1978 he launched an invasion of Tanzania. On 1 November he announced the annexation of the Kagera Salient, an 1800 square kilometre (1118.5 square mile) strip of land between the Ugandan border and the
Kagera River The Kagera River, also known as Akagera River, or Alexandra Nile, is an East African river, forming part of the upper headwaters of the Nile and carrying water from its most distant source.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: ...
. Ugandan troops subsequently pillaged the area they occupied, murdering civilians, stealing cattle, and destroying property, triggering the flight of 40,000 inhabitants southward. Tanzania eventually halted the assault, mobilised anti-Amin opposition groups, and launched a counter-offensive. In January 1979 the
Tanzania People's Defence Force The Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF) () is the military force of the United Republic of Tanzania. It was established in September 1964, following a mutiny by the former colonial military force, the Tanganyika Rifles. From its inception, ...
(TPDF) seized the Ugandan border town of Mutukula to counter any further threats to Kagera. The TPDF bulldozed homes in the locale and murdered local civilians to avenge the destruction in Kagera. Deeply disturbed by the event, Nyerere subsequently instructed his troops to refrain from harming civilian life and property. Though many international actors were sympathetic with the Tanzanian position, numerous African states and the
Organisation of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; , OUA) was an African intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 33 signatory governments. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and ec ...
(OAU) strongly encouraged Tanzanian President
Julius Nyerere Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian politician, anti-colonial activist, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika (1961–1964), Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as presid ...
to exercise restraint and not act beyond defending his territory. He had originally not intended to expand the war, but with Amin refusing to renounce his claims to Tanzanian territory and the OAU's criticism of the Kagera invasion being muted, he decided that Tanzanian forces should occupy southern Uganda.


Prelude

The two major towns in southern Uganda were
Masaka Masaka is a city in the Central Region, Uganda, Buganda Region in Uganda, west of Lake Victoria. The city is the headquarters of Masaka District. Location Masaka is approximately to the south-west of Kampala on the highway to Mbarara. The ...
and
Mbarara Mbarara City is a city in the Western Region, Uganda, Western Region of Uganda and the second largest city in Uganda after Kampala. The city is divided into 6 boroughs of Kakoba Division, Kamukuzi Division, Nyamitanga Division, Biharwe Division, ...
. The former was the third largest inhabited place in the country and the site of the southern headquarters for the Uganda Army. The Tanzanians decided to seize them as revenge for the devastation wrought by Ugandan troops in their country and in order to incite a rebellion. Obote assured Nyerere that if the locales were taken a mass uprising would take place against Amin's regime, deposing it in a few weeks and allowing the Tanzanians to exit the war. Obote was also certain (and Nyerere was partly convinced) that the Uganda Army would disintegrate if Masaka were captured. The Tanzanians began careful planning for an offensive on the two towns. Major General
David Musuguri David Bugozi Musuguri (4 January 1920 – 29 October 2024) was a Tanzanian military officer who served as Chief of the Tanzania People's Defence Force from 1980 until 1988. Biography Early life David Musuguri was born on 4 January 1920 in ...
was appointed commander of the TPDF's 20th Division and tasked with overseeing the advance into Uganda. It was originally hoped that the Ugandan rebels could spearhead the attack, but there were only about 1,000 of them, so the Tanzanians had to lead the operation. Between the TPDF's positions and Masaka was a series of locations occupied by Ugandan troops that needed to be cleared out, including an airstrip and various
artillery batteries In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to fac ...
. The 201st, 207th, and 208th Brigades were ordered to clear the way. They steadily advanced, killing dozens of Ugandan soldiers, destroying large amounts of their materiel, and seizing the airstrip on 13 February. Meanwhile, Amin claimed that Tanzanian forces and mercenaries had seized a large portion of Ugandan territory. Facing questions from the international community, Tanzania insisted that its troops had only occupied land just over the Ugandan border. Tanzanian diplomats repeated Nyerere's proclamation that "Tanzania does not desire an inch of Ugandan territory" but evaded more specific questions about their troops' movements. After 24 Tanzanians were killed in an ambush at Lake Nakivale, the TPDF slowed its offensive. They dislodged the garrison of
Kalisizo Kalisizo is a town in the southern part of the Central Region of Uganda. Although it is the leading commercial center in Kyotera District, the administrative headquarters of the district are in Kasaali. Location Kalisizo lies on the main highw ...
, a town south of Masaka, inflicting heavy casualties. The Ugandans that retreated to Masaka were in a panicked state and demoralised the troops stationed there. Anticipating conflict, most of the civilian population, including the mayor, fled the town. The civilians mostly left out of fear of Masaka's garrison, as the Ugandan military was notorious for harassing civilians. At the recommendation of an Indian diplomat, the municipality's South Asian community evacuated. Tanzanian commanders formulated their final plan of attack for Masaka after seizing Kiziba. The exact strength of Masaka's garrison was unknown to the Tanzanians, but it was assumed at the time to number in the thousands. The garrison was commanded by
Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...
Isaac Maliyamungu Isaac Maliyamungu, (died February 1984) also known as Isaac Lugonzo, was a Ugandan military officer who served as one of President Idi Amin's most important officials and supporters during the Ugandan military dictatorship of 1971–79. Born in th ...
and included the Suicide Battalion, regarded as one of the best units in the Uganda Army. Nevertheless, the Ugandan military in general was lacking in discipline and was affected by internal divisions, reducing its combat effectiveness at Masaka. Lieutenant Colonel
Bernard Rwehururu Bernard Rwehururu ( – 26 February 2015) was a Ugandan military officer and author. He served in various Ugandan militaries from 1965 until 2013, including under the governments of Milton Obote, Idi Amin, Tito Okello, and Yoweri Museveni. After ...
, the commander of the Suicide Battalion, suspected that after Kalisizo's fall Masaka would be attacked. He called a meeting with his fellow
officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
to discuss defensive strategy. Agreeing that the town should not be abandoned, the commanders drew up plans that called for troops to occupy specific locations. The Suicide Battalion was to defend Masaka from the Mutukula, Mbarara, and Bukakata–Nyendo roads and also guard the hill with the local television mast. Soldiers of the Chui Battalion and the First Infantry Brigade were allocated to the Kitovu and Buwala hills. According to journalist Faustin Mugabe, the Masaka garrison also included police officers who had been drafted into the Uganda Army.


Battle

Following their victory at Kalisizo, the Tanzanians were in a good position to continue their advance, but instead halted and regrouped. They encircled Masaka on three sides, but were ordered not to move in, as an OAU meeting was convened in Nairobi in an attempt to provide mediation between the belligerents. Amin erroneously declared that Masaka had fallen on 22 February. Boastful Ugandan political exiles in Nairobi repeated the claim, which was subsequently reported by the international press. Nyerere was extremely displeased when he saw the false story on the front page of Tanzania's ''Daily News''. Maliyamungu saw an opportunity for a
counter-attack A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in " war games". The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek ...
, so his troops launched a number of probes against the Tanzanian positions on 23 February. The TPDF easily repelled the assaults, but, to the chagrin of field commanders, was not yet allowed to attack the town. Instead they set up artillery and trained their guns on Masaka. The 201st, 205th, and 207th Brigades moved up to the outskirts of the town, while a column of rebels under Lieutenant Colonel
David Oyite-Ojok David Oyite Ojok (15 April 1940 – 2 December 1983) was a Ugandan military officer who held a leadership position in the coalition of Uganda National Liberation Army and Tanzania People's Defence Force which removed military dictator Idi Amin ...
advanced into the area. On the eve of 24 February, the TPDF initiated a large nighttime bombardment of Masaka, focusing their fire on the Suicide Battalion's barracks. They fired nearly 1,000 shells. The town centre was also hit with Katyusha "Saba Saba" rockets. The Ugandan troops from the barracks were not in their defensive positions by the time the barrage started, and withdrew to Boma hill. Feeling that the hill positions offered them sufficient cover for an extension of their deployment, some of the soldiers relocated to a pineapple field in the Masaka valley and entrenched themselves. By then serious divisions had emerged among both the rank and file and the officers about defending the town. According to Rwehururu, many soldiers felt that the entire war had been instigated by the Suicide Battalion and thus believed that Masaka should be solely defended by that unit. The officers of
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
ese,
Congolese Congolese or Kongolese may refer to: African peoples * Congolese people (disambiguation) * Kongo people, a Bantu ethnic group who live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire (Republic of Congo) to Luanda, Angola, primarily defined by ...
, and West Nile extract felt that the conflict had little impact on their places of origin and were not committed to a battle. Partly as a result of the internal tensions, the First Infantry Brigade and the Chui Battalion promptly withdrew to Lukaya. At Musuguri's direction, the TPDF's 201st and 208th Brigades attacked at dawn. Their assault focused on Kitovu (which had been left undefended by the Chui Battalion's desertion), Nyendo, and the pineapple field, before concentrating on Makasa proper. The 207th Brigade under Brigadier
John Walden John Charles Creasey Walden (Chinese: 華樂庭; 17 April 1925–2013) was a London-born member of the colonial administration in Hong Kong from 1951 until his retirement 1980. He graduated in 1950 from Merton College, Oxford, with a second c ...
, equipped with a squadron of tanks, attacked from Mutukula. Outnumbered, the Suicide Battalion withdrew over a marsh to the Villa Maria road. The retreat, according to Rwehururu, devolved into a "stampede" as he "lost control" of the situation. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reporter John Darnton later argued that the Suicide Battalion had ''de facto'' "rebelled" during the battle. The Suicide Battalion eventually took up positions on Villa Maria hill, where it watched the Tanzanians enter Masaka. The TPDF seized the town with minimal difficulty, finding that most of the Ugandan soldiers and civilians had left. The few civilians that remained welcomed the Tanzanians as "liberators". The Tanzanians encountered determined resistance at Kasijagirwa camp, but were able to take it with the aid of 130 mm (5.1 in) artillery and Katyusha rockets. Amin later claimed that Palestinian guerillas aided in the defence of the town. A battalion of Ugandan rebels captured Buchulo airfield and then destroyed the Masaka Town Hall and the local police station, which were being used as armouries. The Tanzanians were "under orders" to destroy the town as revenge for the damage done by the Ugandans in Kagera and subsequently began razing structures not damaged by the bombardment. By afternoon much of Masaka had been leveled by explosives. The
Uganda Commercial Bank Uganda Commercial Bank Ltd (UCB/UCBL) was a Ugandan government-owned bank, and the largest financial institution in the country. In 2001 the bank was privatised and merged into Stanbic Bank (Uganda) Limited. History Uganda Commercial Bank (UCB) w ...
's local branch building was destroyed, causing the institution to run a deficit for the year, as were the
Masaka District Masaka District is a Districts of Uganda, district in Buganda, Buganda Kingdom in Uganda. Its main town is Masaka City, whose estimated population in 2011 was 74,100. Location The district is bordered by Masaka, Masaka City to the north-west an ...
administrative headquarters, the Chief Magistrates Court, the Tropic Inn hotel, the regional governor's offices, the post office, the hospital, and the Masaka Recreation Ground facility. Various properties were looted. The 21st Battalion of the TPDF's 205th Brigade was deployed to Mbirizi to prevent any Ugandan reinforcements from arriving from Mbarara.


Aftermath

According to Rwehururu, the fall of Masaka greatly hurt the
morale Morale ( , ) is the capacity of a group's members to maintain belief in an institution or goal, particularly in the face of opposition or hardship. Morale is often referenced by authority figures as a generic value judgment of the willpower, ...
of the Ugandan forces. He elaborated that it surprised and troubled Ugandan commanders, who felt that the defeat made
Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...
, the capital, vulnerable to attack. They mobilised additional forces and began planning for a defence of the city. The day following the battle the TPDF and several dozen Ugandan rebels bombarded Mbarara and, after seizing it, destroyed what buildings remained with dynamite. The Suicide Battalion further retreated from the village of Villa Maria to the north. Other Ugandan forces retreated to Lwera near Lukaya, while Brigadier Maliyamungu got lost in
the bush "The bush" is a term mostly used in the English vernacular of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, where it is largely synonymous with hinterlands or backwoods. The fauna and flora contained within the bush is typically native to the regi ...
for more than a week. Amin was enraged by the loss of Masaka, and upon hearing news of its capture during a meeting he reportedly drew a revolver and fired six shots into the ceiling. Nyerere feared the international implications of sending his troops far into Uganda and the destruction of Masaka. Wishing to provide cover for the TPDF's actions and possibly incite a revolt in the Uganda Army, he requested Obote to pen a document supposedly written by the soldiers of the Suicide Battalion, declaring that they had mutinied and taken Masaka away from Amin's control on their own. Obote complied, and Tanzanian Presidential Press Secretary Sammy Mdee was instructed to covertly publish it. Mdee wired it from his office in Dar es Salaam to Nairobi, pretending that it had come from a
telex Telex is a telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communica ...
machine in Uganda. The Nairobi journalists were suspicious of its authenticity, but for lack of clear news about the war published it anyway. The statement was also published in the Tanzanian press. In addition to its claims about the Suicide Battalion's mutiny, it requested "soldiers in every unit to follow our example so as to avoid further unnecessary loss of life." Though most observers did not believe it to be genuine, the forged declaration—in the context of the overall confusion and lack of public information about the war—gave the Tanzanian Government means to dodge inquiries about its troops' activities in Uganda. The capture of Masaka and Mbarara disrupted land and air communications across East Africa. After the former's fall the Ugandan government impounded many Rwandan trucks in the country to assist the war effort, contributing to shortages of fuel and other goods in
Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...
. Radio Uganda erroneously declared that Masaka was retaken on 28 February after intense fighting despite the public announcement by Ugandan rebels that the town was under their control. Nyerere responded by daring Amin to let international observers travel to Masaka to verify his claims. Amin did order a counter-attack to retake it, and a column of Ugandan and Libyan forces (which had been sent by
Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...
) was assembled for the purpose. It met advancing Tanzanian forces in Lukaya in March and was defeated. The rebels declared Masaka "liberated territory" and installed
Paulo Muwanga Paulo Frobisher Muwanga Seddugge Muyanja (4 April 1924 – 1 April 1991), commonly known as Paulo Muwanga, was a Ugandan politician who briefly served as the country's ''de facto'' President of Uganda, president, and later as Prime Minister of Ug ...
as a provisional civilian governor of the region. According to the militant
Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and Officer (armed forces), military officer who is the ninth and current president of Uganda since 1986. As of 2025, he is the third-List of current state lead ...
, the rebels under his command recruited supporters in the Mbarara region, but Obote's men refrained from the doing the same in Masaka for fear that southern tribesmen would not be loyal to them, much to Muwanga's chagrin. Museveni speculated that this soured Nyerere's opinion of Obote, and led him to sponsor a conference in Moshi that led to the unification of several rebel groups under an umbrella organisation, the
Uganda National Liberation Front The Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) was a political group formed by exiled Ugandans opposed to the rule of military dictator Idi Amin. The UNLF had an accompanying military wing, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA). UNLA fought alo ...
(UNLF). The journalists
Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey are a married couple and former journalistic duo who reported on the 1979 Uganda–Tanzania War and Central America in the 1980s. They were unsuccessful plaintiffs in '' Avirgan v. Hull'' (1986), a civil suit alleging ...
stated that Muwanga attempted to recruit new rebels, but that his closeness to Obote discouraged suspicious locals from signing up. The mass uprising against Amin envisioned by Obote did not materialise. The TPDF moved its operating headquarters to Masaka and it remained there until
Entebbe Entebbe is a city in Central Region, Uganda, Central Uganda which is located on Lake Victoria peninsula, approximately southwest of the Ugandan capital city, Kampala. Entebbe was once the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda pri ...
was captured. Nyerere originally planned to halt his forces in Masaka and allow the Ugandan rebels to attack Kampala and overthrow Amin, as he feared that scenes of Tanzanian troops occupying the city would reflect poorly on his country's image abroad. However, Ugandan rebel forces did not have the strength to defeat the incoming Libyan units, so Nyerere decided to use the TPDF to take Kampala. Tanzanian leaders were also inclined to capture the city after Amin's announcement that the inhabitants of Masaka and Mbarara would face retaliation for welcoming the Tanzanian invasion. The successful formation of the UNLF organisation also eased Tanzanian concerns about the aftermath of a seizure of the capital. Kampala was secured by the TPDF on 11 April. Combat operations in the country continued until 3 June, when Tanzanian forces reached the Sudanese border and eliminated the last resistance. The TPDF withdrew from Uganda in 1981.


Legacy

Ugandan Lieutenant Colonel Abdu Kisuule later said that the Ugandans' defeat at Masaka was critical in determining their later loss of the entire war. The town was left heavily damaged by the battle, and most of the population sought refuge in lodges in Kampala after the war. By 1980 only 6,000 residents remained in Masaka. The Masaka District administrative headquarters were relocated to a private residence. The assistant district commissioner estimated that it would cost $20 million to rebuild the town. Masaka was further damaged by fighting in 1985 during the
Ugandan Bush War The Ugandan Bush War was a civil war fought in Uganda by the official Ugandan government and its armed wing, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), against a number of rebel groups, most importantly the National Resistance Army (NRA), from 19 ...
. As late as 2002 ruins from the 1979 conflict were still visible, and some compromised buildings remained abandoned. By 2013 most of the damaged landmarks had either been replaced or were being rehabilitated. Records of municipal property were lost when the town hall was destroyed, and in lieu of the documentation of ownership businessmen privatised the public lands for their own use. Following a petition from the local government, in 2013 the Ministry of Lands returned 23 disputed properties to municipal control. Political scientist Daniel Acheson-Brown wrote that Masaka's destruction was "not in keeping with the proper conduct of war". When the Catholic Church considered canonising Nyerere as a
saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...
in 2016, Masaka District chairman Jude Mbabali declared his disapproval, accusing the Tanzanian President of ordering the leveling of Masaka and failing to help it rebuild.


Notes


Citations


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Masaka, Battle of 1979 in Uganda Battles in 1979 February 1979 in Africa Battles of the Uganda–Tanzania War Wartime hospital bombings in Africa Attacks on hospitals in Uganda 1979 building bombings Building bombings in Uganda Residential building bombings in Africa Bombing operations and battles Attacks on bank buildings in Africa Hotel bombings in Africa
Battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...
Attacks on barracks in Uganda Attacks on military installations in 1979 Attacks on post office buildings Attacks on headquarters Looting in Uganda