Cuthbert Joseph Obwangor (1 November 1920 – 19 May 2012) was a longtime Ugandan minister and legislator. He was a minister and a

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their politics, political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, al ...

for the

Apollo Milton Obote Apollo Milton Obote (28 December 1925 – 10 October 2005) was a Ugandan political leader who led Uganda to independence from British colonial rule in 1962. Following the nation's independence, he served as prime minister of Uganda from 1962 t ...

regime after he opposed Obote's extension of power while Obwangor was a minister.

Early life

Cuthbert Joseph Obwangor was born in Kiiya Village, Omasia Parish,

Katakwi District Katakwi District is a district in the Eastern Region of Uganda. The town of Katakwi is the site of the district headquarters. Location Katakwi District is bordered by Napak District to the north, Nakapiripirit District to the east, Kumi Distri ...

Eastern Region, Uganda The Eastern region is one of four regions in the country of Uganda. As of Uganda's 2014 census, the region's population was . Districts , the Eastern Region contained 32 districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in ...

on 1 November 1920. He is a member of the

Iteso The Iteso (or people of Teso) are a Nilotic ethnic group in eastern Uganda and western Kenya. Teso refers to the traditional homeland of the Iteso, and '' Ateso'' is their language. History Origins The exact origins of the Iteso remain un ...

ethnic group.

Education

He attended Ngora

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Primary School. He later attended the Nyenga Seminary, then attended Namilyango College from 1939 to 1941,

City College Coventry City College Coventry was a further education college based in the city of Coventry, England. It was formed in 2002 through the merger of two previous colleges in the city, although through them it has roots going back to the 19th century. ...

and the Railway Traffic School in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city prope ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

from 1942 to 1946.

Career

Business

After graduating from the Railway Traffic School, Obwangor worked in Kenya at the

East African Railways and Harbours Corporation The East African Railways and Harbours Corporation (EAR&H) is a defunct company that operated railways and harbours in East Africa from 1948 to 1977. It was formed in 1948 for the new East African High Commission by merging the Kenya and Uganda ...

before returning to Uganda in 1951. He first entered politics in Kenya, when he worked for

Jomo Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta (22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He was the country's first indigeno ...

and the

Kenya African National Union The Kenya African National Union (KANU) is a Kenyan political party that ruled for nearly 40 years after Kenya's independence from British colonial rule in 1963 until its electoral loss in 2002. It was known as Kenya African Union (KAU) from ...

executive council. Upon his return to

Teso sub-region Teso sub-region (previously known as Teso District) is a sub-region in Eastern Region, Uganda that consists of: * Amuria District * Bukedea District * Kaberamaido District * Kapelebyong District * Katakwi District * Kumi District * Ngora District * ...

, he became a prominent businessperson in Magoro within the Magoro market where he built and ran a restaurant.

Political career

Pre-Independence

In 1952, Obwangor entered

Ugandan politics Uganda is a presidential republic in which the President of Uganda is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government business. There is a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is ...

. He was elected to the Teso District Council and was elected to represent the Teso District at the

Uganda Legislative Council The Uganda Legislative Council (LEGCO) was the predecessor of the Parliament of Uganda, prior to Uganda's independence from the United Kingdom. LEGCO was small to start with and all its members were Europeans. Its legislative powers were limited, ...

, the precursor to the

Parliament of Uganda The parliament of Uganda is the country's legislative body. Unicameral, the most significant of the Ugandan parliament's functions is to pass laws that will provide good governance in the country. The government ministers are bound to answer t ...

during

British colonial rule The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

when

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country 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 south by Tanzania. The south ...

was the

Uganda Protectorate The Protectorate of Uganda was a protectorate of the British Empire from 1894 to 1962. In 1893 the Imperial British East Africa Company transferred its administration rights of territory consisting mainly of the Kingdom of Buganda to the Brit ...

. He was a founding member of the

Uganda National Congress Uganda National Congress (UNC) was the first political party in Uganda. UNC formed Formed on Sunday 2 March 1952, Ignatius Kangave Musaazi was its first President, and Abubaker Kakyama Mayanja the party's first Secretary General. Apollo K. Kiro ...

, the first legal political party in Uganda that later merged into the

Uganda People's Congress The Uganda People's Congress (UPC; sw, Congress ya Watu wa Uganda) is a political party in Uganda. UPC was founded in 1960 by Milton Obote, who led the country to independence and later served two presidential terms under the party's banner ...

in 1960.

Obote Government

After the

Independence of Uganda Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the ...

, the

of the

dissolved on Tuesday 9 October 1962, being replaced on Wednesday 10 October 1962 by the independent

for the newly independent

Republic of Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country 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 south by Tanzania. The souther ...

. Obwangor represented Teso again in the

. Ethnic conflict threatened to spry up after the independence of Uganda, and ethnic groups were naming kings to fight for their respective ethnic groups, and the traditionally kingless I

Teso people The Iteso (or people of Teso) are a Nilotic ethnic group in eastern Uganda and western Kenya. Teso refers to the traditional homeland of the Iteso, and '' Ateso'' is their language. History Origins The exact origins of the Iteso remain un ...

attempted to name Obwangor as Iteso king, but Obwangor refused as he was dedicated to a multi-ethnic unified Uganda. Obwangor was a committed member of the

, the party of President

that emerged from the pre-independence

political party. Obwangor served as the treasurer of the

from the party's creation in 1960 until 1967, during which he oversaw the finances of the construction of the Uganda House. During the

regime, Obwangor served in numerous ministerial positions as a part of his cabinet. When

succeeded

Benedicto Kiwanuka Benedicto Kagimu Mugumba Kiwanuka (8 May 1922 – 22 September 1972) was the first prime minister of Uganda, a leader of the Democratic Party, and one of the persons that led the country in the transition between colonial British rule and indepe ...

, Apollo Milton Obote appointed Obwangor to be Minister of Regional Affairs, which briefly assumed the responsibilities of the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

. Felix Kenyi Onama also can lay claim to the Minister of Interior position between 1962 and 1964, as he was Minister of Works and Labour. That role assumed some of the other responsibilities of the Minister of Interior such as leading the Ugandan National Police Force. Obwangor and Felix Kenyi Onama were succeeded in their roles in 1964 by Basil Kiiza Bataringaya, who headed the newly created Ministry of Home Affairs, later renamed to be the

. Bataringaya assumed the role after he flipped parties and joined the Obote administration. After he left the

, Cuthbert Joseph Obwangor became Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs in 1964, succeeding

Grace Ibingira Grace Stuart Katebariirwe Ibingira (23 May 1932 – December 1995) was a Ugandan lawyer and politician. Early life Grace Ibingira was born on 23 May 1932 in Ibanda County, Ankole District, Uganda Protectorate. His father, Alfred Katebarirwe, ...

. He also assumed the role of Minister of Housing and Labour in February 1966, serving in that role concurrently with being the Ugandan Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. He remained as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and Minister of Housing and Labour until May 1966, when he became Minister of Commerce and Industry of Uganda.

Imprisonment

Obwangor, then minister of Commerce and Industry in Uganda, began to fall out of favor of President

when he spoke out in favor of restraints on the presidential power in Uganda, with the following an excerpt from the journal of the

with his speech on 11 July 1967: After this disagreement and pushback upon

's assumption of additional powers, Obwangor was fired from his role as Minister of Commerce and Industry of Uganda. On 19 December 1969, there was an Assassination attempt on

's life, wounding him. The assassination attempt was allegedly led by

Baganda The Ganda people, or Baganda (endonym: ''Baganda''; singular ''Muganda''), are a Bantu ethnic group native to Buganda, a subnational kingdom within Uganda. Traditionally composed of 52 clans (although since a 1993 survey, only 46 are officiall ...

civilians. Despite this, Obwangor along with

, Paul Ssemogerere, Mathias Ngobi, and others were arrested, allegedly on the orders of Basil Kiiza Bataringaya and Felix Kenyi Onama. Obwangor was arrested at his home in

Soroti Soroti is a city in Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main City, commercial, and administrative center in curved out of Soroti District, one of the nine administrative districts in the Teso sub-region. Soroti City was immediately approved f ...

while he was his with his children. He was taken to

Luzira Maximum Security Prison Luzira Maximum Security Prison is a maximum security prison for both men and women in Uganda. As at July 2016, it is the only maximum security prison in the country and houses Uganda's death row inmates. Location The prison is in the Luzira nei ...

by way of

Mbale Mbale is a city in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Mbale District and the surrounding sub-region. Location Mbale is approximately , by road, northeast of Kampala, Uganda's capital ...

, and he was imprisoned at the Luzira Maximum Security Prison. In a 2012 interview, Obwangor alleged that because he was a

, "there was no mistreatment" while he was imprisoned in

. On 2 February 1971, the new head of state of Uganda

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

released Obwangor, along with all other

s in

Post Imprisonment career

Obwangor reentered the political arena following his release, rejoining the

after the party temporarily excommunicated Obwangor after the leader of the

imprisoned Obwangor. In 1982, Obwangor shifted allegiances and joined the Democratic Party of Uganda. In 1984, Obwangor founded the

Nationalist Liberal Party The Nationalist Liberal Party ( es, Partido Liberal Nacionalista, PLN) was a political party in Nicaragua. When Anastasio Somoza García took power in 1936, the party aligned itself with the United States and other caudillos in Latin America, l ...

alongside

Tiberio Okeny Atwoma Tiberio is an Italian given name from the Latin Tiberius, a derivative of the name of the river Tiber, as well as a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Tiberio Calcagni (1532–1565), Italian sculptor * Tiberio Cavallo ...

, Anthony Ochaya, and

Francis Bwengye Francis may refer to: People * Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) Places *Rural ...

. The Nationalist Liberalist Party was a splinter group from the leading opposition party at the time, the Democratic Party of Uganda. The Nationalist Liberal Party was created in response to former acting Secretary General of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Tiberio Okeny Atwoma's unsuccessful challenge to Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere for the leadership of the

Democratic Party (Uganda) The Democratic Party ( sw, Chama cha Kidemokrasia; DP) was a moderate conservative political party in Uganda led by Norbert Mao. The DP was led by Paul Ssemogerere for 25 years until his retirement in November 2005. John Ssebaana Kizito repl ...

. In 1986, Obwangor left the Nationalist Liberal Party, joining the

National Resistance Movement The National Resistance Movement ( sw, Harakati za Upinzani za Kitaifa; abbr. NRM) has been the ruling party in Uganda since 1986. History The National Resistance Movement (NRM) was founded as a liberation movement that waged a guerrilla w ...

party led by the new Head of State of Uganda,

Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...

. He was appointed by

in 1989 to serve as a member of the Justice Benjamin Josses Odoki led Uganda Constitutional Commission, which was tasked with reforming the

Constitution of Uganda The Constitution of Uganda is the supreme law of Uganda. The fourth and current constitution was promulgated on 8 October 1995. It sanctions a republican form of government with a powerful President. First constitution (1962–1966) The first co ...

. In 1997, Obwangor left the

, rejoining his original political party the

, although he left them after four years becoming a political independent which he remained until his death, stating in a 2007 interview that "politics is like wind, you move with the current affairs and temperature of the time". Obwangor was also committed to improving educational services for the poor of Uganda. Between 1986 and 1990 during the

Lord's Resistance Army insurgency The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is an ongoing guerrilla campaign waged by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) insurgent group since 1987. Currently, there is low-level LRA activity in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Ce ...

, many members of the afflicted areas fled to the more stable town of

, Obwangor's hometown. This led Obwangor to help establish a school for displaced children at Moru Apesur in

Town.

Death

Obwangor passed away on 18 May 2012 at 93 years old. He died at his daughter's, Angela Margaret Itinot's home, in Omodoi,

. Obwangor had a large state funeral that turned into a political affair. Members of the

fought with members of the

at the funeral in Katakwi over who should speak, with the National Resistance Movement claiming the Uganda People's Congress neglected Obwangor in his time of need and therefore MP

Olara Otunnu Olara A. Otunnu (born 6 September 1950) is a Ugandan politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was President of the Uganda People's Congress (UPC), a political party, from 2010 to 2015 and stood as the party's candidate in the 2011 presidential electi ...

, a leader of the Uganda People's Congress, should be forbidden from speaking, something that resulted in brawls at the funeral until Otunnu was allowed to address the funeral.

Legacy

Obwangor House at

Teso College Aloet Teso College Aloet (TCA) was established in 1953. Teso College is an all-male preparatory school, a boarding school, located in Aloet, Soroti, in Uganda. As of 2014, Teso College has 1,574 students. Over 30,000 students have graduated from TCA si ...

was named in honor of Cuthbert Joseph Obwangor. The website for the school says that:

Personal life

He built his home, the Alakara House on Obwangor Road

, Uganda in 1968. He lived there with his eight children and his wife, Anna Maria Abura. Obwangor is a Catholic.

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obwangor, Cuthbert Joseph 1920 births Kenya African National Union politicians National Resistance Movement politicians Uganda People's Congress politicians Itesot people People from Soroti District Ugandan Roman Catholics Ugandan prisoners and detainees Ugandan businesspeople 2012 deaths