Daudi Ochieng
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Daudi Ochieng, sometimes styled Ocheng, (1925– 1 June 1966) was a Ugandan politician, who served as secretary general of the
Kabaka Yekka Kabaka Yekka, commonly abbreviated as KY, was a monarchist political movement and party in Uganda. ''Kabaka Yekka'' means 'king only' in the Ganda language, Kabaka being the title of the King in the kingdom of Buganda. History Formation ...
(KY) party and Opposition Chief Whip (from 1965). In 1965–6, his allegations – crystallised in a motion he put before Parliament on 4 February 1966 (the "Gold Allegations Motion") – that then-Prime Minister
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, ...
and deputy commander of the Ugandan army
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 been complicit in the looting and misappropriation of gold, ivory and cash by Congolese rebels precipitated the Gold Scandal.


Early life and career

Daudi Ochieng was born in 1925, the son of Rwot Lacito Oketch of the Temajo. He was educated at
King's College Budo King’s College Budo is a mixed, residential, secondary school in Central Region, Uganda, Central Uganda (Buganda). Location The school is located on Budo hill, Naggalabi Hill, in southern Wakiso District, off the Kampala-Masaka Road. This loc ...
,
Makerere College Makerere University (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922, and the oldest currently active university in East Africa. It became an independent national university in ...
, and the
University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...
, before returning to Buganda after graduation. He was elected to Buganda Lukiiko in 1962 and the
Parliament of Uganda The Parliament of Uganda is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Uganda. One of its primary functions is to pass laws that support effective governance in the country. Government ministers are required to answer to the people's represe ...
in 1964, representing Mityana on behalf of the
Kabaka Yekka Kabaka Yekka, commonly abbreviated as KY, was a monarchist political movement and party in Uganda. ''Kabaka Yekka'' means 'king only' in the Ganda language, Kabaka being the title of the King in the kingdom of Buganda. History Formation ...
(KY) party.


Gold Scandal

Beginning in March 1965, Ochieng raised in Parliament what he considered to be suspicious payments made to 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, ...
in February of that year. These allegations came to a head on 4 February 1966 when Ochieng, then secretary-general of KY and Opposition Chief Whip, submitted a motion urging the government to "suspend from duty Colonel Idi Amin pending the conclusion of police investigations into the allegations regarding his bank account, which should then be passed on to the appropriate authority whose final decision on the matter shall be made public". Introducing his motion, Ochieng accused the then-Prime Minister
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, ...
and deputy commander of the Ugandan army
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, ...
of being complicit in the looting and misappropriation of gold, ivory and cash by Congolese rebels. Ochieng also implicated Felix Onama (the Minister of Defense), and Adoko Nekyon (the Minister of Planning). Parliament, including members of Obote's own party (the UPC, who controlled 74 of 91 seats), voted almost unanimously to back Ochieng's motion, albeit with a range of justifications. The UPC's stance of acceptance, agreed earlier in the day at an emergency meeting of the Cabinet, reversed the position of resistance agreed at a meeting of the full Parliamentary Group on 31 January. In this way, Ochieng's accusations – and the fact that they were seemingly considered even by members of the Cabinet to be plausible enough to deserve investigation, contrary to the agreed position of 31 January – prompted what has come to be known as the "Gold Scandal". At the time of the motion, "for reasons that are not quite clear", Obote was away from Kampala on a tour of the Northern Region, and therefore unable to influence either the Cabinet's decision to back Ochieng's motion or the debate on the floor of the House. On his return, Obote responded by putting Amin on leave for two weeks and establishing a commission of inquiry. He declared a state of emergency, and on 22 February suspended the 1962 constitution, suspended the Presidency of Edward Mutesa II and Vice Presidency of William Nadiope, and moved to purge the UPC, having five Government Ministers arrested ( Grace Ibingira, E. B. S. Lumu, B. K. Kirya, Mathias Mbalule Ngobi, and George B. K. Magezi). In April 1966 Obote published a new, interim constitution (Uganda's second). Shortly following a diagnosis of
stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...
, Ochieng died on 1 June 1966.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ochieng, Daudi 1925 births 1966 deaths Members of the Parliament of Uganda People educated at King's College Budo