Zeddy Maruru
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Zeddy Maruru (3 February 1942 – 11 January 2014) was a
Ugandan Demographic features of the population of Uganda include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and others. Population According to the total population was in , comp ...
fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...
and
military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...
. He was the commander of the Uganda Army Air Force during the 1970s, and later served as the Chief of Army Staff after
Tito Okello Tito Lutwa Okello (15 October 1914 – 3 June 1996) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the eighth president of Uganda from 29 July 1985 until 26 January 1986. Background Tito Okello was born into an ethnic Acholi fami ...
overthrew
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, ...
's second administration in 1985.


Early life and education

Zeddy Maruru was born on 3 February 1942 in Rushenyi Village, in present-day
Ntungamo District Ntungamo District is a district in Western Uganda. Like most Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Ntungamo, the location of the district headquarters. Ntungamo was elevated to a district on 5 May 1993. Overview In the past, Nt ...
. He attended Rwamanyonyi Boys School and Kitunga Primary School. He then transferred to Mbarara High School, before completing his O-Level studies at Ntare School in 1960. Maruru subsequently attended 
Royal Technical College The Royal College of Science and Technology was a higher education college that existed in Glasgow, Scotland between 1887 and 1964. Tracing its history back to the Andersonian Institute (founded in 1796), it is the direct predecessor instituti ...
, in
Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...
, Kenya. He studied pre-engineering courses for two years. He then dropped out of the technical school, after attaining his A-Level Certificate. He returned to Uganda to help his father raise funds to educate his younger siblings.


Military service


Early career

In 1964, Maruru joined the Uganda Army. He and about 30 others were sent to Jinja for basic military training for three months. He was then sent to
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
for pilot training, spending two and a half years there. While there, he trained both as a pilot and as a pilot instructor. From October 1970 until December 1971, he attended a Staff College course at the
RAF Staff College, Bracknell The RAF Staff College at Bracknell was a Royal Air Force staff college active for most of the second half of the 20th century. Its role was the training of staff officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of air force matters. It ...
, in the United Kingdom. While there, he was promoted to the rank of
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
, by
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, ...
who visited the college in 1971. Maruru returned to Uganda in 1967 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He was posted to Gulu Air Force Base, which was opened after his cohort returned from Czechoslovakia. At Gulu, he completed his training and recruited young men whom he and his classmates trained. In 1968, he was promoted to
first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...
.


Air force commander and exile

In 1973, at the rank of
major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
, Maruru volunteered to accompany President Amin on a trip to
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
. At the end of that trip, Maruru was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He also became quartermaster general of the air force. In 1974, he was made acting commander of the Uganda Army Air Force. In December 1975, Maruru was relieved of his duties as Air Force Commander. He was dismissed from the Uganda Army in 1975. He went into exile, first to
Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...
, Kenya, then
Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...
, Tanzania. At some point, he became a member of the militant anti-Amin opposition. Maruru joined the Save Uganda Movement (SUM) which intended to overthrow the Ugandan President through guerrilla attacks, helping to set up the group's command center in Tanzania. When 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 ...
broke out in 1979, Maruru was one of the exiles who organised a pro-Tanzanian militia of Ugandan rebels. As a SUM member, he attended the Moshi Conference which resulted in the merger of several anti-Amin groups into the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) and its armed wing, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA). Maruru was appointed secretary of the UNLA's Military Commission during the conference. At some point during the Uganda–Tanzania War, he became one of the top commanders of the Kikosi Maalum, a contingent of Ugandan rebel troops commanded by
Tito Okello Tito Lutwa Okello (15 October 1914 – 3 June 1996) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the eighth president of Uganda from 29 July 1985 until 26 January 1986. Background Tito Okello was born into an ethnic Acholi fami ...
and Oyite Ojok.


Rise to army chief of staff and later military service

In 1979 during the UNLF government, Maruru became a member of the National Consultative Council, which was the country's national legislative body at that time. After the fall of President Godfrey Binaisa in 1980, the UNLA appointed Maruru to the Military Commission to run the affairs of the country. General elections were held in Uganda in 1980 and Maruru was appointed Brigade Commander in Northern Uganda based at Gulu. He was later transferred to command the Brigade in Western Uganda. He was appointed as Chief of Operations and Training in the UNLA. When Tito Okello and Bazilio Olara Okello overthrew Obote in 1985, Maruru was promoted to the rank of
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 ...
and shortly after to major general. He was then appointed UNLA Chief of Staff. When the
National Resistance Army The National Resistance Army (NRA) was a guerilla army and the military wing of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) that fought in the Ugandan Bush War against the government of Milton Obote, and later the government of Tito Okello. NRA wa ...
(NRA) rebels overran Kampala in January 1986, Maruru was among the high-ranking officers who surrendered there. He met NRA leader
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 ...
at Kampala's Republic House, telling him that he was content to be treated as prisoner of war or be released. To his surprise, Museveni offered him a job in the NRA. Maruru accepted, and went on to serve in Uganda's new national army.


Later life

In 1990, Maruru was appointed as General Manager of Uganda Air Cargo, a state-owned airline that operated passengers and cargo flights. Maruru retired in 2002. In his later life he suffered from
hypertension Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a Chronic condition, long-term Disease, medical condition in which the blood pressure in the artery, arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms i ...
. He died on 11 January 2014 at Mulago Hospital in Kampala.


Personal life

According to his brother Ham Tumuhairwe, Maruru was not very religious and "never liked going to church".


See also

*
Uganda People's Defense Force The Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF), previously known as the National Resistance Army, is the armed forces of Uganda. From 2007 to 2011, the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated the UPDF had a total strength of 40,000–4 ...
*
Ntungamo District Ntungamo District is a district in Western Uganda. Like most Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Ntungamo, the location of the district headquarters. Ntungamo was elevated to a district on 5 May 1993. Overview In the past, Nt ...


Notes


References


Works cited

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External links


Comment: UPDF Promotions Were Overdue
As of 18 February 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Maruru, Zeddy 1942 births 2014 deaths Ugandan aviators University of Nairobi alumni People from Ntungamo District Ugandan generals People educated at Mbarara High School Military personnel of the Uganda–Tanzania War Save Uganda Movement