Mzee Godfrey Binaisa
(1920 -2010)
Wadau, mnakumbuka siku Radio Tanzania walimweka Mzee Godfrey Binaisa kwenye redio kutangaza kwa waGanda na WaTanzania, "THE REIGN OF TERROR IS OVER! THE REIGN OF TERROR IS OVER!" ?
Ilikuwa mwaka 1979, na majeshi ya Tanzania yalifanikiwa kumtoa nduli Idi Amin Dada alikyekuwa dikteta wa Uganda. Vita vya Kagera. Mwalimu alikasirika baada majeshi ya Uganda kuvamia Bukoba na kusema eti ni Uganda.
Mzee Godfrey Binaisa aliteuliwa kuwa Rais wa Uganda. Aliongoza kwa kipindi cha mwaka moja tu. Alikuwa na kipara kali, basi Bongo wenye vipara waliitwa "Binaisa" kwa kipindi.
Habari kutoka Uganda zinasema kuwa Mzee Binaisa amefariki dunia leo asubuhi. Alikuwa na miaka 90. Rest in Eternal Peace Mzee Binaisa.
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Former President of Uganda Godfrey Lukongwa Binaisa QC has died. He
was 90, he died this morning at his home in Kizungu Zone, Makindye
Division, a Kampala suburb.
President Binaisa is said to have died in his sleep. “We are gutted
and really depressed,” said Nakalema Binaisa, a daughter to the former
President, struggling to hold back tears.
Ms Nakalema told of how her father went to bed last night “smiling”
but did not wake-up this morning. “We went to the hospital on Monday
and we were told that his blood sugar levels had gone down,” she said.
“We went back home and he seemed alright. He was smiling last night
when he went to sleep.
I remember he called the nurse to check on him before he went to
sleep. This morning he did not wake-up.” The former leader had been
reportedly battling diabetes.
His body was taken to Mulago Hospital for a post-mortem. Ms Nakalema
said her father’s physicians suspect the former leader could have
succumbed after a cardiac arrest.
“His heart just stopped beating,” she told Daily Monitor in an
interview.
“He was always with us and we had so many plans. He was a fabulous
human being; we are so gutted.”
Arrangements are under way for a state funeral for the former leader.
Officials at the Office of the President and the Prime Minister’s
Office are coordinating burial arrangements.
Educated at King's College Budo and Makerere College, the Binaisa
studied at the law school at King's College London and in 1955 was
appointed a Queen's Counsel (QC).
Binaisa had joined Uganda People's Congress which in 1962 formed the
first post-independent government of Uganda. During this regime, he
was appointed Attorney General.
Following the overthrow of Idi Amin in 1979, Binaisa returned to
Uganda. He was appointed President of Uganda by the National
Consultative Commission, which was then the supreme governing body of
the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF), a coalition of former
Ugandan exiles who had helped remove Idi Amin.
The Presidential Commission ruled Uganda until the December 1980
general elections. Binaisa had joined, and was made vice president of
the Uganda Patriotic Movement. The elections were won by Milton
Obote's Uganda Peoples Congress.
However, the results were disputed, leading President Museveni to
launch a guerilla rebellion, which led him to power in 1986.
Rest in Peace.
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