JOHN OKELLO
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He was born in Lango District, Uganda
orphaned at age eleven and grew up with other relatives
At various times, Okello was a clerk, manservant, gardener, and did odd-jobs as he drifted around British East Africa, living in various times in Uganda, Kenya and Tanganyika
He later went through training to become a bricklayer
He was arrested in Nairobi, Kenya for rape and was incarcerated for two years, an experience that left him with an intense hatred of the British
In 1959 Okello left for the island of Pemba, where he tried to find work on one of the farms. Okello joined the Afro-Shirazi Party of Sheikh Abeid Karume
This party opposed the dominant position of the minority Arabs on the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba
A charismatic man, Okello’s speeches denouncing British imperialism, the South Asians from the Indian subcontinent who dominated the commercial life of Zanzibar and the Arabs who dominated the political life of the Sultanate of Zanzibar won a following amongst the African population of the sultanate
In 1961, the Arab-dominated Zanzibar Nationalist Party won a rigged election, which convinced Okello that only a revolution achieved by violence would give the African majority political power in Zanzibar.
Christian Religious Fanatic and Drunk with Power
During a speech on radio, Okello dubbed himself the “Field Marshal of Zanzibar and Pemba”. He gave the Sultan an order to kill his family and to kill himself afterwards; otherwise, Okello would do so himself. However, the Sultan had already brought himself to safety and later would later escape to Britain. The prime minister and other ministers did not escape and were imprisoned for many years
Expelled from Zanzibar
By 3 February Zanzibar was finally returning to normality and Karume had been accepted, almost unquestioningly, as its president.[15] Okello formed a paramilitary unit, known as the Freedom Military Force (FMF), from his own supporters which is known to have patrolled the streets and become involved with looting.[16][17] In addition to Okello’s violent rhetoric, his thick and dialectic English pronunciations and Acholi tribal English accent- typical of Acholi from Northern Uganda, and his Christian beliefs, alienated many in the largely moderate, Zanzibari and Muslim ASP.[18] By March many of his FMF had been disarmed by Karume’s supporters and an Umma Party militia.[17][18] Okello was denied access to the country when he tried to return from a trip to the mainland and was deported to Tanganyika and then to Kenya before returning, destitute, to his native Uganda.[18] He was officially removed from his post as Field Marshal on 11 March.
Death : Killed by Iddi Amin
Okello then stayed in Kenya, in Congo-Kinshasa and in Uganda. He was incarcerated multiple times and was last seen with the Ugandan president Idi Amin in 1971; he vanished afterwards.[23] In the book “Revolution on Zanzibar” by Don Petterson, it is more or less assumed that Idi Amin saw him as a threat (after Amin promoted himself, Okello reportedly joked that “now Uganda has two Field Marshals”) and arranged his murder.