The Eastern Uganda campaign of 1979 was a military operation by Tanzanian forces and allied Ugandan rebels, most importantly the Uganda National Liberation Army, against Uganda Army (UA) troops loyal to Idi Amin during the Uganda–Tanzania War. The operation was launched by the Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) on 15 April 1979 to secure eastern Uganda and oust UA remnants which were still active in the area. The TPDF mainly targeted the important towns of Jinja, Mbale, Tororo, Soroti, and Moroto. It encountered only sporadic resistance, as most UA soldiers focused on fleeing with loot instead of resisting, and successfully secured most of eastern Uganda. In the northeast, the collapse of the Uganda Army resulted in local Karamojong groups seizing much weaponry which would result in long-lasting security issues.
Background
In 1971, Idi Amin became President of Uganda after overthrowing his predecessor, Milton Obote, in a military coup. This event precipitated a deterioration of relations with the neighbouring state of Tanzania. Amin ruled the country under a repressive dictatorship. In October 1978, the Uganda Army launched an invasion of Tanzania under disputed circumstances, resulting in open war. Tanzania halted the assault, mobilised anti-Amin opposition groups, and launched a counter-offensive.
In a matter of months, the Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) and its Ugandan rebel allies—unified under the umbrella organisation Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) and its armed wing Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA)—defeated the Uganda Army in a number of battles, and occupied Kampala, Uganda's capital, on 11 April 1979. With his military disintegrating or already in open revolt, Amin's rule was collapsing. The Ugandan President and many of his forces fled to the eastern city of Jinja; thousands of Uganda Army soldiers reportedly retreated eastward from Kampala.
Prelude After capturing Kampala, the TPDF initially rested, reorganized, and resupplied. However, the Tanzanians were under public pressure to advance against Jinja, as the town hosted the Owen Falls Dam which generated hydroelectric power, supplying electricity to all of Uganda and portions of Kenya. In addition, newspapers reported that Uganda Army troops were murdering civilians along the road to Jinja.
Meanwhile, Amin made a short-lived attempt at rallying his forces in eastern Uganda. He implored the people and soldiers in Jinja to resist the Tanzanians and vowed to make his "last stand" there and die in battle. According to journalist Nelson Bwire Kapo, Amin even declared Jinja the new capital of Uganda. Afterwards he moved to Mbale where he addressed the Eastern Brigade under Abdulatif Tiyua, urging them to also continue fighting. The President then fled to Arua, where he was picked up by a Libyan military plane and flown to Tripoli into exile.
Afterwards, a few officers continued to try to hold out, but most Uganda Army soldiers in eastern Uganda focused on fleeing with as much loot as possible. The Eagle Colonel Gaddafi Battalion descended into internal fighting, and much of its remaining forces including its commander Hussein Mohammed fled to Kenya. At Moroto, the local garrison consisting of the Gondo Battalion had already begun to disintegrate in early 1979. By April of that year, most of the unit's Kakwa and Nubian soldiers had fled to Sudan. Only 78 soldiers remained at Moroto, waiting to surrender.
Campaign Local anti-Amin resistance Soon after Amin had left, Mbale experienced an uprising. The local commander, Tiyua, had initially intended to continue resisting the Tanzanians, but found his soldiers deserting in large numbers. He consequently left Mbale with about 100 other loyalists. This left a group of about 250 Uganda Army soldiers led by Major Malinga in control; these troopers included members of several Uganda Army units who had previously fled from as far as Mbarara and Masaka before halting at Mbale. After receiving reports about Kampala's fall, Malinga's group decided to stop fleeing and to switch sides instead. Bolstered by local civilians, they set up roadblocks around Mbale, and pledged to defend the town from the retreating Amin loyalists. Tiyua's group eventually reached the Kenyan border. They intended to march through Kenyan territory to Sudan, but were arrested by Kenyan security forces and extradited to Uganda.
In the Karamoja region in the northeast, the local Karamojong exploited the gradual collapse of Amin's regime. The Karamojong were a nomadic people that maintained a strong sense of independence; they were notorious for their tradition of cattle raiding. They had been marginalized and driven off their lands by the Ugandan, Sudanese, and Kenyan governments; increasingly forced into smaller territories with fewer resources and attacked by other cattle herders, most importantly Turkana, the Karamojong became more prone to banditry and inter-communal fighting. When Amin's government fell apart in 1979, the Uganda Army troops stationed in Karamoja feared the Karamojong's fierce reputation as warriors, causing them to flee and leave much weaponry behind. At the abandoned barracks of Moroto, the Karamojong seized many modern small arms, and defected Uganda Army soldiers of Karamojong ethnicity instructed their compatriots on how to use them. Most weapons fell into the hands of the Mathiniko clan who lived close to Moroto; the Mathiniko promptly began to use their new power to raid cattle from other clans, killing at least 54 in raids. Police who were still loyal to the Amin government attempted to investigate at Namalu, but fell into an ambush by the raiders; 15 policemen were killed. The escalating violence resulted in serious issues for local society, as the young raiders took their newly acquired wealth in form of cattle into the bush to keep it safe, leaving the old people behind. Traders from other regions, fearing attacks, refrained from travelling to Karamoja. This resulted in an incipient food shortage.
Capture of Jinja
The Tanzanians eventually assigned the 208th Brigade under Brigadier Mwita Marwa, their unit with the most combat experience, to capture Jinja. A total of 4,000 Tanzanian and 1,000 UNLA troops were to partake in the operation. At least some of the involved UNLA troops were led by Lieutenant Joseph Obonyo. They were to be accompanied by three Tanzanian tanks, one T-54 and two T-34s. The combined TPDF-UNLA force was able to requisition numerous vehicles in Kampala when it departed the city on 15 April, but had to share them among different groups of soldiers as it moved down the two-lane road toward Jinja. Even though progress was slow due to the lack of adequate vehicles, the TPDF-UNLA force encountered no resistance on its way to Jinja, with the troops instead relaxing, listenining to music from looted radios, and eating Sugarcane along the way. Hundreds of civilians from road-adjacent communities such as Mukono, Seta, Namataba, and Lugazi joined the column, intermingling with the soldiers and helping to carry equipment.
When the Tanzanian-led force eventually arrived in Jinja's vicinity, it received widely diverging reports by locals about how many Uganda Army soldiers were left garrisoning the Owen Falls Dam as well as the city. Estimates ranged from 200 to 2,000 Amin loyalists. After substantial preparations, the TPDF began its assault with an artillery bombardment on 22 April. For the most part, the TPDF-UNLA force encountered little resistance, as most of the Eagle Colonel Gaddafi Battalion had fled beforehand and the remainder mostly melted away soon after the battle's start. They left behind a dozen tanks and armoured personnel carriers as well as much ammunition at Jinja's barracks.
Tanzanian arrival at Tororo and Mbale On 25 April, the TPDF's 208th Brigade—bolstered by the vehicles seized from the Eagle Colonel Gaddafi Barracks—advanced out of Jinja for the Kenyan border. The brigade's 17th Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Salim Hassan Boma was left behind to maintain law and order in the city. At a road junction near Mbale, the brigade split into three battalions; one went to Mbale, one went to Moroto, and one went to Tororo.
The 19th Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Ben Msuya was assigned to Tororo. It encountered no resistance on the way to its target. TPDF soldiers stopped at Bugembe, Iganga, Bugiri, and several villages to search for Uganda Army soldiers, but found none. When the battalion eventually arrived at a cement plant just outside Tororo, it spotted a Tata truck commonly used by Amin's troops. The truck was approaching the column, and the leading Tanzanian tank promptly shot at it, missing the vehicle. The truck quickly stopped and five Uganda Army soldiers with female companions leapt out, successfully escaping into the nearby bush despite being targeted by the Tanzanians with machine gun fire. The TPDF force then proceeded to destroy the abandoned truck. The column continued to Tororo, finding it almost completely deserted and looted. The local civilians as well as the old garrison had fled to Kenya. The 19th Battalion consequently garrisoned Tororo. Some TPDF troops continued their march from Tororo to the border town of Busia, encountering a truck with fleeing UA soldiers on the way. The Tanzanians opened fire, destroying the vehicle and killing several soldiers.
Meanwhile, the 208th Brigade's 18th Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Moyo moved to Mbale. The TPDF troops found the town in good order; unlike most other settlements in the area, it had not suffered from looting. The retreating Amin loyalists had left the city alone after the 250 Uganda Army renegades and locals had set up defenses. When the Tanzanians arrived at the city, they were greeted by a large celebration and impressed by how well order had been kept at the city. Most of the renegade Uganda Army soldiers were subsequently sent to Kampala, but Malinga and a few other officers stayed with the Tanzanians to assist in the advance to Moroto and Soroti. Moyo and his men remained behind to secure Mbale.
Clash at Mbale junction The remainder of the 208th Brigade was sent northward. The 24th Battalion led by Lieutenant Colonel L.G. Sandys targeted Moroto, while the 7th Battalion under Major Dick Mwandetelle continued to Soroti. Both battalions had only been recently assembled, and were much more inexperienced than the other 208th Brigade units. The 7th Battalion initially secured a road junction north of Mbale before the 24th was sent from Tororo to join them. However, there was a distance from Mbale to Moroto, and Sandys lacked vehicles to transport his soldiers. He struggled to acquire trucks and buses; after some delay, he was able to convince Msuya to lend him some in Tororo and commandeered more from other settlements. Ultimately, he was only able to accumulate enough vehicles for most of his force, and had to leave one company behind. Meanwhile, Sandys sent the three tanks assigned to his force ahead to the Mbale junction. Having guarded the junction for several days, the 7th Battalion soldiers grew lax and opted to celebrate at Mbale the night before the meet-up with the 24th Battalion, instead of staying on guard. As a result, a group of Amin loyalists was able to move past the junction without getting noticed.