The biggest and last major face-off between Amin’s Uganda Armed Forces and the Tanzania Defence Forces was the famous Battle of Lukaya.
Because of the shame about what really happened to the invading forces, there has been some rewriting of the true history of that battle. So let me set the record straight in just 30 seconds.
The last real battle between the Uganda Army under Idi Amin, and the Tanzanian forces of Julius Nyerere, took place on 10th and 11th March 1979 at a place called Lukaya which is between Masaka town and the nation’s capital city Kampala.
Here are the numbers: Only 2000 Uganda Marines under Idi Amin confronted over 100,000 Tanzanian soldiers who were accompanied by approximately 10,000 so-called “Ugandan exiles” (the Museveni’s, the Tito Okello’s and the Oyite O’Jokes).
Basically the elite Amin forces were facing an enemy that was substantively 50 times larger than them both in number of soldiers and in weaponry but not in skills.
However, the odds against Amin could have not been greater.
What happened next was almost similar to the biblical story of David versus Goliath, or the movie “300” about the Spartans.
The Commander of the Amin forces was Captain Sule, an Israeli-trained commando. A brave and fierce soldier picked by Amin himself to organize and lead that battle because of his discipline and professionalism.
Indeed Captain Sule sat down and planned the counter offensive with Amin, put in place the tactics, and was in the battle field himself leading his soldiers in the charge on enemy flanks. He broke their assault, cornered them between his troops and the swamps near the shores of Lake Victoria, many drowning in the murky waters, all the while Super was also taking heavy return fire. Captain Sule was ultimately even killed in combat, but not before totally dismantling the entire Tanzanian assault, plus the Museveni’s and the O’jokes.
At his burial the following day he was awarded a medal of honour from Amin for the unbelievable mission he had accomplished that day against all odds thanks to great tactics, professional commanding skills, and Gods will.
How clear was the defeat of the enemy?
By the end of the battle, the entire Tanzanian army of 100,000 soldiers together with their Ugandan hoodlums were in total dissaray, had suffered almost 30,000 dead or injured in battle, and were now fleeing like headless chicken all the way past Masaka town, non-stop through Mutukula, scampering across the border as fast as they could, and straight back into Tanzania proper.
If it wasn’t for Tito Okello to beg the Museveni’s and the Tanzanians to stop fleeing, they would never have returned to fight Amin ever again.
Regardless of whatever happened after, that Battle of Lukaya remains the last battle between the two armies, and clearly a victory handed to Amin thanks to Captain Sule (RIP).
That is possibly why to this day Lukaya is actually the most shameful event for those who fought Amin. They were defeated that day. So much so that they have even mysteriously opted to award themselves a “Medal of Lukaya” in memory of their chicken run never to be forgotten by all those who fought, and all those who saw the Museveni’s fleeing like they have never done before or since in their entire lives, even faster than Ugandan Olympic gold medalist Kiprotich.
Signed: Mr. Hussein Lumumba Amin.
Kampala, Uganda.
Wednesday 5th May, 2021.
