The Battle of Mengo

The battle of Mengo was the culmination of a sequence of events that occurred between 4 February 1966 and 24 May 1966 in Uganda. Unfortunately, little mention has been made of these momentous events that had far-reaching consequences. There also still little clarity on how the crisis evolved and the events that led up to and precipitated the outbreak of the battle of Mengo. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to reconstruct these events. By showing the sequence of how events unfolded, the study not only reconstructs the range of events of 1966 that culminated in the battle of Mengo but also offers a detailed critical analysis of these events. A clear and candid assessment of which shows that the 1966 constitutional crisis was Obote's response to the power struggles within the ruling Uganda People's Congress party (UPC) and the imagined threat from the Kingdom of Buganda. It is further highlighted that the 1966 political turmoil which culminated in the Battle of Mengo was pivotal in the history of the Kingdom of Buganda. The era immediately before the attack on the palace marked the zenith of the Kingdom.