Zeddy Maruru | |
|---|---|
| Uganda National Liberation Army Chief of Staff | |
| In office 1985 – January 1986 | |
| President | Tito Okello |
| Commander of the Uganda Army Air Force | |
| In office 1974 – December 1975 | |
| President | Idi Amin |
| Preceded by | Smuts Guweddeko[1] |
| Succeeded by | Idi Amin[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1942-02-03)February 3, 1942 Rushenyi,Ntungamo District,Uganda Protectorate |
| Died | January 11, 2014(2014-01-11) (aged 71) Mulago Hospital,Kampala, Uganda |
| Nickname | "The Colonel"[2] |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Uganda |
| Branch/service | Uganda Army (UA) Save Uganda Movement Kikosi Maalum Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) National Resistance Army (NRA) |
| Years of service | 1964–1990 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Commands | Uganda Army Air Force Uganda National Liberation Army |
| Battles/wars | |
Zeddy Maruru[a] (3 February 1942 – 11 January 2014) was aUgandanfighter pilot andmilitary officer. He was the commander of theUganda Army Air Force during the 1970s, and later served as the Chief of Army Staff afterTito Okello overthrewMilton Obote's second administration in 1985.[1]
Zeddy Maruru was born on 3 February 1942[4] in Rushenyi Village, in present-dayNtungamo District. He attended Rwamanyonyi Boys School and Kitunga Primary School. He then transferred toMbarara High School, before completing his O-Level studies atNtare School in 1960. Maruru subsequently attended Royal Technical College, inNairobi, Kenya. He studied pre-engineering courses for two years. He then dropped out of the technical school, after attaining hisA-Level Certificate. He returned to Uganda to help his father raise funds to educate his younger siblings.[1]
In 1964, Maruru joined theUganda Army. He and about 30 others were sent toJinja for basic military training for three months. He was then sent toCzechoslovakia for pilot training, spending two and a half years there. While there, he trained both as a pilot and as a pilot instructor.[1]
From October 1970 until December 1971, he attended aStaff College course at theRAF Staff College, Bracknell, in the United Kingdom. While there, he was promoted to the rank ofcaptain, byIdi Amin who visited the college in 1971.[1]
Maruru returned to Uganda in 1967 and was commissioned as asecond lieutenant. He was posted toGulu Air Force Base, which was opened after his cohort returned from Czechoslovakia. At Gulu, he completed his training and recruited young men whom he and his classmates trained. In 1968, he was promoted tofirst lieutenant.[1]
In 1973, at the rank ofmajor, Maruru volunteered to accompany President Amin on a trip toIraq. At the end of that trip, Maruru was promoted tolieutenant colonel.[1] He also became quartermaster general of the air force.[5] In 1974, he was made acting commander of the Uganda Army Air Force. In December 1975, Maruru was relieved of his duties as Air Force Commander.[1]
He was dismissed from theUganda Army in 1975. He went into exile, first toNairobi, Kenya, thenDar es Salaam, Tanzania.[6] At some point, he became a member of the militant anti-Amin opposition. Maruru joined theSave Uganda Movement (SUM) which intended to overthrow the Ugandan President through guerrilla attacks,[7] helping to set up the group's command center in Tanzania.[2] When theUganda–Tanzania War broke out in 1979, Maruru was one of the exiles who organised a pro-Tanzanian militia of Ugandan rebels.[6] As a SUM member, he attended theMoshi Conference which resulted in the merger of several anti-Amin groups into theUganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) and its armed wing, theUganda National Liberation Army (UNLA). Maruru was appointed secretary of the UNLA's Military Commission during the conference.[8] At some point during the Uganda–Tanzania War, he became one of the top commanders of theKikosi Maalum, a contingent of Ugandan rebel troops commanded byTito Okello andOyite Ojok.[6]
In 1979 during the UNLF government, Maruru became a member of the National Consultative Council, which was the country's national legislative body at that time. After the fall of PresidentGodfrey Binaisa in 1980, the UNLA appointed Maruru to the Military Commission to run the affairs of the country.[6]
General elections were held in Uganda in 1980 and Maruru was appointed Brigade Commander in Northern Uganda based at Gulu. He was later transferred to command the Brigade in Western Uganda. He was appointed as Chief of Operations and Training in the UNLA.[6]
When Tito Okello and Bazilio Olara Okello overthrew Obote in 1985, Maruru was promoted to the rank ofbrigadier and shortly after tomajor general. He was then appointed UNLA Chief of Staff.[6] When theNational Resistance Army (NRA) rebelsoverran Kampala in January 1986, Maruru was among the high-ranking officers who surrendered there.[3] He met NRA leaderYoweri Museveni at Kampala's Republic House, telling him that he was content to be treated as prisoner of war or be released. To his surprise, Museveni offered him a job in the NRA. Maruru accepted, and went on to serve in Uganda's new national army.[6]
In 1990, Maruru was appointed as General Manager ofUganda Air Cargo, a state-owned airline that operated passengers and cargo flights. Maruru retired in 2002.[6] In his later life he suffered fromhypertension. He died on 11 January 2014 atMulago Hospital in Kampala.[4]
According to his brother Ham Tumuhairwe, Maruru was not very religious and "never liked going to church".[2]