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In the previous part of the serialised research into the life of fallen former president Godfrey Binaisa, we talked about his days as a lawyer. In this last part, Fred Guweddeko narrates how Binaisa spearheaded the economic boycott until he was deported to Karamoja:-

When Augustine Kamya, the UNM chairman, was arrested over the boycott, his lawyer Binaisa, negotiated with the prosecutor, Mr K S Fuad, to reduce the political temperature by preferring a mild criminal charge. With the mild criminal charge, Binaisa showed that Kamya could not be denied bail. The government was relying on Binaisa to mitigate the boycott.

Upon release, Kamya did not reduce the political temperature of the boycott as negotiated by Binaisa. He instead raised it by declaring at a mass rally on March 9, 1959: “From now, 10 minutes to six, all trade in Uganda is transferred into the hands of Africans. From this hour, no African should enter into non-African shop.”
The UNM was proscribed and its overall leaders remanded to Luzira Prison.
Binaisa withdrew from the defence of Kamya and organised a British lawyer replacement called Roland Brown. Then, without explanation, Binaisa advised boycott de-listing of some items, but the uncontrolled anti-colonial mobs ignored.
Downing colonial rule?
Popular violence of the boycott was so high that it began raising expectations of downing colonial rule in Uganda. Binaisa advised the committee leaders to rename the UNM calling it UFM. An educated E.M.K. Mulira was placed in the leadership. Binaisa promised the government and companies greater control of the boycott.

The boycott violence however increased. The UFM was also proscribed and its leaders detained under the Deportation Order Law. Binaisa engaged a British Lawyer, Christopher Showcross for the legal defence of the detained boycott leaders while he [Binaisa] continued holding political and commercial negotiations.
The Governor and security officials were threatening Binaisa to make sensible negotiations. The Uganda treasury was collapsing without tax revenue.

The British import and export firms in Uganda, Indian commercial houses and traders and at this stage the commercial banks were begging Binaisa to control the boycott.
Binaisa was soliciting cash from the commercial interests to stop the boycott. Binaisa was also paying cash to meet the costs of the full-time boycott violence teams.
Binaisa and the remaining boycott committee leaders and the public were more than convinced that the colonial government was weakening under the economic violence pressure.

After the second boycott organisation, UFM was banned; Binaisa floated the UFC under another educated leader Mr Kitayimbwa with more promises to depoliticise and control the violence.

The boycott increased with Binaisa no longer controlling the official items list. The violence also increased and the boycott extended to stopping village farmers from selling food for the city.

Curfew was declared in five sub-counties in Buganda. Military patrols were deployed. A British captain commanding peace keeping troops in Masaka was attacked and seriously injured by the boycott mobs.

Over 10,000 natives had lost jobs with Indians and British firms. Governor Crawford banned the boycott umbrella organisation (UFC). Binaisa, who was leading the boycott items committee, floated another organisation titled UFU under Haji Kayongo.

As the boycott was recording nine months, the Binaisa-led three-member negotiating team reached agreement with the Governor. It was to transform the militant violent action into civil demands. Binaisa was to present the civil demands of the violent boycott mobs. The new leader of the boycott, Haji Kayongo, rejected Binaisa saying the people wanted to oust British rule through economic boycott violent action.
Binaisa replaced the illiterate Haji Kayongo with the polished Father Spartus Mukasa as leader of the boycott UFU organisation. Binaisa organised through Father Mukasa to translate boycott violence into civil demands. The man of God declined involvement in crooked activities and stepped down.

Binaisa then appointed Salongo J Kyeyune as leader of the boycott UFU organisation. Police asked Kyeyune to stop the boycott violence but he demanded independence as a condition.

Changing titles
With time, options and credibility running out for him over this crisis, Binaisa assumed leadership of the boycott Movement, under a new title of ‘Uganda League’. He issued demands for ending boycott violence; Self Government by January 1960 (three-months time), Independence by January 1961, Ending curfew, arrests and prosecution of boycott suspects and release of convicted boycott prisoners.
In the subsequent negotiations with the colonial authorities, Binaisa said that his demands were on ending the boycott violence, but not the boycott. The eight months patience of wheel-dealing with Binaisa ran out.

The colonial police had compiled evidence on everything Binaisa had done as a boycott committee member. Evidence linked Binaisa with the Uganda Underground Movement (UUM), which had been throwing petrol bombs at the business premises of violators of the boycott.

Binaisa was arrested on October 7, 1959. His Uganda League was proscribed. Attorney General Dreschfield informed High Court: “Binaisa was directly and indirectly responsible for the reign of terror that had swept Buganda Province since early 1959, for the burning of houses, slashing of crops, assault, intimidation, etc, …. so as to gain his own selfish ends.”

Binaisa indictment constituted a very long list of boycott offences.
It was difficult to press most of the charges on Binaisa. This is because all along the commission of the boycott crimes had all along been working with the Police, Governor and commercial corporations.
In the trial, Binaisa was described by the Attorney General, Mr Dreschfield, as a double-dealer who had pretended to prevent but was instead fanning the boycott. The overall aim of Binaisa in the boycott was to cause the collapse of the colonial government in Uganda. He had not wielded full control of the boycott as he had all along been claiming in his negotiations with the colonial government and the affected parties. Binaisa financially benefitted from companies [illegally] seeking to be delisted from the [illegal] boycott.

Since he was the sole and a generous funder of the boycott activities, personal use of the solicited funds could not be dismissed. The greatest survival of Binaisa from conviction on higher charges lay in the failure of the Colonial Police to identify and link him with the leader of the organised violence gangs.

Clever Museveni
This was an illiterate but clever and violent man called Museveni. He was a Nte [clan] Muganda turned Rwanda migrant. He was funded by Binaisa. Museveni was later to lead the violence in the KY Movement against his former master in the KY vs UPC 1962-64 clashes. Museveni had been funded by the Binaisa chaired boycott committee to execute the more violent mission of the UNM boycott of burning the premises of traders, homes of Ugandans who violated the boycott orders.