After Uganda gained independence from British colonial rule in 1962, Obote was sworn in as prime minister in a coalition with the Kabaka Yekka, whose leader Mutesa II was named president.

Due to a rift with Mutesa over the 1964 Ugandan lost counties referendum and later getting implicated in a gold smuggling scandal, Obote overthrew him in 1966 and declared himself president, establishing a dictatorial regime with the UPC as the sole official party in 1969.

His second period of rule ended after a long and bloody conflict known as the Ugandan Bush War during which he was overthrown a second time by another coup d'état in 1985 led by Tito Okello, prompting him to live the rest of his life in exile.

[6] At Makerere, Obote honed his natural oratorical skills; he may have been expelled for participating in a student strike, or alternatively left after a place to study law abroad was not funded by the protectorate government.

[13] As prime minister, Obote was implicated in a gold smuggling plot, together with Idi Amin, then deputy commander of the Ugandan armed forces.

When the Parliament demanded an investigation of Obote and the ousting of Amin, he suspended the constitution and declared himself President in March 1966, allocating to himself almost unlimited power under state of emergency rulings.

[15] The attack on Muteesa's palace refers to a significant event that occurred during Milton Obote's first reign of presidency in Uganda commonly known as the Mengo Crisis.

On 24 May 1966, Obote ordered an assault on the (Lubiri) palace located at Mengo in Kampala, the residence of King (Kabaka) Edward Muteesa II of Buganda.

[16] During the assault, the palace was heavily shelled, resulting in substantial damage notable of which were his Rolls Royce cars that were set on fire.

Muteesa managed to escape and sought refuge in the British High Commission in Kampala, although his brother Prince Alexander David Ssimbwa was arrested.

[citation needed] The assault on Muteesa's palace and its aftermath played a significant role in shaping Uganda's political landscape.

As he was leaving the UPC annual delegates' conference at Lugogo Indoor Stadium in Kampala, Mohamed Sebaduka fired one shot at the president.

Investigators later arrested them and several members of the Democratic Party—the leading opposition party—accusing former prime minister Benedicto Kiwanuka of orchestrating the plot.

The Obote government withdrew support for the rebels and arrested a German mercenary called Steiner and extradited him to Sudan for trial.

[13] Once he was informed of the coup, Obote immediately flew to Nairobi to rally loyalist army elements in Uganda to oppose Amin's takeover.

This project was never implemented, as Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai informed the involved parties that he opposed a military intervention, while the Tanzanians feared that Western powers might intervene on Amin's side.

[27] As tensions mounted between Tanzania and Uganda, even escalating in occasional border clashes, Nyerere finally greenlit the planned invasion.

[28] The attempted invasion was also met with international condemnation, forcing the Tanzanian government to officially close the insurgent camps and pledge to stop supporting anti-Amin rebels.

[29] Obote and members of his inner circle consequently relocated to Dar es Salaam where many began to work as teachers, lawyers, doctors, etc., while his common fighters were moved to Tabora to become coffee farmers.

[30] The Tanzanian government informed Obote that it would continue tolerating anti-Amin insurgent activities as long as they remained clandestine, despite the international agreement signed after the failed invasion.

Most of the time, he stayed at a comfortable beach house close to Nyerere's private residence; Tanzanian officials initially continued to call him "President", and later "Mzee".

However, the efforts of his rebel network produced few tangible results, as his movement was unable to assassinate important followers of Amin[33] and lacked support among most Ugandans.

However, the UPC's opposition believed that the elections were rigged,[38] which led to a guerrilla war by Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army (NRA) and several other military groups.

[39][40] In 1983, the Obote government launched Operation Bonanza, a military expedition that claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced a significant portion of the population.

[41] The brunt of the blame for this massacre was placed on the people of northern Uganda for supporting the action of the Prime Minister which increased the existing regional tensions in the country.

[41] It has been estimated that approximately 100,000 to 500,000 people died as a result of fighting between Obote's Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) and the guerrillas.