TRIBUTE: IN LOVING MEMORY OF LT. MARTIN OLANGO “OKENY MAGUY” (1960 – 1994)

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The late Lt. Martin Olango hailed from the Payira-Pailik clan in Acholi land. He was a beloved son of Acholi and Uganda who passed away in October 1994.

Martin was born in 1960 to Mzee Andrea Olango, a King’s African Rifles veteran and staff of Uganda Prisons, and Mama Anne Abalango Olango. Martin came after several sisters. He followed his sisters, Joyce, Nancy, Aol Betty, earning him the traditional Acholi name “Okeny” — the boy whose elder siblings are girls. Later in high school, he was fondly known as Okeny MaGuy!

Fr. Sabino(now Bishop of Arua diocese) was main celebrant at the memorial Mass of Lt. Olango.

Martin had his formative education at Lugore Primary School and Lacekocot Primary School. He then enrolled at St. Joseph’s College Layibi for O-Level, and Ntare School, Kitgum High School for A-Level. As he waited to be admitted at Makerere University, Martin got actively involved in the campaigns of the 1980 general elections. He served as Secretary to Ambassador John Dickson Obina Okumu, chief campaigner of Museveni’s Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM) in Acholi. The young revolutionary Museveni visited Lacekocot, Atanga. The experience in political campaigns must have changed his perspective of life and the trajectory that followed. He opted to join the prestigious Tanzania Military Academy in 1982.

Given his talent in sports, athletics, and general physical fitness, he completed the course and was commissioned as a Cadet Officer from Munduli Military Academy. He served in the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), and was elevated to the post of Military Transport Officer (MTO) because of his meticulous and thorough work ethic. Initially, he was based at Wankoko Army Workshop, Kampala and then later at Pajimo Barracks, Kitgum.

NRA soldiers at the burial of their fallen officer, Lt. Martin Olango

“Older army officers felt threatened by new army officers (cadet officers) who were young and more educated, who posed a threat to their job security and whose inclination was not UPC political ideology.”-Uganda’s Revolution by Pecos Kutesa. Lt. Olango was to be persecuted by one of these older officers when he was transferred from Kampala. The notorious Captain Chongwok envied him and made his life very difficult because of his education and earlier links to the Uganda Patriotic Movement.

After the military coup in January 1986, Lt. Olango was integrated into the National Resistance Army (NRA) and posted to 4th Division HQ, Gulu. In 1992, he completed an advanced logistics/ transport course at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (USA) and returned to serve as Brigade Adjutant, among other roles at the NRA, 4th Division Headquarters. 

Lt. Olango during his course at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (USA)

Martin was a husband, father, brother, uncle, and guardian to many. He was known for his kindness and generous support to his community and the many relatives under his care. He succumbed to Hepatitis, and was laid to rest in Laroo due to insecurity in northern Uganda at the time. In 2023, he was reburied at his ancestral home in Omel, Gulu District. The former LCV Chairman of Kitgum district, Mr Nyeko Luka, eulogised Martin as a very friendly and outgoing gentleman whom he was privileged to have known when he worked as a Clinical Officer at Atanga Health Centre, Lacekocot (now Pader district).

Lt. Olango is survived by: Son Oringa John Modicum, grandson Malcom Andrew Olango, many siblings and relatives he raised. From the classrooms of Layibi and Ntare, to the campaign trails of UPM, to the barracks of the UNLA and the NRA. Lt. Olango “Okeny MaGuy” lived a life of service. It was a remarkable record of service spanning Uganda’s turbulent military transition. Interestingly in the last election in Gulu city, Judith Obina, the daughter of Martin’s mentor in their UPM days, contested against his sister, Aol.

Lt. Olango’s name lives on in the country, our family, and clan.

You are in our hearts. Rest well, hero.

Jimmy A. Odoki

Written by

Odoki Jimmy

Jimmy Odoki Acellam is Coordinator of Heartsounds Uganda and a Mental Health Advocate.

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