301:, the youth organisation of the Afro-Shirazi Party. The Youth League strove for a revolution in order to break the power of the Arabs. On Zanzibar, Okello was also a member of the Painters Union, being a house painter, which gave a regular salary and allowed him to move around the island, supposedly giving speeches at union branches, but in reality to organize a revolution to overthrow the Sultan. In his free time, he built up a small army of determined African nationalists. This army was required to hold themselves to the strict rules of Okello: sexual abstinence, no raw meat, and no alcohol.
417:, it is more or less assumed that Idi Amin saw him as a threat and arranged for his murder. After Amin promoted himself, Okello reportedly joked that "now Uganda has two Field Marshals." The veracity of the joke has come under scrutiny, as it was only some years after Okello's presumed death in 1971 that Amin was promoted to Field Marshal. But Okello's status as a member of the Lango group, alongside his popularity and charisma may have played a factor in his disappearance.
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364:, where they were welcomed by Okello. However, neither Karume nor Babu wanted anything to do with him. Afterward, Okello appeared to be too unstable to play any role in government of the new country and was quietly sidelined from the political scene by Karume, who allowed him to retain his title of Field Marshal.
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is named "Okello". In his commentary to the DVD version of the film, Herzog also says that the character of
Aguirre himself was partly modelled on John Okello, with whom the director had been in contact. (Okello had wanted Herzog to translate a book he had written.) Herzog explains: "I chose the name
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was finally returning to normality and Karume had been accepted, almost unquestioningly, as its president. Okello formed a paramilitary unit, known as the
Freedom Military Force (FMF), from his own supporters which is known to have patrolled the streets and become involved with looting. In addition
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The People's
Liberation Army (PLA) was formed by the government in April and completed the disarmament of Okello's remaining FMF troops. On 26 April, Karume announced that he had negotiated to enter into a union with Tanganyika to form the new country of Tanzania. Karume's reason for doing so may
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of
Zanzibar and Pemba". He gave the Sultan an order to kill his family and to kill himself afterwards; otherwise, Okello would do so himself. However, the Sultan had already brought himself to safety and would later escape to Britain. The prime minister and other ministers did not escape and were
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The highly religious Okello was convinced he had been given orders in his dreams by God to break the powerful position of the Arabs and to found a revolutionary state on
Zanzibar and Pemba. Okello also said that he received orders from God, when still in Uganda, by how he observed the position of
336:, South Asians and Comorians, whose families had been living in Zanzibar for centuries, between 18 and 20 January. In addition to the murders, followers of Okello carried out thousands of rapes and destroyed property and homes. Within a few weeks, a fifth of the population had died or fled.
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from taking over the country or to reduce the possibility of increasing communist influence in East Africa. Despite this, many of the Umma Party's socialist policies on health, education and social welfare were adopted by the government.
372:
to Okello's violent rhetoric, his thick and dialectic
English pronunciations and Lango tribal English accent—typical of Lango from Northern Uganda—and his Christian beliefs, alienated many in the largely moderate,
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stones in a stream. On the night before the revolution, Okello gave his men the order to kill all Arabs between 18 and 25 years of age, to spare pregnant and elderly women, and not to rape virgins.
222:. At various times, Okello was a clerk, manservant, gardener, and did odd-jobs as he drifted around British East Africa, living at various times in Uganda,
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On 12 January 1964, with popular support from the island's native
African majority, Okello and his men fought their way to the capital of Zanzibar,
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militia. Okello was denied access to the country when he tried to return from a trip to the mainland, and was deported to
Tanganyika, and then to
218:. He was orphaned at age 11 and grew up with relatives. When he was 15, he left and set out on his own and found work in several places within
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won a rigged election, which convinced Okello that only a revolution achieved by violence would give the
African majority political power in
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lived. Even though they were poorly armed, Okello and his men surprised the police force of
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before returning, destitute, to his native Uganda. He was officially removed from his post as Field Marshal on 11 March.
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Prime Minister (later, vice-president). Neither Karume nor Babu had been informed of the coup. Both resided in
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on allegations of rape and was incarcerated for two years, an experience that left him with an intense
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Okello because I owe his craze, his hysteria, his atrocious fantasies quite a bit for this film".
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and Pemba. A charismatic individual, Okello's speeches denouncing British colonial rule, the
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won a following amongst the African population on the island. In 1961, the Arab-dominated
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and Muslim ASP. By March many of his FMF had been disarmed by Karume's supporters and an
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Lofchie, Michael (October–November 1967). "Was Okello's Revolution a Conspiracy?".
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was appointed president, and the leader of the (Arabic) Umma-Massa Party, Sheik
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The coup led to the little-known bloodbath of between 2,000 and 4,000 ethnic
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230:. He later went through training to become a bricklayer. He was arrested in
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617:"Zanzibar Revolution : The Biggest Massacre in East African History"
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Okello left for Zanzibar in 1963, where he contacted the leaders of the
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Okello created a Revolutionary Council and was named the leader of the
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246:, where he tried to find work on one of the farms. Okello joined the
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Kalley, Jacqueline Audrey; Schoeman, Elna; Andor, Lydia Eve (1999),
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214:, and was baptized at age two, receiving the baptismal name of
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1119:"An African Cuba? Britain and the Zanzibar Revolution, 1964"
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The 1964 Army Mutinies and the Making of Modern East Africa
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Revolution in Zanzibar : an American's Cold War tale
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A Reformer on the Throne: Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said
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During a speech on radio, Okello dubbed himself the "
177:) was a Ugandan revolutionary and the leader of the
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Revolution In Zanzibar: An American's Cold War Tale
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51:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
206:Little is known of Okello's youth: he was born in
1123:The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History
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809:
776:"Zanzibar Quiet, With New Regime Firmly Seated"
642:"Field Marshal John Okello, the forgotten hero"
669:"Nationalism Is Viewed as Camouflage for Reds"
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687:"Slaughter in Zanzibar of Asians, Arabs Told"
409:in 1971; he vanished afterwards. In the book
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693:, p. 4, 20 January 1964, archived from
921:(Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2004), track 13.
425:The black slave played by Edward Roland in
729:Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: S-Z
181:in 1964. This revolution overthrew Sultan
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959:Frontiersmen:Warfare in Africa since 1950
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388:have been to prevent the radicals in the
242:. In 1959, Okello left for the island of
111:Learn how and when to remove this message
1004:, Nairobi: East African Publishing House
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277:who dominated the political life of the
1145:– via Taylor & Francis Online
938:The Democratisation Process in Zanzibar
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1071:Sheriff, Abdul; Ferguson, Ed (1991),
269:who dominated the commercial life of
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49:adding citations to reliable sources
980:Southern African Political History
667:Conley, Robert (19 January 1964),
14:
16:Ugandan revolutionary (1937–1971)
865:"Tanganyika gets new rule today"
863:Conley, Robert (27 April 1964).
841:Conley, Robert (12 March 1964).
615:Mascaro, Antonio (4 June 2017).
401:Okello then stayed in Kenya, in
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1099:Encyclopedia of African History
843:"Zanzibar Regime Expels Okello"
185:and led to the proclamation of
36:needs additional citations for
1190:Leaders who took power by coup
1170:African and Black nationalists
1016:, Greenwood Publishing Group,
983:, Greenwood Publishing Group,
1:
935:Bakari, Mohammed Ali (2001),
784:. 4 February 1964. p. 9.
421:Cultural references to Okello
171:
1074:Zanzibar Under Colonial Rule
459:. Boulder, Colo.: Westview.
161:1971 (aged 33–34)
1096:Shillington, Kevin (2005),
894:Sheriff & Ferguson 1991
810:Sheriff & Ferguson 1991
453:Petterson, Donald. (2002).
329:imprisoned for many years.
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1050:Plekhanov, Sergey (2004),
283:Zanzibar Nationalist Party
1195:Zanzibari revolutionaries
1135:10.1080/03086530701337666
1035:, New York: Basic Books,
1010:Parsons, Timothy (2003),
956:Clayton, Anthony (1999),
432:Aguirre, the Wrath of God
354:Abdulrahman Muhammad Babu
299:Afro-Shirazi Youth League
962:, Taylor & Francis,
1031:Petterson, Don (2002),
1001:Revolution in Zanzibar
731:, pp. 2088–2089,
411:Revolution in Zanzibar
1180:Genocide perpetrators
1117:Speller, Ian (2007),
1056:, Trident Press Ltd,
998:Okello, John (1967),
919:Aguirre, Wrath of God
489:"British East Africa"
397:Speculations on death
183:Jamshid bin Abdullah
45:improve this article
267:Indian subcontinent
220:British East Africa
212:Uganda Protectorate
179:Zanzibar Revolution
170:(26 October 1937 –
151:Uganda Protectorate
917:DVD commentary to
869:The New York Times
847:The New York Times
781:The New York Times
697:on 16 January 2009
673:The New York Times
360:, but returned to
346:Afro-Shirazi Party
248:Afro-Shirazi Party
168:John Gideon Okello
691:Los Angeles Times
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429:'s 1972 film
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56:Find sources:
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34:This article
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1165:1970s deaths
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763:Speller 2007
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751:Parsons 2003
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350:Abeid Karume
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263:South Asians
255:Abeid Karume
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43:Please help
38:verification
35:
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1175:Bricklayers
1160:1937 births
675:, p. 1
240:Anglophobia
175: 1971
127:John Okello
1154:Categories
1042:0813339499
929:References
555:Transition
390:Umma Party
378:Umma Party
358:Tanganyika
315:Stone Town
228:Tanganyika
140:1937-10-26
71:newspapers
1143:159656717
652:7 October
626:7 October
621:KenyaTalk
494:7 October
279:Sultanate
265:from the
197:Biography
701:16 April
475:49395604
407:Idi Amin
374:Zanzibar
369:Zanzibar
362:Zanzibar
309:Uprising
287:Zanzibar
273:and the
271:Zanzibar
259:Zanzibar
191:republic
187:Zanzibar
101:May 2014
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216:Gideon
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1139:S2CID
567:JSTOR
440:Notes
403:Zaire
382:Kenya
334:Arabs
275:Arabs
244:Pemba
236:Kenya
224:Kenya
202:Youth
189:as a
92:JSTOR
78:books
1104:ISBN
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703:2009
654:2022
628:2022
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471:OCLC
461:ISBN
226:and
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