The former President of Uganda, Godfrey Lukongwa Binaisa QC has died today Thursday August 5, 2010 at his home in Kizungu Zone Makindye Division in Kampala.
Late Geoffrey Binaisa
His relatives and in-laws have told journalists that Binaisa died at around 2:00am. He was born on May 30th 1920. He has been a lawyer by professional and Uganda’s former Attorney General (1962-1968).
Binaisa studied at King’s College Budo and Makerere College before he joined King’s College London in 1955 for his bar course.
He was appointed a Queens Counsel (QC) in 1956. Binaisa is a former member of Uganda National Congress, United Congress Party and Uganda Peoples Congress. In 1969 Binaisa practiced as a private lawyer in Kampala and when Iddi Amin took over the political arena in Uganda, he went to exile in United States of America.
After the overthrow of Iddi Amin Ddaada in 1979, Binaisa returned to Uganda and on June 20, 1979, Binaisa was appointed the President of Uganda by the National Consultative Commission, the former supreme governing body of the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF).
Binaisa was removed from the office of the President of Uganda on 12 May 1980 by the Military Commission that was head by Late Paulo Muwanga whose deputy was Yoweri Museveni.
During the early 1980s and 1990s, Binaisa stayed in New York practicing law before he returned to Uganda to live a quiet life. He has been the only surviving ex-president of Uganda being looked after by the government of Uganda under the provisions of the 1995 Uganda Constitution.
Binaisa married Tomoko Yamamoto in a Unification Church Blessing Ceremony on 26th July 2004. Binaisa’s marriage with Yamamoto collapsed in July 2005.
May his soul rest in eternal peace!
By Walakira Nyanzi, Ultimate Media