Former Uganda National Army

{{Infobox militant organization | name = Former Uganda National Army | logo = | leader = [[Isaac Lumago]] [[Amin Onzi]]<ref name="GS Source">{{cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/uganda/amin-2.htm|title=The Military Under Amin|access-date=7 October 2021|website=globalsecurity.org|publisher=Global Security}}</ref> | dates = 1980–1996/1997 | area = Northern [[Uganda]], [[Zaire]], and [[Sudan]] | ideology = [[Idi Amin]] loyalism | size = ~1,500<ref name="WAPO Source">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/01/20/ugandans-learn-to-live-with-chronic-tribal-war/ab66ea0c-5abb-4e85-b55c-46ff78e493da/|title=Ugandans Learn to Live With Chronic Tribal War|date=20 January 1986|access-date=7 October 2021|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|first=Blaine|last=Harden}}</ref> | allies = {{flagicon|Uganda}} [[Tito Okello|Uganda under Okello]] {{flag|Saudi Arabia}} | opponents = {{flagicon|Uganda}} [[Milton Obote|Uganda under Obote]] {{flagicon|Uganda}} [[Yoweri Museveni|Uganda under Museveni]] {{nowrap|{{flagicon|Uganda}} [[National Resistance Army]]}} [[Uganda National Rescue Front|UNRF I]] | battles = [[Ugandan Bush War]] [[War in Uganda (1986–1994)]] | predecessor = [[Uganda Army (1971-1980)|Uganda Army]] | preceded by = }}

The '''Former Uganda National Army''' (abbreviated as '''FUNA''') was a [[Uganda]]n rebel group active during the [[Ugandan Bush War]] and the [[War in Uganda (1986–1994)|subsequent insurgencies]] in the country. The group claimed to be a continuation of the [[Uganda Army (1971–1980)|Uganda Army]] under [[Idi Amin]] and was made up mostly of Amin loyalists. It came to be led by General [[Isaac Lumago]] and Brigadier [[Amin Onzi]]. The group was mainly active in [[Northern Region, Uganda|Northern Uganda]] as well as [[Zaire]] and [[Sudan]], where they operated rear bases and acquired weapons and equipment.<ref name="Collapse">{{cite journal|url=https://www.lse.ac.uk/international-development/Assets/Documents/PDFs/csrc-working-papers-phase-two/wp27.2-collapse-war-and-reconstruction-in-uganda.pdf|title=Collapse, War, and Reconstruction in Uganda – An Analytical Narrative on State-Making|first=Frederick|last=Golooba-Mutebi|publisher=Makerere Institute of Social Research, [[Makerere University]]|access-date=7 October 2021|date=January 2008|series=Crisis States Working Papers Series No.2|issn=1749-1800|website=lse.ac.uk}}</ref>

Initially, the group fought against the government of [[Milton Obote]] until 1985, when military officer [[Tito Okello]] launched a coup and ousted Obote's government. From then until the ascension of [[Yoweri Museveni]] as president in 1986, the FUNA supported Okello's government against the rebelling [[National Resistance Movement]].<ref name="WAPO Source" /> After Museveni took power, FUNA once again became a rebel movement. FUNA disbanded in the late 1990s and many of its fighters joined the [[Uganda National Rescue Front|UNRF II]] and the [[West Nile Bank Front]].

==History== ===Origins=== The FUNA had its origins in the initial [[Ugandan Bush War#West Nile rebellion|West Nile rebellion]] that began the Ugandan Bush War in 1980. Loyalists to the deposed Amin regime launched a rebellion in the West Nile region, aiming to overthrow Milton Obote.<ref name="Second WAPO Source">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/02/05/ugandas-old-new-feuds-fuel-fierce-bush-war-in-amins-home-area/eccb6e95-e2ab-4fb1-a812-6ad6a7983a8a/|title=Uganda's Old, New Feuds Fuel Fierce Bush War in Amin's Home Area|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=7 October 2021|date=5 February 1981|first=Jay|last=Ross}}</ref> These loyalist forces were disorganized and led by a number of commanders, some who even had questioned their loyalty to the past government. This resulted in a split between those who wanted to distance themselves from Amin and those who remained specifically loyal to him. Those who wanted to distance themselves formed the Uganda National Rescue Front (UNRF) and the loyalists established FUNA.

===Early operations=== FUNA maintained that it was the same Uganda Army that operated during the Amin regime, with its leader Isaac Lumago stating "the structure of the army that went into exile after Amin’s overthrow remains intact in southern Sudan and eastern Zaire" in 1985.<ref name="LA Times Source">{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-12-mn-3930-story.html|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=7 October 2021|title=Amin's Generals Seek Amnesty for Him|date=12 August 1985}}</ref> FUNA often fought with the UNRF and was eventually expelled from the country around July 1981.<ref name="Refugees">{{cite web|url=https://www.icwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/BHB-26.pdf|title=Ugandan Refugees in Sudan – Part 1: The Long Journey|first=Barbara|last=Harrell-Bond|date=1982|access-date=7 October 2021|website=icwa.org|publisher=UFSI Reports}}</ref> FUNA continued to be active in Zaire and Sudan throughout the Bush War, although remaining smaller and weaker than its UNRF rival. It continued to launch attacks on Uganda and be a nuisance to government forces.

===Integration into government=== In July 1985, General Tito Okello launched a [[Coup d'état|coup]] that overthrew Obote's government. Okello's new regime managed to successfully make peace with a number of armed groups, including the FUNA. This enabled FUNA to be integrated into the national military and it gained a seat on Okello's junta council.<ref name="Presidents Okello">{{cite web|url=https://www.statehouse.go.ug/past-presidents/president-tito-okello-lutwa-general|title=President Tito Okello Lutwa (General)|website=statehouse.go.ug|access-date=7 October 2021|publisher=The State House of Uganda}}</ref><ref name="Journalist">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ev7MDQAAQBAJ|access-date=7 October 2021|title=The Raging Storm: A Reporter's Inside Account of the Northern Uganda War, 1986–2005|date=14 December 2016|publisher=Fountain Publishers|last=Lamwaka|first=Caroline|isbn=978-9970252213}}</ref> Okello ruled until early 1986, when he was overthrown by the [[National Resistance Army]], with Yoweri Museveni taking power. This effectively ended FUNA's integration into the government and it returned to an insurgency.

===Later operations and dissolution=== Even after the official end of the Bush War, FUNA continued operating during the insurgencies in Uganda in the late 1980s and early '90s. The NRA managed to get parts of FUNA to integrate into government forces, but elements of the group continued to be active.<ref name="NRA Rise">{{cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/uganda/army-history-3.htm|title=The Rise of the National Resistance Army|access-date=7 October 2021|website=globalsecurity.org|publisher=Global Security}}</ref> In early 1990, FUNA officers held several meetings in Zaire and the group also reportedly launched several raids into Ugandan territory.<ref name="ICJ Uganda">{{cite web|url=https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/116/8320.pdf|title=Case Concerning Armed Activities on the Territory of Congo – Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda – Counter-Memorial Submitted by The Republic of Uganda|volume=1|date=21 April 2001|website=icj-cij.org|access-date=7 October 2021}}</ref> The group continued to be minorly active throughout the early to mid 1990s, but was largely eclipsed by other Ugandan rebel movements

FUNA was operational until at least 1996, but the rise of the West Nile Bank Front and the Uganda National Rescue Front II led to a number of FUNA fighters and officers defecting to join the new insurgent groups. It is not known precisely when FUNA disbanded, but reports of its activity ceased after 1997.

==References==

{{authority control}} [[Category:Factions of the Ugandan Bush War]] [[Category:Rebel groups in Uganda]] [[Category:1980 establishments in Uganda]] [[Category:1990s disestablishments in Uganda]]