SUMMARY
Fronasa (Front for National Salvation) was a left-wing Ugandan rebel group, created in response to Idi Amin’s seizure of power in Uganda in 1971. In the wake of the coup, large numbers of Amin’s opponents gathered in Tanzania and Kenya, attempting to set up an armed resistance to oust the new president. It was in this context that Fronasa emerged. The group’s first manifesto was issued in Kenya towards the end of 1972, declaring that Amin could be overthrown only through an armed struggle and appealing for “the support of all peace-loving and democratic peoples in the world”.
While the ousted president, Milton Obote, was the main player in the process of setting up armed resistance to Amin, Fronasa and a plethora of other groups also materialized, determined not to end up in the former president’s shadow. Initially, the anti-Amin exiles attempted to work together to set up a unified front against Idi Amin’s government. This also applied to the embryo of what would become Fronasa, which at the outset attempted to form a common front with [Kikosi Maalum] (/#actor/476), the dominant rebel opposition group under ousted president Milton Obote. A group of people that would later go on to create Fronasa even participated in Kikosi Maalum’s failed attempt to invade Uganda in September 1972, but not under the banner of Fronasa, which was still under development at the time. However, a preference for guerilla warfare and a refusal to fight under Obote directly contrasted with [Kikosi Maalum] and its leader’s preferences. Consequently, no joint structure was created to fight Amin. Instead, after the failed invasion attempt, the process of formalizing Fronasa as an armed group in its own right picked up pace, culminating with the publishing of the group’s first manifesto at the end of the year.
FRONASA was formed and led by Yoweri Museveni, who at the time of Amin’s coup had just joined the Obote regime’s intelligence service. Prior to this, he had studied economics and political science at the University of Dar es Salaam. While at university, Museveni had developed an interest in pan-Africanism and become a staunch Marxist, leading a student delegation to territory controlled by the Mozambican, Marxist-Leninist rebel group FRELIMO, at the time involved in a decolonization war with Portugal. Some sources claim that Museveni even received training in guerrilla warfare during this visit. Either way, the contacts he made with FRELIMO proved useful a few years later.
The size of Fronasa shifted considerably during its years of existence. There is no specific information on the number of fighters prior to 1979, simply statements talking of small numbers of guerrillas being infiltrated into Uganda in either late 1972 or early 1973, to set up cells in different parts of the country, and to establish bases in Uganda’s forest areas. As these were detected by Amin’s troops, there was low intensity fighting between Fronasa and the army (not exceeding 25 fatalities), with the latter being forced to withdraw from Uganda. Subsequently, the group ceased to operate until 1976. At the start of 1979, Fronasa reportedly had only 70 troops. However, as it prepared to launch an invasion into Uganda, Fronasa recruited and trained many new fighters; its numbers swelled to 1000 at the beginning of March and by the end of March, estimates reported the group’s troop size as in the several thousands.
Aside from its tactical alliance with Kikosi Maalum, Fronasa received significant support from FRELIMO; the latter became the first government in independent Mozambique in 1975. Initially, FRELIMO trained the group’s fighters in their liberated zones and this support continued when the group seized power in Maputo. Fronasa recruits would infiltrate back into Uganda to recruit more cadres as they finished their training. The last batch of 28 Fronasa cadres finished their two-year training course in 1978; it is unclear if any further support was given to the Ugandan rebel group in 1979. In addition to training, FRELIMO also supplied Fronasa with arms. Museveni’s group also received backing from Tanzania, both politically and militarily. From the outset, Museveni and his followers were welcomed in the country, and allowed to use its territory to plan for the ouster of Amin. However, in October 1972, Tanzania and Uganda signed the Mogadishu agreement, stipulating that the anti-Amin rebels would not be allowed to use Tanzania’s soil for aggression against Uganda. Nevertheless, Museveni and Fronasa were granted permission to remain in Tanzania. After the 1978 interstate conflict between Tanzania and Uganda, the former amped up its support once again, and was deeply involved in the planning of Fronasa’s and Kikosi Maalum’s 1979 invasion. Furthermore, Tanzanian troops played an important part in the invasion itself; as Amin’s forces were pushed back, and the invaders advanced, Fronasa was attached to the Tanzanian forces.
On 26 March 1979, Fronasa and Kikosi Maalum met with the disparate opposition in exile and agreed to set up the broad-based UNLF. Fronasa and Kikosi Maalum became the new organization’s armed forces, UNLA (Uganda National Liberation Army) and with that, Fronasa seized to exist as in independent entity in UCDP data.
