On February 22 1966, Ugandan President Milton Obote had five ministers arrested during a cabinet meeting, including Ibingira, Emmanuel Lumu, Balaki K. Kirya, Mathias Ngobi, and George Magezi. These ministers were detained by the Special Forces and taken to separate locations.
The meeting where the arrests took place was supposedly organized to appoint a new commission to investigate the gold scandal. However, there’s conflicting information on who called the meeting, with Historian A.B.K. Kasozi attributing it to the cabinet and Emmanuel Lumu and historian P. G. Okoth saying it was Obote’s doing.
The arrested ministers were all part of Ibingira’s wing in the cabinet and had attended a meeting on February 4. Vice President William Nadiope fled to Kenya after hearing about the arrests and stayed there for three weeks.
Obote took this opportunity to consolidate his power by targeting Mutesa, announcing that he was involved in a military coup plot. He also made significant changes to the military leadership, promoting Idi Amin to Chief of Army and Air Force Staff.
