Okoya inquest papers

A bound volume of the coroner’s (the Hon. Mr. Justice A. R .F. Dickson) inquest no. 4 and 5 of 1971 (16 June 1971) in the matter of the death of Brigadier Pierino Yere Okoya and his wife Mrs. Anna Akello Okoyaw. Also includes a 37 page typed letter dated 24 May 1971, from Uganda’s former President, Milton Obote, to the Hon. Chief Justice, Sir Dominic Sheridan, in relation to the inquest.

Called to the Bar, Lincoln’s Inn, 1938. Judicial Service. HM Overseas Judiciary: Jamaica, 1941; Magistrate, Turks and Caicos Islands, 1944–47; Assistant to Attorney-General, and Legal Draftsman, Barbados, 1947–49; Magistrate, British Guiana, 1949–52; Nigeria, 1952–62: Magistrate, 1952–54; Chief Magistrate, 1954–56; Chief Registrar, High Court, Lagos, 1956–58; Judge of the High Court, Lagos, 1958–62; retired. Temporary appointment, Solicitors Department, General Post Office, London, 1962–63; served Northern Rhodesia (latterly Zambia), 1964–67; Judge of the High Court, Uganda, 1967–71; Deputy Chairman, Middlesex Quarter Sessions, July-Aug., 1971; Chief Justice, Belize, 1973–74; Judge of the Supreme Court, Anguilla (part-time), 1972–76; part-time Chairman, Industrial Tribunals, England and Wales, 1972–85.

Open for research although 24 hours notice should be given. Access to some items might be restricted under Freedom of Information legislation.

Brigadier Pierino Yere Okoya was the deputy army commander and the commander of the Second Infantry Brigade of the Uganda army in Masaka. He and his wife Mrs. Anna Akello Okoyaw were murdered on 25 January 1970 and Idi Amin was rumoured to have had a role in the murder of his deputy, then the second ranking army officer in Uganda, though these claims were never proven. President Milton Obote stripped Amin of most of his powers after this incident, but in January 1971 Amin led a coup toppling Obote.

Catalogued online to fonds-level.