George William Apollo Nyero

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1.

George William Apollo Nyero, a son, brother, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, Ugandan and American, passed away on November 14, 2021, at Medstar Montgomery Medical Center in Olney, Maryland, USA after a long illness. He was 83 years old.

George was born on March 15, 1938, to Apollo Omona Oor and Joska Alwoch Onyabo. He attended school in Gulu, Uganda but left early while still a teenager to join the Kings African Rifles in the late 1950’s. He was assigned to the 4th Kings Africans Rifles in Gilgil, Kenya but left shortly after to return home. He briefly worked with Pepsi-Cola and as a Uganda People’s Congress youth winger before being selected as an officer candidate in the newly constituted Uganda Army.

He attended infantry school in Israel and became a commissioned officer in 1963. Shortly thereafter, he was selected for military police training in the United Kingdom before returning home to establish the military police unit as its first provost marshal. He fled into exile after dictator Idi Amin’s coup in 1971 and spent the next 8 years organizing and training Ugandan troops to topple the brutal regime of Idi Amin. In April 1979, the Ugandan freedom fighters (Kikosi Maalum) along with the Tanzanian People’s Defense Forces removed Idi Amin from power.

After the ousting of Amin’s regime, George served in several key positions within the Uganda National Liberation Army including as the camp commandant at Mbuya Barracks, Chief of Personnel and Administration, and as the head of delegation to the World Military Games. He was later appointed the Brigade Commander for the entire eastern region of Uganda. Under his leadership, the eastern brigade was considered the most professional and disciplined military unit in the nation. George also served as a Member of the Ugandan Parliament representing his soldiers and went for further military training in Pensacola, Florida and at the Command and Staff College in Monduli, Tanzania.

In July 1985, he rejected a request to join the military coup led by certain senior officers on the principle that the military had no business meddling in the governance of the nation and political matters. He was detained and placed under house arrest for most of the short-lived military regime before being released and appointed the Chief of Operations and Training. He fled into exile for the second time shortly thereafter.

He lived in Kenya till 1988 before being accepted, along with his whole family, as a political asylee in the United States. George lived in the United States for over 24 years before returning home to Uganda in 2013. He returned to the United States in November 2018 for specialized medical care and succumbed to his illness on November 14, 2021.

George is survived by his wife – Teddy; 8 children – Charles, Fiona, Joyce, James, Patrick, Julius, Beatrice, and Eric; 11 grandchildren – Gabby, Brian, Nicole, Paul, Julie, Anthony, Sydney, Yolanda, Shon, Elijah and Ananda; and 2 great-grandchildren – Alonna and Carter. He was predeceased by his oldest child – Grace Latigi.

Relatives and friends may visit Donaldson Funeral Home of Clarksville, 12540 Clarksville Pike, Clarksville, MD 21029 on Friday December 3, 2021 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. and 6:00-8:00 p.m where a Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. Internment at a later date in Uganda. To watch the Live-streaming of this service please click HERE at the scheduled time. We welcome you to provide your thoughts and memories on our Tribute Wall. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions/mabugo can be made via https://gofund.me/163e1f12.

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