Following Uganda's independence in 1962, Hussein initially rose to major. In 1964,[4] he became commander of the Uganda Army's Second Battalion with the rank of lieutenant colonel.[2][3] On 12 April 1968 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier.[5] On 29 September 1970 the Defence Council made him Uganda Army Chief of Staff.[2] Upon assuming this post he issued a statement addressed to the soldiers of the army, cautioning against "tribalism" and the subversive manipulation of ethnic loyalties.[6] In January 1971 President Milton Obote informed a "committee" which included Hussein that he wanted Colonel Idi Amin arrested before he returned from an oversees trip to Singapore. The committee failed to act on this with haste,[7] and some Uganda Army personnel launched a coup, overthrowing Obote and replacing him with Amin. On 29 January the putschists arrested Hussein in Kampala and brought him to Luzira Prison where he was subsequently beaten to death.[8] His head was severed from his body and taken to Amin, who reportedly stored it in a refrigerator overnight.[9]