Following Uganda's independence in 1962, Hussein became commander of the Uganda Army's Second Battalion with the rank of lieutenant colonel. On 12 April 1968 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier. On 29 September 1970 the Defence Council made him Uganda Army Chief of Staff. 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. 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, 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. His head was severed from his body and taken to Amin, who reportedly stored it in a refrigerator overnight.