Pardon Besigye, clerics task govt on Luwum Day

Celebrations to mark the martyrdom of Anglican Archbishop Janani Luwum turned into a session of petition by clerics asking the government to urgently free Dr Kizza Besigye. Church of Uganda Archbishop Kaziimba Mugalu said it was against the spirit of peace, unity and reconciliation that St Janani Luwum fought for when the government continues to keep behind bars Dr Besigye and other political detainees across the country.

Archbishop Kaziimba, who addressed his concerns directly to Prime Minister Robinah Nabanja, who represented President Museveni as chief guest, said: “I pray that we promote peace, dialogue and forgiveness even to those who really need our prayers like retired Col Dr Kizza Besigye and other politicians where we need to consider their health conditions and extend forgiveness to them as we remember Luwum, the peacemaker.” “We serve a God who gives us a second chance. There should be an opportunity for dialogue and reconciliation, and the discussion should be about how we keep peace in a sense that glorifies God. Dialogue and reconciliation in this case becomes as key as we remember Luwum,” Kaziimba said.

The archbishop also warned against the politics of division and hatred as the 2026 election period nears. “As we approach the 2026 election period, those who vote and those seeking to join elective positions should avoid the politics of division and conflict. We should be united as Ugandans and not lose our humanism in wanting to be elected or seeking to win elections,” he counselled.

Dr Besigye and his aide Hajj Obeid Lutale are detained in Luzira prison after they were abducted in Nairobi, Kenya, on November 16 last year and later arraigned before the military court in Kampala. They are accused of unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. Dr Besigye has been on a hunger strike, protesting his continued detention despite a January 31 Supreme Court ruling that stopped the trial of civilians by the military court.

His lawyers now argue that Dr Besigye is being detained illegally without a warrant. On Friday, Dr Besigye, who looked exhausted and frail, appeared in an unrelated case before a magistrate in Kampala. Rights activists and Opposition leaders have questioned why the founding president of the Opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party and four-time presidential contender against  Mr Museveni was not taken to hospital instead of Buganda Court that granted him bail in 2022. Similarly, the retired Catholic Archbishop of Gulu, Dr John Baptist Odama, called for an end to violence that targets those thought to be opposing the sitting regime.

“Archbishop Luwum was a victim of violence and now we are here gathered, we need to have very clear resolutions to say no more violence in our hearts, communities, country and in the world at large. We need to accept each other and fellow human beings. We need to respect, protect each other and promote each other as human beings,” Dr Odama preached. “My appeal is humanity, humankind, the image of the loving God. Continue to be one as children of the same God, as brothers and sisters among yourselves,”Odama added. Despite the cleric’s demands to Premier Nabbanja and asking her to address the issues to the President, she did not react to them.

In attendance, among the faithful and other dignitaries, were Chief Justice Alphonse Owiny-Dollo, Minerals and Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa, and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Henry Oryem Okello. President Museveni in a speech read by Ms Nabbanja said his flagship poverty alleviation programmes, including the Parish Development Model, Operation Wealth Creation and Emyooga, were the only drivers that would rescue Ugandans from the burden of overreliance on foreign aid and donations.

“Since the NRM took over the government, we have been working towards the prosperity and modernisation of our nation and we are unstoppable. If all Ugandans could capture, embrace and ride with the NRM vision towards self-reliance and self-sustainability, as a nation, we would no longer clamour for external aid and donations,” he said. “We are pushing for wealth creation at all levels through programmes like Emyooga, OWC, and PDM and we believe that all Ugandans can make a contribution to banish poverty out of our households by making our homes production hubs, attract investments as well as cooperation of the private sector into development in the different sectors.”

His speech read in part,” his statement read. “Let us, therefore, build on the foundation made by our forerunners like the late Archbishop Luwum to see to the socio-economic liberation of not only Uganda but the entire African race,” he said.

Luwum’s legacy

The Sunday celebration in Kitgum marked the 48th commemoration of the killing of Luwum by the government of former President Idi Amin. The Church of Uganda, during the ceremony, praised Luwum for his vision of fostering self-sustaining, independent and productive church that it is today. Luwum is said to have laid the vision for Church House to ensure the church reduced donor dependency syndrome and was passionate about establishing governance structures within the church of Uganda.

He also desired that the church should build internal structures to govern itself and train its own ministers. Archbishop Kaziimba said: “Today we have Uganda Christian University, Bish[1]op Stuart University, Ndejje University, and many other academic institutions. The Church of Uganda operates 5,200 primary schools, 630 secondary schools, 50 vocational schools, and five chartered universities and also 487 health facilities, including hospitals.”

OWINY-DOLLO’S SPEECH

Right Honourable Prime Minister, Your Grace, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, with your brothers, the Lordships, the Bishops, active and retired. Our political leaders in your various capacities, the family of Saint Janani Luwum, and all you children of God gathered here today.

Right Honourable Prime Minister, in my mind I had nothing to say and it was enough that I attended today’s function. But since you compelled me to say a word, if I exceed your one minute, as I’ve already done, it’s you to blame for calling a former politician and asking him to speak for one minute. Well, I’ll be uncharacteristically and surprisingly brief. I have attended virtually the Janani Luwum Memorial here at Wiigweng on this date. I have witnessed two miracles. If people do not know that Saint Janani Luwum is a true martyr and a true saint, I have witnessed two miracles here.

Two hellos where you see the rainbow surrounding the sun in the dry season, in the hot climatic condition of February in this area. In the other functions, there were no clouds. At least today, you can see some clouds up. That was the first set of miracles I have personally witnessed. Then the second miracle which happened here a few years ago was a clergy man from Koboko who came, I think the podium was somewhere around here, but I forget his name. He spoke passionately. Your Grace, the Archbishop, you need to know this because it speaks to the message you’ve given to the people of Uganda today.

He said, I’m paraphrasing, he comes from the home of Idi Amin. Idi Amin did not put them down as the Kakwa people to commit the atrocities attributed to him. He stood up that day because Idi Amin was his brother. I believe he was not even a blood brother, but he was his brother to offer an apology and seek forgiveness. I discovered that day, that very day on a day such as this, which the people of Uganda are yearning to speak to one another, to speak about this country, to speak about some of the most unspeakable things we have gone through as a people. We are one people, we are one nation,and we are a very small community. In terms of the world, Uganda is just a village.

But what we have gone through, what the English would say, dog-eat-dog situation. So when he spoke, I saw people of this area, people of Janani Luwum, Bishop (McLeod) Baker Ochola is still alive. I saw my brother, Ambassador Olara Otunnu and the family of Janani Luwum going to the mob, to embrace with tears of love, not tears of hatred, not tears of revenge, not tears of bitterness. I saw with my own eyes, here, on this holy ground of Wii-gweng, Mucwini, the home and the burial place of Saint Janani Luwum. I made one plea. I asked, I think, the most senior active clergy in this area, Bishop Alfred Olwa of Lango Diocese.

I said, my Lord, take us to the home of Iddi Amin, take us we who were victims of Idi Amin so that we go there, not with bitterness, not with a sense of revenge, not to remind them that you did this to us, but to show love. To complete the circuit, the apology was given, the olive branch was presented, and we needed to pay back. I want to report to you, I know you know already, but I’m making an official report, that indeed, my Lord, Bishop Alfred Olwa of Lango Diocese, led us from Acholi, from Lango, the people who bore the brunt of Idi Amin’s rule, because it was not just Janani Luwum, Janani Luwum, now was the tail end of the wave of atrocities, and indeed, we went to Koboko.

I confirmed what I believed that what the people of Uganda need, and I ask our political leaders, I ask our religious leaders, what the people of Uganda need, is to be given an opportunity, a forum, where they can speak to one another, share tears together, for the things we have done to ourselves, the things we have done to the children of our mothers. I witnessed the way we were received in Koboko, the love that we were shown, the forgiveness which we expressed, we went with some people.

I remember the very first victim of the Iddi Amin’s coup of 1971, the then commander of Malire Regiment, Agustin Akwako, his own son, went to Koboko with us, to tell the people of Kakwa, the people of West Nile, that we come with love, we come with forgiveness. So for me, a day like this, when we come here to commemorate the day of Saint Janani Luwum, is bigger than the gathering, bigger than the gathering. And I want to thank you, your grace, the aspiration, you spoke today the language Janani Luwum would want to hear. You speak the language which the then widow of Janani Luwum spoke here before she was called by the Lord. I’m asking our religious leaders, I’m asking our political leaders, let us seize that momentum, let us seize that momentum.

We went with Milton Obote’s son, Honourable Jimmy Akena, and a host of other leaders. Uganda needs us to speak to one another, to search our individual and collective souls. We own this country together, nobody owns this country more than the other. We are children of one mother and if a day like this, if the day of Janani Luwum, just like it brought down the government of Idi Amin, it can now catapult the people of Uganda to speak with one another, to conquer hatred, bitterness, tribalism, and religious bigotry, then we have given meaning to this commemoration. I hope I should say this, Apwoyo matek. [Thank you]