Simon Peter Okurut
“What I found offensive with my friend Mulindwa is his mass blaming of entire
tribes and vehemently wishing everyone to perish.” -Simon Peter Okurut
Two Sundays ago I had a beer with a dear friend that made that very same
statement. I read your series but when you lump them together as Acholis I get
a bad taste in my mouth. I will ask you the same question I asked him, when
UNLA soldiers drove our trucks to Gulu and ended up throwing an elected
government from power, how many were Baganda soldiers? How many were Langi
soldiers? How many were Bakiga soldiers? How many were Kakwa soldiers? How many
were Basoga soldiers? How many were Batoro soldiers?
The moment you come back with an answer of none, add on why they can operate as
Acholis but we cannot address them as such.
EM
On the 49th Parallel
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika
machafuko"
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, November 24, 2014 11:23 PM
To: [email protected]
Cc: George Okello
Subject: Re: {UAH} Rev.Kamugisha: Janani Luwum knew of a coup plot by Acholis -
Ford
Abbey,
This should be the way forward, i.e. seeking clarification without undermining
others. What I found offensive with my friend Mulindwa is his mass blaming of
entire tribes and vehemently wishing everyone to perish. And he did not stop
there, he continued to narrate how he communicated the death of some people
like Oryema to his family etc. That makes him an accomplish. Abbey as a
moderator, you know more, threatening people with death is no light matter,
that is what caused much loss to Ugandans for most of 50 years of independence.
We need to argue diplomatically but when you read someone is promising to take
Simon to Burkina Faso, return then live him in Garamba hills, I just play it
cool, still observing.
One other thing, Mulindwa must be innocent so he will tell RCMP (Canadian
Federal Police) his version of the story. Mulindwa's problem is forgetting that
he is addressing fellow Canadians who are protected by their government and
such threats are taken very seriously. Let the Canadian government decide who
is wrong.As he is innocent, he will be fine, don't worry, Abbey.
We tried to plead to Edward to slow down his attacks but it seemed we added
petroli in his already burning fire. But why target Acholis/Langi to that
extent and he knows he is in Canada, my God!
Peter Simon
_____
From: Abbey Semuwemba <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> >
To: "[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> "
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>
Cc: "<[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> >"
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>; George Okello <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Sent: Monday, November 24, 2014 5:24 AM
Subject: {UAH} Rev.Kamugisha: Janani Luwum knew of a coup plot by Acholis - Ford
Joseph,
I have been following your exchanges with Edward Mulindwa over the death of
Archbishop Janani Luwum, and I would like to be enlightened too about
something. Why were the two cabinet ministers, Erinayo Wilson Oryema and
Charles Oboth Ofumbi killed alongside Luwum? Most historians have failed to
properly shed light on this, and I'm wondering if there is in any UAH member
out there who may be privy to this information in the name of Truth and
Reconciliation( T and R).
Speaking of T and R, In the same spirit, I would also like to kindly ask our
friends, George Okello and Peter Gwokto, to take it easy on Mr.Mulindwa Edward.
There is no need to start dragging him to court or subject him to police
investigations if what he is telling us may eventually help us solve some
puzzles in the history of our country. By doing this, you will force people to
die with some information that may have turned out to be useful to verify some
unknowns.
Back to Janani Luwum, according to Professor Mutibwa Mukasa in his book "
Uganda since Independence", he tries to explain why Amin killed the Bishop, he
explained and I quote: " ........it appears that at that time an attempt to
stage a coup was being organised by some Acholis and Langis based in Nairobi.
Archbishop Luwum was never involved, but he was informed of it by some Acholis
in Uganda. When the archbishop was asked to join the group, he declined,
saying that as a churchman his concern was with preaching not fighting; the
plotters left him. What led to Luwum's death was the fact that he didn't tell
Amin of this plot. Other people who knew of it warned Amin, and among these
were a senior consultant at Mulago hospital and a senior police officer".
I think this version corroborates with what was narrated by the UK's Margaret
Ford who closely worked with Luwum as his secretary for years till the time of
his murder. By the way, Timothy Kalyegira has also got his own theory on this
if he wishes to chip in.
Thanks
Abbey
Sent from my iPad
On 23 Nov 2014, at 16:51, Joseph Kamugisha <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:
I wonder what this mulindwa chap was thinking when he presented this article as
part of his "evidence" to justify his foolishly sectarian series. It also
appears this mulindwa chap did not either read the entire article or he just
did not understand it. BTW, the mentioned Amin son, could it have been our very
own UAH comedian Hussein Jaruga Amin, who caused havoc at the MUK campus and
left many students badly injured from being punished to transport themselves
using their bless from the main hall to the man gate? Some female students were
seen jumping to death from the halls of Mary Stuart and Africa hall. Those who
survived death and torture at campus, did not escape the dungeons of Nakasero
SRB where hundreds of them were dumped. For the record my fellow Church members
were dumped in the same dungeon after the MUK students were released. Kamugisha
_____
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 17:54:19 -0500
Subject: {UAH} Janani Luwum knew of a coup plot by Acholis - Ford
From: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
Ms Margaret Ford during the interview in Kampala last week. PHOTO BY RACHEL
MABALA
By Henry Lubega
Posted Sunday, November 23 2014 at 02:00
In Summary
Calling. She came as a secretary from the Church Missionary Society, but little
did she know that she was walking onto the chess board of Uganda’s politics as
a pawn. Margaret Ford was Archbishop Janani Luwum’s secretary up to the time of
his death in 1977. She spoke with Sunday Monitor’s Henry Lubega.
I am a farmer’s daughter who grew up in a typical village in Nottinghamshire
[in the UK] overlooking Lincoln Cathedral. I come from a Christian family but
was dismissive of the Billy Graham sort of evangelism, until when I attended a
youth rally in Sheffield in 1970, then I was a secretary with the Church
Missionary Society (CMS) youth department in London.
When the Church of Uganda wrote to the CMS requesting for a missionary
secretary to work with the new Bishop of Gulu, I was posted to Uganda where I
arrived in January 1972. When he left Gulu after being appointed archbishop in
1974, I stayed there working with the new Bishop Benon Ogwal.
Two years later when Janani’s secretary, also a missionary secretary from the
CMS in London, went on leave and got engaged, Janani asked me to come and work
with him in Kampala. I recall one Saturday morning Bishop Ogwal called me to
his office and said, “I have received a letter from the Archbishop asking you
to go and work with him in Kampala.”
By May 1976 I was a resident of Namirembe hill, residing just below the
provincial office. On Namirembe hill we lived as a family, food and water were
in short supply. Kampala turned into a city of rumours. No venturing out after
sunset and at night we kept awake, fearful of midnight knocks on the door.
Things fall apart
A number of events started happening that grabbed the Archbishop’s concern.
First was the death in June 1976 of Teresa Nanziri-Bukenya. The
eight-months-pregnant then warden of Africa Hall [Makerere University] paid
with her life when she refused to sign a false statement about the
disappearance of a Kenyan girl. When Janani heard of her death, he wept.
When students learnt of Teresa’s death at the beginning of a new academic year,
they wanted to stage a strike to register their protest, but the vice
chancellor prevailed over them.
However, on August 3 when the army had surrounded the university because
students had opposed the way Amin’s son who was flashing his gun around the
university and the way his security detail was treating them Janani went to the
university where he found all offices closed.
The following day he returned to the university with Cardinal Emmanuel Nsubuga
to meet the vice-chancellor, who did not tell the two religious leaders what
exactly was happening at the university. He painted a calm picture at the
campus only to hear later that students had been herded into trucks and taken
to Makindye Military Police Barracks. It took the intervention of the vice
president to have the students released.
Outside the university fiasco was the raid at Entebbe airport by the Israeli
commandos to rescue their nationals in a hijacked plane. Amin reacted by
accusing the Kenyan president Jomo Kenyatta of supporting his enemies. In
response, Kenyatta reminded him of Uganda’s trade debts to Kenya, and ordered
no more goods to come into Uganda through Kenya until all the debts were
settled.
This caused a fuel crisis; public transport came to a standstill making the
already bad situation worse. Church officials and government institutions were
given a small allocation of petrol, for instance Mengo hospital was allowed to
keep one ambulance on the road.
These events forced both the Anglican and Catholic churches to make political
criticism, a thing they had desisted from doing for some time. The first of the
joint religious efforts to bring government to account for its actions was when
Janani and Cardinal Nsubuga agreed to call the bishops of both churches to a
joint meeting at Lweza. Also invited was the Mufti of Uganda.
I drove to Lweza with Janani on the morning of August 26, it was Thursday.
Janani was asked to chair the meeting and I was one of the three secretaries
appointed to take minutes of that meeting, one from each religious group
present. Those in the meeting were convinced that it would be wrong to keep
quiet about what was happening in the country. They discussed the killings,
harassment, looting and the excessive power given to the intelligence officers.
The meeting ended having agreed to have a meeting with the president to talk
things over and to share their concern, but it was never granted. Instead, Amin
sent a warning to Janani reprimanding him for having held a meeting without
permission, and demanded minutes of the meeting, which were also sent to him.
From this time on, Janani was seen by the authorities as the leader of those
opposed to the government.
After the daily office prayers at 8 O’clock, people would walk in the office
saying “My husband has not come back,” or “my son has been taken” and Janani
would jump into his car and go to the various places where people were often
taken and ask why a particular individual had been arrested.
Initially, the security men would apologise saying “Oh your Grace, we are very
sorry, we did it by mistake” and release the person. But this was short lived
as the killing and disappearance continued in bigger numbers.
During the annual coup anniversary in 1977, Amin declared a number of days
public holidays to celebrate the anniversary, with the main celebrations at
Nakivub stadium. Janani attended. When he returned, I asked him who else was
there.
“I, the cardinal, Amin, and the soldiers were [at Nakivubo], but there were no
people. This upset Amin very much,” Janani said.
The following weekend was the consecration of the new Bishop of Ankole at
Bweranyangi grounds where close to 30,000 people attended.
In his sermon that day, Bishop Festo [Kivengere] said to the new bishop: “You
have now been given a position of leadership, are you going to use it to uphold
people or to push their faces into the dust.” People knew that Festo was saying
this to Amin; his leadership was not upholding people but putting them down. On
the way back to Kampala I recall Bishop Okoth saying to Janani, “If you and
Festo are not careful you will get us all killed.”
Journey to martyrdom
Janani’s official residence was raided by security operatives who searched for
weapons and accused him of being part of a group plotting a coup against the
government. When this happened, everybody was disgusted and this led to the
calling of a meeting for all Anglican bishops. After the meeting, a small team
was set up to draft a response to the raid at Janani’s home.
Festo and I were part of the draft committee, his choice of words was very
critical of the government. I typed the letter that was to be presented to
Amin, but I can tell you there is always a Judas in every situation. This
letter was leaked from the provincial office because Amin got wind of the
letter before it got to him.
However, Janani had told me earlier that there are some Acholis planning a
coup. He knew something was afoot, he knew his people and they confided in him.
But I know he was not involved in the coup plans, his idea of forgiveness was
against that of the Acholis of kill your enemies. Amin knew the best way to get
Janani was to accuse him of plotting against his government.
I had plans of travelling to Kisumu [in Kenya] to sort out tuition related
issues of one of the girls I was supporting before the events at Namirembe
happened. Following these events, I decided to postpone my travel but Bishop
Festo insisted that I leave and take the letter to Bishop Henry Okullu of
Kisumu.
Bishop Festo told me, “Tell Henry time has come for the world to know what is
happening in Uganda.” Bishop Okullu had contacts in foreign media having been a
journalist earlier. I confirm that it’s me who took that letter out of Uganda
and it found its way to London before Amin received his copy.
With that letter in London, Amin could no longer hide what he was doing.
Thereafter, he was determined to get rid of Janani. He called together a big
meeting which was like a trial of Jesus where they separated him from the rest
and later killed him.
I returned from Kenya on a Thursday just after the death of Janani and on
Saturday the bishops decided that I should not stay in the country and must
leave immediately. I was taken over the border by a fellow called John; he had
been involved in smuggling bibles in the country, pretending to be two
expatriates going to Kenya for a weekend break.
Along the way, I tore the minutes of the last bishops meeting and scattered the
pieces along the road. Also before departure, I and the provincial secretary
then, Canon Wesonga, burnt all church records showing how much foreign aid it
was receiving, thus creating a gap in the church archives.
When I got to Kisumu, Bishop Henry asked me to write what had happened in
Uganda. And in May 1977, I went back to England and I did some research and
wrote the manuscript for the book Janani, the making of a martyr published in
1978.
Missionary refuge
While in London, the CMS got a request from the archbishop of Juba asking for a
secretary missionary. That was how I ended up in Juba in late 1978 where I
stayed until 1983. My leaving Juba was caused by a book The Uganda Holocaust in
which the author mentioned me by name as the person who had taken the Bishop’s
letter out of Uganda.
When my identity was made public, it was no longer safe for me to stay in Juba.
The authorities in Sudan learnt that I had been living in Juba and they sent
police to pick me up, fortunately I was in London on leave, my neighbour
alerted the CMS in Nairobi of the situation and they stopped me from coming
back.
I stayed in London until 1984, until another request a missionary secretary
from the Bishop of Egypt came and I was assigned to Egypt where I stayed for 10
years, and eventually I retired in Lincoln in 1995 because by that time I was
65 and at that age I could not be hired. I had reached the retirement age. But
I kept my links with the Anglican Church in Uganda, Sudan and Egypt.
--
Where there is a will, there is always a way.
--
UAH forum is devoted to matters of interest to Ugandans. Individuals are
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group, send email to: [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> or Abbey Semuwemba at:
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UAH forum is devoted to matters of interest to Ugandans. Individuals are
responsible for whatever they post on this forum.To unsubscribe from this
group, send email to: [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> or Abbey Semuwemba at:
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> .
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UAH forum is devoted to matters of interest to Ugandans. Individuals are
responsible for whatever they post on this forum.To unsubscribe from this
group, send email to: [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> or Abbey Semuwemba at:
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> .
--
UAH forum is devoted to matters of interest to Ugandans. Individuals are
responsible for whatever they post on this forum.To unsubscribe from this
group, send email to: [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> or Abbey Semuwemba at:
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> .
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