My husband's murder still hurts me - Luwum's widow

Feb 05, 2017

She could not come here but the memories are still fresh. She says thank you for all the efforts.

She might not have had the chance to travel to St. Paul's cathedral Namirembe and be part of the congregation that marked the start of the 40th anniversary of the martyrdom of archbishop Janan Luwum but Mary Luwum, Luwum's widow is still hurt by the gruesome of murder of her husband.

She vividly remembers that day 40 years ago and not coming back to Namirembe, took the opportunity to thank the church for all they did to help the family survive.

 

"It was horrible but the church stood by us. It is sad that I could not come back to Namirembe to say thank you to the Christian community for all they did to ensure that my husband should be given a decent burial and though it was not to be, the efforts of preparing the grave and that of helping me escape with my family is still fresh.To all the Christians and the people who worked towards this, we say thank you," Mary said in a message that was read by her son Ben Okello Luwum.

 

Luwum's family was rushed away from Namirembe, hidden in Mukono before they were helped to escape to exile after the Archbishop was arrested for standing for what is right and questioning the brutality of the Idi Amin Regime.

She could not come here but the memories are still fresh. She says thank you for all the efforts.

 

Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda called upon the church to continue to train the youth so that they emulate Luwum's values if the future of Uganda is to stay bright.

"The youths have the responsibility to make sure that they internalize the good values that Janan Luwum left. They are the ones that will put into practice these values of honesty, faithfulness and care for others.We thank the church for starting to build them and we pray that they are even made stronger," said Rugunda.

 

He said that values of freedom of speech, discipline, unity and working for the wellbeing of others are values that vibrated from Kitgum and took over the entire world and they should not let them go as they would have let down Luwum.

"Let us remember that Luwum died for what is right and that death brought up a struggle that ended the terror in the country. We should use it as a foundation to go on," said Rugunda.

 

Mityana Bishop Dr. Stephen Kaziimba called upon people to emulate Luwum. Who was never compromised by the situation, stood by the truth and was just not ready to die, but gave his life so that the nation will be set free.

"This is the spirit that we as the nation require for the development. The spirit of togetherness and working for each other's good," he urged.

The family thanked the church for standing by them, managing to allow them escape the brutality and also not forgetting them.

 

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