Archbishop Janani Luwum''s final moments alive

The inaugural national celebration to recognise St. Janani Luwum’s contribution to the fight against Idi Amin’s tyranny will be held on February 17. New Vision is until February 16 publishing stories about the fearless, outspoken leader who stood for justice. Today, Carol Natukunda pieces together the different events that led up to Luwum’s murder.

 
At about 1:30am on February 5, 1977, Janani Luwum heard a dog barking outside his home in Namirembe. His worry was that perhaps there were thugs. Luwum left his bedroom and went downstairs without switching the lights on. His wife, Mary, was sound asleep so he did not want to raise any alarm.

Standing at the door of his living room, he pulled the curtain aside to peep outside. He was able to see the face of a man at his front door. It was Ben Ongom. According to Luwum’s narration as quoted in Henry Kyemba’s book The State of Blood, Ongom had cuts on his face and was shouting: “Archbishop! Archbishop! Open! We have come!”

“(Since) I knew him in the past, I thought he was in some kind of danger needing help. So I opened the door,” Luwum narrated.

As soon as the door flung open, armed men who had been hiding in the compound sprang towards Luwum, corking their rifles and shouting: ‘Archbishop! Archbishop, show us the arms!”

Luwum replied: “What arms?”

They replied: “There are arms in this house.”

There was no time to give an answer.

The leader of the group whom Luwum remembered as speaking in Arabic, wearing a red Kaunda suit, pressed his rifle so hard on the right side of Luwum’s tummy. Another man searched him from head to toe.

“He pushed me with the rifle, shouting: “Walk, run, show us the arms, take us to your bedroom. So we went up to the bedroom where Mary, my wife, was asleep. We woke her up and they began crawling underneath the bed,” Luwum is quoted as having said.

The men opened the wardrobe and began throwing things around in search of the said arms. They reportedly even climbed as high up into the upper deckers of the cupboard. They searched the bedroom thoroughly, including suitcases and boxes.
 

The famous search of the Archbishop's house on allegations that he was hiding guns in the house. (Illustration by Danny Barongo)

They proceeded to search the children’s bedrooms, and searched even more aggressively. Fortunately, the younger children slept through it.

“But the bigger children woke up and went around with us,” Luwum recounted.

The group then went back downstairs.

Ongom, who was by now handcuffed, claimed that he, the archbishop and two other men only identified as Olobo and Dr. Lalobo had struck a deal involving sneaking ammunition into the country to overthrow Idi Amin. Ongwom claimed that they related easily because they were all Acholi.

“Please help us. If the arms are not here, tell us the location of any Acholi or Langi homes in Namirembe so that they may be searched,” Ongwom said.

Luwum replied: “I told Ongom that I did not come to Namirembe for the Acholi or the Langi but I was the Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire and there were no arms in my house. Our house was the house of God. We pray for the president. We pray for the security forces — whatever they do. We preach the gospel and pray for others. That is our work, not keeping arms.”

Kyemba writes, the search continued – from the study to the chapel, to the Holy Table, the guest wing, bathrooms, toilets and the food stores. The men even went as far as searching in sacks of sim sim (sesame seeds), millet and groundnuts. They also searched the cars in the parking yard, but found nothing.

At about 3:00am, the men left in their cars which had been parked outside. The number plates had been covered. Luwum later learnt that while this was going on, his provincial secretary had called the Old Kampala Police, but the men turned them away.

Luwum reacts
 

Archbishop Janani Luwum, on several occasions, pleaded with Amin to stop the wrongful arrest of people. (Illustration by Danny Barongo)

According to Kyemba, Archbishop Luwum had been understandably, disturbed. He shared the story with his colleagues. So on February 10, 1977, the House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire wrote a letter to President Idi Amin questioning the manner in which the man of God had been treated by men who did not even identify themselves. They also wondered what the whole arms fracas was about.

The letter which has been quoted widely in Uganda’s history books, reads in part: “We are deeply disturbed to learn of the incident which occurred at the Archbishop’s official residence in the early hours of Saturday morning, February 5, 1977. In the incident in the Church, such things had never happened. Security officers broke through the fence and forced their way into the Archbishop’s compound. They used a man they had arrested and tortured as a decoy to entice the archbishop to open the door and help a man seemingly in need.”

In the letter, the bishops further wondered why the search was not done in broad day light. It also questioned why the religious leaders, whom Amin had said should be treated with respect, were now being disrespected. The bishops condemned the manner in which a rifle had been “pressed against the archbishop’s stomach”.

The letter also hinted on the killings which had become the order of the day, which were making people worried.

The arrest

In an earlier interview with Sunday Vision, former army chaplain Isaac Bakka recalls that Amin was infuriated with the letter.

“Even before this letter, Luwum had consistently spoken out against the bloodshed of the day. Now the government used that letter as grounds to say the Church was forming a rebellion,” Bakka said.

Tension was brewing between the Church and the state. There was no reply to the Church.

On February 16, 1977, about six days after the bishops had written to the presidency, Luwum was arrested by the state security and taken to Nile Mansions (now Serena Hotel Kampala) where Amin had an office.

According to Bakka, the charge was that Luwum was engaging in subversive activities. Security alleged that while Luwum had gone to attend a religious conference in London, he had returned with ammunition which he reportedly hid in boxes with the sign of the cross on them. Security also claimed that during his return, intelligence had intercepted communication between him and former President Milton Obote, the leader of anti-government activities based in Tanzania.

Bakka recalls the day Luwum was arrested.

“All religious leaders were called to assemble at the Nile Conference Centre; Catholics, Anglicans and Pentecostals. There is no bishop or priest that did not attend the conference. It was around 10:00am. The government addressed us, saying some religious leaders were suspected of involvement with the rebels.”
 

Luwum is arrested during a meeting in which Amin summoned all the religious leaders. (Illustration by Danny Barongo)

At that point, Bakka recalls that the security then brought out guns which they claimed had been found in the archbishop’s house. Luwum was shocked with the blackmail. It was then that it dawned on him that the earlier search at his home had been a plot to connect him to the rebel movement activities. Those close to the archbishop say the arms had been planted in his house without his knowledge.

Shortly, Bakka says, security then ordered the clergy men to leave the gathering and be locked up in a room at Nile Mansions.

“Even Bishop Kivengere was there. We all started singing the Christian hymn I have decided to follow Jesus… We were singing loudly. And our intention was to protest being locked up. Later, the late Cardinal Nsubuga prayed. Luwum was to pray next. Before he did, he said the Church of Uganda was founded by blood, referring to the story of the Uganda martyrs. He said he knew he would die in a similar manner. Luwum said this day should be the same as the Uganda Martyrs’ Day.

“He was not afraid of death. The British had contacted him and were ready to rescue the archbishop, but he refused to run away, because ‘Jesus himself didn’t run away from being crucified’. He said he knew they would hurt us but we needed to be strong. Then he prayed.”

They had just said “amen”, when all hell broke loose. Soldiers, led by Brigadier Isaac Maliyamungu, forcefully banged open the door.

“You are under arrest pending investigation over subversive activities. The rest of you are given five minutes to disappear from this room,” one of the soldiers said.

The men of God would not budge, saying if the soldiers wanted to, they should kill them.

Bakka says: “We were over 50 in the room and there was only one door. They decided to take Luwum away and we heard a car driving off with him. We didn’t know the destination. When we came out, we found our cars had been taken. We started singing I have decided to follow Jesus, and marched to Namirembe Cathedral for prayers.”

Bakka says later that day, the BBC Focus on Africa programme, broke the news: Janani Luwum had been killed by Amin. Where, when, how, and who actually killed, no one knew.

The next day, the government announced that Luwum and two cabinet ministers - Erinayo Oryema and Oboth Ofumbi — had been killed when the car transporting them to an interrogation centre collided with another vehicle.

The accident, it was claimed, had occurred when the victims had tried to overpower the driver in an attempt to escape.

Luwum’s family members, however, believe that he was killed somewhere in Nakasero by Idi Amin.

“Soldiers secretly transported his desecrated body to Mucwini (his ancestral home and birthplace), and dumped it in a hurriedly dug grave at the church yard at Wii Gweng on 19 February 19, 1977. This has been St. Janani’s resting place ever since,” reads a statement obtained from Otunnu, a member of the Janani Luwum memorial committee.

Luwum is survived by his wife, Mary Luwum, six children (two deceased), four sisters, two brothers, and several grandchildren.
 

After the arrest, Luwum is killed and his body quickly transported to Mucwini and dumped in a hurriedly dug grave at the church yard at Wii Gweng. (Illustration by Danny Barongo)

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When the door of Cell Two was forcefully opened, the prisoners thought it was an ordinary person being brought to suffer the injustices of wrongful arrest under the Idi Amin regime. To their horror, it was Archbishop Janani Luwum, stripped to his underwear. Andrew Lawoko was in that cell. He shares his memories with Moses Walubiri.


On the day of Luwum’s death, one-time senior manager of the defunct Radio Uganda, Wod Okello Lawoko, now in his 80s, was among the many Ugandans wasting away in an underground dungeon at the State Research Bureau (SRB) in Nakasero.

The author of a poignant book about his narrow escape from Amin’s clutches, Dungeons of Nakasero, Lawoko recalls Luwum’s arrival at SRB one Thursday afternoon (February 17, 1977). He was humiliated and beaten before getting shot in Farouk Minawa’s office – most likely by Amin. Minawa was head of SRB.

“Our cell No.2 was underground. The place had been completely quiet the whole day, save for the footsteps of menacing guards patrolling the dark corridors. Then at around 3:00pm, we heard vehicles bursting onto the scene. Within minutes, there were cries of agony as we heard people being beaten. From our cell, we saw two ministers – Erinayo Oryema and Oboth Ofumbi hurled into cell No.1,” Lawoko says.

Within minutes, more cars arrived, there was commotion and screaming as guards dragged someone downstairs.

Lawoko remembers the tension and silence in cell No.2 as inmates, with trepidation, waited to see whether the next arrival would be pushed into their already overcrowded dungeon. And sure enough, the groans of the new arrival headed for Lawoko’s cell.

“The heavy door to our cell swung open. And whom do we see? Archbishop Luwum stripped to his underwear and being beaten and mocked by guards led by Hajji Kabugo,” Lawoko reminisces.

Kabugo who passed away last year was, according to Lawoko, the chief guard at SRB.

After a lull of 30 minutes, Lawoko remembers the door to cell No.2 swinging open again and guards ordering Luwum to sit in a corner.

“They again descended on him with gun butts. Profusely bleeding but composed, Luwuum said: ‘I have offended no one but you will pay dearly for the crimes you’re committing against Ugandans,’” Lawoko reminisces.

Luwum was then taken out of the cell for 10 minutes. Coming back fully attired in his official regalia, cell No.2 inmates were relieved, thinking that Luwum was about to gain his freedom. Once in the cell, Luwum prayed with the inmates, “urging us to forgive those who had wronged us”.
 

Andrew Lawoko shared a cell with Luwum

Shortly after, Lawoko remembers the door swinging open again, and a military officer reading out names of people that were ordered to get out of cell No.1 and 2. Among these were Luwum, Oryema and Ofumbi, then chief inspector of schools, Y.Y Okot, Okidi Menya and Lawoko.

“We were taken to the reception on the ground floor where we found Amin, Minawa, Bob Astles, then minister of planning and economic development, Jumba Masagazi and Hajji Kabugo,” Lawoko says.

Astles was a British soldier and colonial officer who became an associate of Uganda’s first Prime Minister and later president, Dr. Apollo Milton Obote, before finding favour with Amin, becoming Amin’s trusted adviser on British affairs. It is believed Astles went to the grave in 2012 with a lot of secrets about the excesses of Amin’s regime.

According to Lawoko, Amin spoke to Minawa in Nubian. Luwum and the three ministers were immediately marched to Minawa’s office. Lawoko and the other prisoners stayed at the reception.

“Immediately they got into Minawa’s office, Amin started to shout. We could hear the commotion. The three were being tortured and there was a lot of screaming. They were saying they were innocent. Amin was shouting: ‘You were plotting to kill me and topple my government. But before you do that, I am going to kill you!’” Lawoko remembers.

As the beatings, screaming and pleadings of innocence went a notch higher, Minawa rushed out of his office and ordered guards to march Lawoko and the other prisoners at the reception back to their cells.

“We shall see them later,” Lawoko remembers Minawa saying, before rushing back to his office. But as the dishevelled prisoners turned a corner leading to their dark, blood stained dungeons, two gun shots rang out, and then silence descended on the SRB headquarters.

That evening, a boisterous guard asked Lawoko and other inmates in cell No.2 whether they knew what had happened to Luwum and the two ministers.

“Amin killed them. Tomorrow might be your turn,” the guard, according to Lawoko, said in Swahili.

The following day, the manager of Uganda Club was brought to SRB for having accidently stumbled upon the stage managed accident that allegedly claimed the lives of Luwum, Oryema and Ofumbi.

The manager was among a group of people rounded up, severely beaten and thrown into the dungeons at SRB by one of Amin’s notorious henchmen, Col. Isaac Malyamungu, for inadvertently witnessing the stage managed accident.

He was taken out of cell No.2 before completing his narration of what he had seen. He was never seen again.

“He knew too much to be allowed to live,” Lawoko says.


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Luwum murder: What witnesses said

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