When news readers feared to announce Archbishop Luwum''s death

The inaugural national celebrations to recognise St. Janani Luwum’s contribution to the fight against Idi Amin’s tyranny were held on Monday. Mike Musisi spoke to James Kunobwa, a news anchor then and now Mukono district speaker, on his recollections of the tension that gripped the national broadcaster when the statement announcing the death was delivered.


JAMES KUNOBWA

On that day, James Kunobwa, along with his co-anchors Robby Labalpiny Wodomal and Bob Odong Naenda were preparing the evening bulletins for Radio Uganda and UTV when a messenger attached to the Presidential Press Unit hand-delivered a statement announcing the death of Archbishop Janani Luwum.

According to the statement, Luwum died alongside two cabinet ministers, Erinayo Wilson Oryema and Charles Oboth Ofumbi, in a car accident.

Kunobwa, who is the current Mukono speaker, said although they normally received local news items either by telephone, or from Reuters or AFP agencies, the news announcing Luwum’s passing was hand-delivered.

Given the misunderstanding between President Idi Amin and Luwum in the days preceding the ‘accident’, the news anchors doubted the authenticity of the statement.

Naenda tore the radio copy and marched out in protest. He only re-appeared as a captain in the Uganda National Liberation Army, which, with the help of the Tanzanian army, ousted Amin in 1979.

Upon delivery of the statement, the anchors realized that the station at Nakasero, where present-day AYA Hotel stands, had been surrounded by over 20 heavily armed soldiers.

With Naenda marching away in protest, Wodomal also declined to read the news. Being the chief anchor, Kunobwa had no option. He had to read the statement during both the radio and TV bulletins.

He was helped by the fact that the radio news used to be aired at 5:00pm and the TV version at 7:00pm.

The public reaction, according to Kunobwa, was disbelief and distrust, especially given that the stand-off between the archbishop and Amin had taken centre stage for the last one week.

In addition, Luwum had been whisked away before the eyes of fellow top clergy.

Kunobwa vividly recalls that one of those present included Bishop Festo Kivengere. So everybody knew the truth, but for obvious reasons, nobody dared ask any questions.

Earlier on February 8, the House of Bishops had written to the president, complaining about the security of the archbishop, along with Bishop Yona Okoth of Bukedi, whose homes had been ransacked by soldiers, allegedly in search of arms.

According to Kunobwa, an unidentified colleague told them that the Toyota Celica car paraded as the one in which Oryema, Luwum and Ofumbi were being driven when the accident occurred, had actually been gotten from a garage in Industrial Area.

The car had been taken for repair after a separate accident.

 The unidentified colleague also told them that a Toyota car with the UVS registration series was used to run over the body of the archbishop, who had allegedly been shot dead by Amin himself.

Kunobwa, 60, says he was in charge of sensitive news at the station and vividly recalls the day he received news of the Israeli attack on Entebbe through BBC correspondent Philip Short, even before Amin got to know.

Kunobwa also got information of how a Voice of Uganda photojournalist, Jimmy Parma, was shot dead at Kivuvu (on Jinja Road) as he went to photograph the body of the Israeli old woman Dorah Bloch, who remained behind after the Entebbe operation.

In Kunobwa’s opinion, one of the reasons for Luwum’s death is the fact that Amin had expelled Asians and British earlier in 1972 and felt insecure with the Anglican Church guests who were slated to visit the country in 1977 for the Church’s centenary celebrations, many of them from the UK and the US.


CHARLES SEMANDA

Charles Semanda, 67, the first LC3 chairman of Mukono town council under the Resistance Council system in 1987, was the purchasing officer for East Mengo district administration in 1977 when Luwum met his death.

Semanda says he was in Mukono when the news of the Archbishop’s death broke and, like many people, stayed at home not sure what the day had in store following the announcement.

In Semanda’s opinion, the accident could not have occurred at Nakasero (Oryema, Luwum and Ofumbi had been detained at Nakasero State Research Bureau, the dreaded torture chambers of the time), where traffic congestion and speeding were out of the question.

He says people kept away from the town for at least two days until the situation calmed down.


  LUWUM'S PROFILE 
 

1922: Born in Kitgum

1948: Became a Born-Again Christian

1949-1955: Joined Buwalasi Theological College

1955: Became a deacon and pastor in Palwo parish, Lira

1966: Appointed provincial secretary of the Church of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire

January 25, 1969: Consecrated bishop of Northern Uganda Diocese

May 7, 1974: Elected Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire

February 5, 1977: Soldiers raid his home in search of guns

February 8, 1977: Bishops condemn search and other brutalities

February 11, 1977: Gives his last Bible study to the House of Bishops

February 14, 1977: Summoned to State House by Amin

February 15, 1977: Writes open letter to Amin denying allegations

February 16, 1977: Tortured and murdered. Family members and witnesses say Luwum was killed on February 16, 1977. However, the world came to know about his death on February 17 after the Government announced that he had died in an accident that afternoon. The accident was obviously stage-managed as a cover-up.


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