Janani Luwum | |
---|---|
Archbishop of the Church of Uganda Primate of the Anglican Church in Uganda | |
Church | Anglican Communion |
See | Kampala |
In office | 1974–1977 |
Predecessor | Erica Sabiti |
Successor | Silvanus Wani |
Orders | |
Ordination | 1953 |
Personal details | |
Born | c. 1922 |
Died | 16 February 1977 (aged 55) Kampala, Second Republic of Uganda |
Spouse | Mary Luwum (died 2019 at 93 years) |
Previous post(s) | Anglican Church Province of northern Uganda, Archbishop of the Metropolitan Province of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire Bishop |
Janani Jakaliya Luwum was archbishop of the Church of Uganda from 1974 to 1977 and one of the most influential leaders of the modern church in Africa. He was arrested in February 1977 and died shortly after. Although the official account describes a car crash, it is generally accepted that he was murdered on the orders of then-President Idi Amin.
Since 2015 Uganda has a public holiday on 16 February, to celebrate the life of Janani Luwum. [1] [2]
Luwum was born in the village of Mucwini in the Kitgum District to Acholi parents. He attended Gulu High School and Boroboro Teacher Training College, after which he taught at a primary school. Luwum converted to Christianity in 1948, and in 1949 he went to Buwalasi Theological College. [3]
In 1950 he was attached to St. Philip's Church in Gulu. He was ordained a deacon in 1953, and the following year he was ordained a priest. He served in the Upper Nile Diocese of Uganda and later in the Diocese of Mbale. In 1969 he was consecrated Bishop of the Diocese of Northern Uganda at Gulu. After five years he was appointed Archbishop of the Metropolitan Province of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga (in Zaire), becoming the second African to hold this position. [4]
Archbishop Luwum was a leading voice in criticising the excesses of the Idi Amin regime that assumed power in 1971. [5] In 1977, Archbishop Luwum delivered a note of protest to dictator Idi Amin against the policies of arbitrary killings and unexplained disappearances. [6] Shortly afterwards the archbishop and other leading churchmen were accused of treason.
On 16 February 1977, Luwum was arrested together with two cabinet ministers, Erinayo Wilson Oryema and Charles Oboth Ofumbi. The same day Idi Amin convened a rally in Kampala with the three accused present. A few other "suspects" were paraded forth to read out "confessions" implicating the three men. The archbishop was accused of being an agent of the exiled former president Milton Obote, and for planning to stage a coup. The next day, Radio Uganda announced that the three had been killed when the car transporting them to an interrogation centre had collided with another vehicle. The accident, Radio Uganda reported, had occurred when the victims had tried to overpower the driver in an attempt to escape. [7] When Luwum's body was released to his relatives, it was riddled with bullets. Henry Kyemba, minister of health in Amin's government, later wrote in his book A State of Blood, that "The bodies were bullet-riddled. The archbishop had been shot through the mouth and at least three bullets in the chest. The ministers had been shot in a similar way but one only in the chest and not through the mouth. Oryema had a bullet wound through the leg." [8]
According to the later testimony of witnesses, the victims had been taken to an army barracks, where they were bullied, beaten and finally shot. Time magazine said "Some reports even had it that Amin himself had pulled the trigger, but Amin angrily denied the charge, and there were no first-hand witnesses". [9] According to Vice President of Uganda Mustafa Adrisi [10] and a Human rights commission, Amin's right-hand man Isaac Maliyamungu carried out the murder of Luwum and his colleagues. [11]
Janani Luwum was survived by his widow, Mary Lawinyo Luwum and nine children. He was buried at his home village of Mucwini in the Kitgum District. [12] Archbishop Luwum is recognized as a martyr by the Anglican Communion and his statue is among the Twentieth Century Martyrs on the front of Westminster Abbey in London. [13] He is honored on the liturgical calendars of the Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Church of Canada, Scottish Episcopal Church, and Church in Wales on 3 June. [14] He is honored on the liturgical calendars of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil, Church of England and the Episcopal Church of the United States on 17 February. [15]
Archbishop Janani Luwum Day is a public holiday in Uganda, celebrated 16 February annually. The holiday is dedicated to the life and service of Janani Luwum, the former archbishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda, who is typically regarded as having been murdered on the orders of the then-President Idi Amin. [16]
Idi Amin Dada Oumee was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern world history.
The Second Republic of Uganda existed from 1971 to 1979, when Uganda was ruled by Idi Amin's military dictatorship. Amin's rule formally came to an end with the Uganda-Tanzania War, which ended with Tanzania occupying Uganda and Amin fleeing into exile.
Kitgum District is a district in Northern Uganda. It is named after its major town of Kitgum, where the district headquarters is located. It has suffered much fatalities and social disruption resulting from the 20-year civil war in the region during the late 20th century. The government moved tens of thousands of residents to internally displaced persons camps for their protection, where they were subject to raids by the rebels and also harsh conditions, including disease.
The Church of Uganda (C/U) is a member province of the Anglican Communion. Currently there are 37 dioceses which make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop.
The Uganda Martyrs are a group of 22 Catholic and 23 Anglican converts to Christianity in the historical kingdom of Buganda, now part of Uganda, who were executed between 31 January 1885 and 27 January 1887.
Saints in Christianity are a people recognised as having lived a holy life and as being an exemplar and model for other Christians. Beginning in the 10th century, the Catholic Church began to centralise and formalise the process of recognising saints through canonisation.
Erinayo Wilson Oryema CPM was Uganda's first African Inspector General of Police (1964–1971), Minister of Land, Mineral, and Water Resources (1971–1974) and Minister of Land, Housing and Physical Planning (1974–1977). In February 1977, Oryema, together with Archbishop Janani Luwum and Interior Minister Charles Oboth Ofumbi, is generally accepted as having been murdered by the security forces of the government of President Idi Amin.
Mustafa Adrisi Abataki was a Ugandan military officer who served as the third vice president of Uganda from 1977 to 1979 and was one of President Idi Amin's closest associates before the two fell out. In 1978, after Adrisi was injured in a suspicious auto accident, troops loyal to him mutinied. Amin sent troops against the mutineers, some of whom had fled across the Tanzanian border, possibly contributing to the Uganda–Tanzania War. As the Ugandan war effort collapsed, Adrisi fled to Sudan where he claimed to retain the post of Vice President. He became briefly involved in the rebel activities of the Uganda National Rescue Front before returning from exile in 1987. He struggled with health problems in his later life and died in 2013.
Festo Kivengere (1919–1988) was a Ugandan Anglican leader sometimes referred to as "the Billy Graham of Africa". He played a huge role in a Christian revival in southwestern Uganda, but had to flee in 1973 to neighboring Kenya in fear for his life after speaking out against Idi Amin's tyrannical behavior.
Jeremiah Lucas Opira was a Ugandan politician and the National Executive Secretary of the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) 1979–1980. The UNLF and its military wing UNLA removed Idi Amin from power with the support of the Tanzania People's Defence Force on April 11, 1979. He contributed to the movement that helped Uganda gain independence from Great Britain in 1962. He worked for consolidation of national unity in Uganda and the return of kingdoms which he believed would be a unifying factor in Uganda. He instigated investigations into the Ugandan and East African pre-European history, and wrote articles on this subject and on African politics.
The Anglican ecclesiastical province of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi was formed in 1961 following the division of the diocese of Uganda the previous year. Prior to 1980, the province included Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga, in what was then the country of Zaire. In 1960, the Diocese of Uganda was separated and in 1961 the smaller dioceses made a separate Province, under the Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi: As of June 2012, the Church of Uganda is divided into 34 dioceses and is under the Archbishop of Uganda and Bishop of Kampala.
Arphaxad Charles KoleOboth Ofumbi was a Ugandan politician who served as the Interior Minister of Uganda from October 1973 until his death in 1977.
Archbishop Janani Luwum Day is a public holiday in Uganda, celebrated 16 February annually. The holiday is dedicated to the life and service of Janani Luwum, the former archbishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda, who is typically regarded as having been murdered on the orders of the then-President Idi Amin.
Isaac Maliyamungu, also known as Isaac Lugonzo, was a Ugandan military officer who served as one of President Idi Amin's most important officials and supporters during the Ugandan military dictatorship of 1971–79. Born in the Congo, Maliyamungu was one of the members of the 1971 coup that brought Amin to power, and was thereafter responsible for brutally suppressing dissidents throughout the country. Rising through the ranks, Maliyamungu amassed great power and earned a feared reputation. He was responsible for the mass murder of civilians and soldiers suspected of being disloyal to Amin.
The State Research Bureau (SRB), initially the State Research Centre (SRC), was a Ugandan intelligence agency. Active from 1971 until 1979, it served as a secret police organisation for President Idi Amin's regime. The SRB retained numerous agents and maintained a wide network of informants.
The Acholi people are a Nilotic ethnic group of Luo peoples, found in Magwi County in South Sudan and Northern Uganda, including the districts of Agago, Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo, Pader and Omoro District. The Acholi were estimated to number 2.3 million people and over 45,000 more were living in South Sudan in 2000.
The Anglican dioceses of Eastern Uganda are the Anglican presence in (roughly) the Eastern Region, Uganda; they are part of the Church of Uganda. The remaining dioceses of the Church are in the areas of Buganda, of Northern Uganda, of Ankole and Kigezi, and of Rwenzori.
The Anglican dioceses of Northern Uganda are the Anglican presence in (roughly) the Northern Region, Uganda; they are part of the Church of Uganda. The remaining dioceses of the Church are in the areas of Buganda, of Eastern Uganda, of Ankole and Kigezi, and of Rwenzori.
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