Janani Luwum - A Modern Martyr

Uganda was colonized by Arabs and Europeans in the 19th century and was a British protectorate from 1894 to 1962 when it became independent. Its first President was Milton Obote. There followed a great deal of civil strife. In 1981 Idi Amin took power and a great deal of slaughter began.

Anyone who was suspected of dissent was arrested and many of those were killed. Amin's regime killed 300,000 people. Largo and Acholi tribes suffered greatly; hundreds of their soldiers were shot in their barracks. The Asian population of Uganda was expelled, many coming to Britain.

Christians were targeted too. This first happened in 1886 when 26 of them were massacred after a campaign of harassment by the majority who still followed the tribal religions. In 1972 a preacher reading a psalm mentioning Israel on the radio was shot and the editor of Uganda's Catholic newspaper, which criticized Amin, was found strangled in a burnt-out car. The doctor who saw the body 'disappeared'. The new editor of the paper died in prison.

Janani Luwum was born in Acholi in 1922. He began life as a goatherd, but soon showed promise and went to school. He became a teacher and became Christian, eventually being ordained in 1956. He was consecrated as Bishop of Northern Uganda in 1969 and Archbishop of Uganda in 1974. He did not hate Amin: "We must love the president. We must pray for him. He is a child of God". Janani did, however, speak out against the massacres, including that of the whole population of Milton Obote's village in 1977.

Amin thought the archbishop's calls for peace were a threat and had his home searched for weapons. When Janani and his fellow bishops sent a letter to the president asking him to discuss the country's welfare, Amin struck. The archbishop and six bishops were tried for treason and a lot of weapons were shown as 'evidence'. Janani knew he would die and told his friends he was not afraid. He said: "...my blood will save the nation&q. In February 1977 it was announced on the radio he had died in a car accident, but there were those who saw him shot.

Amin was deposed in 1979 by Tanzanian troops.