January 2021 will be 40 years since the Luweero war ended. The National Resistance Movement (NRM) will have been in power for 35 years, undisrupted under the leadership of Uganda’s longest serving President, Yoweri Museveni. The former rebel leader was sworn-in as president of Uganda on January 26, 1986 after the five-year war. The war, which was fought in the Luweero Triangle, left the area devastated. About 100,000 human lives were lost by the time the National Resistance Army (NRA) rebels captured Kampala. Tens of thousands of homes, properties and farmlands were destroyed. Social infrastructure including factories, hospitals and schools were completely ruined.
While Luweero was the cradle of NRM support, today, almost 40 years after the war, the people there are still crying out for compensation for their contribution to the war. Those who supported the civil (liberation?) war and survived in the jungles for five years were promised a better life and full compensation by the NRM leadership. The people of Luweero are still waiting for the NRM, not to reward them, but simply to compensate them for the destruction they suffered as a result of supporting Museveni’s armed campaign for power after losing an election in 1980. As a result, Luweero district looks no better today than it did in 1986 when the war had just ended. There have been no major hospitals, schools or factories built by the NRM regime. History will judge those who brought war to Luweero, destroyed it and then ignored it.
Unfulfilled promises, failed projects
When the war ended in 1986, the NRM government established the Luweero Triangle Foundation Limited. The Foundation was mandated to drum up support through donations for the rehabilitation of the various districts that made up the Luweero Triangle. At least 68 billion shillings was collected from local and foreign well-wishers between 1986 and 1988, but that money was embezzled. In April 1988, the now defunct Weekly Topic quoted a member of the Luweero District Resistance Council who was venting his frustration to the NRM Vice Chairman Moses Kigongo.
“The Luweero people wanted to know the state of funds collected by the Office of the Prime Minister [Dr. Samson Kisekka] for the war-ravaged areas. We request to put those funds to use for Luweero by Luweero and in Luweero. Otherwise the Uganda public and international community that responded to the appeal are certainly entitled to know the use to which their contributions were put”, said the committee on April 12, 1988. When the people of Luweero district could not wait any more for the government to help them as promised, they decided to help themselves. The Chairman of the Luweero District Resistance Council Wilberforce Kisamba Mugerwa, led the establishment of the Luweero Foundation. This was different from the Luweero Triangle Foundation. The aim of the Luweero Foundation was to promote development in the district.
During its launch on October 1, 1988, President Museveni as a member pledged ten million shillings. The founding members of the new foundation were: Wilberforce Kisamba Mugerwa, John Sebaana Kizito, Kiddu Makubuya, Mrs. Victoria Mwaka, Dr. J. Lwanga, Mrs. Dorothy Nakawesi, Joe Ssenteza, O.B Katalikawe, George Byekwaso, Deo Nsereko, Mohamed Kisuule and Ssemyaro Kiyingi.
Is Luweero the Mecca of NRM?
President Museveni equates the Luweero Triangle to Mecca. Ten years after the Luweero war had ended, the President was quoted by the now defunct Crusader newspaper in May 28-30, 1996 as having said: “I will always regard Luweero as my political Mecca. When Muslims are praying, they look in the direction of Mecca. When I’m talking about politics, I will always look in the direction of Luweero”. The President was speaking at a thanks-giving ceremony in Luweero town after winning the 1996 Presidential elections. Ten years later, in 2006, he repeated the same statement. The East African newspaper, February 24-29, 2006 quoted Museveni as having said: “Catholics go to Rome, Anglicans go to Canterbury and Muslims go Mecca. Luweero is my Mecca” But if really Luweero is the Mecca of Museveni, why was it neglected? Why don’t we see people going to Luweero to see and learn about the cradle and history of NRM ideology that was created by the bush war in the Luweero Triangle?
Land grabbing
Those who envisaged sky scrapers, factories, schools and model farms were disappointed. Today, Luweero district is an area that has been affected by massive land grabbing. It is extremely unfortunate that the land grabs are being conducted by NRM big shots, who seem happy to demolish the graves of those who fought and died for them during the war. It is so saddening to think of land being stolen from Luweero war orphans and widows. The widows and children whose husbands and fathers died fighting in the bush.
Where is Luweero war museum?
One of the planned projects to be put in Luweero district was the Luweero war Museum. The museum was to serve as a monument to the history of the Luweero Triangle in the liberation of the country from the hands of, what was seen as, a dictatorship of President Milton Obote. But instead of building a museum, just a small house was built while millions of shillings had been spent. Today, the house keeps a few human skeletons. The museum was supposed to accommodate approximately 100,000 skulls that were to be collected in the Luweero region. Today, the would-be museum, is a sad reminder of this government’s failings towards the region. Perhaps, if the museum had been built, the revenue could have provided something for the long-neglected people of the would-be Mecca of the NRM government.
