Mixed memories of Abdallah Nasur

Walugembe was killed in Masaka on September 21, 1972. After the fall of Amin in April 1979, the former governor fled to Kenya where local authorities arrested him in Kakamega. On June 16, 1979, he was extradited to Uganda and charged with Walugembe’s murder.  

READ: Military evacuate Col Abdallah Nasur's body over family fight

Nasur spent years on death row until September 2001 when he was pardoned by President Museveni under the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy. He would then retreat from public view, living a private life in his home town of Bombo, Luweero District. 

Born in 1946 at Nakatonya Village, Bombo, Nasur, according to one of his uncles (himself a retired soldier and elder), Ramathan Poloto, 84, was a misunderstood man.  

“I was a warrant officer in the Uganda Army between 1971 and 1979 when the government was overthrown. I closely worked with Nasur Abdallah and went into exile with him in Kakamega (Kenya) in 1971 where he got arrested and deported the same year. He was a strict officer and disciplinarian,” Poloto said. 

Nasur was a businessman, and loved his Nubian culture and community. He owned a bus company in the 1970s and was a link between the Nubian and the Buganda Kingdom community. He was one of the leaders who pushed for the upgrading of Bombo Town to a municipality, before it was again downgraded to a town council in the early 1990s, Poloto revealed.  

When the Amin government fell, many of his officials and soldiers fled. The previously close-knit Nubian community, many of whose members served under Amin, was dispersed. Several had been arrested and Nubians in Uganda felt lost. But when Nasur was pardoned, a feeling of revival swept through their ranks.  

Nubians gained confidence in the government, Mr Ismail Karim, the general secretary of Uganda Nubian Consultative Forum, told this publication.

“Nasur Abdallah has been a strong pillar of the Nubian community. We have always sought advice and guidance from him as an elder. The Nubians cherish unity and hard work. Nasur stood for unity and hard work. He embraced the Nubian culture and always encouraged the youth to work hard and remain united,” he said. 

Mr Abdallah Ssebi Karim, 88, another elder and former Uganda Airforce officer (1973 and 1979) sounds almost revisionist in his recollections about the colonel. Nasur as governor left a trail of pain in his wake. There have been horror stories recounted by those who lived in Kampala during Amin’s reign of terror which paint a picture of Nasur as one of the regime’s more ruthless henchmen.  

But Ssebi Karim remembers it differently, saying: “My brother Nasur has gone to rest. God gave him wisdom and he served Ugandans selflessly. I worked with Nasur Abdallah. He was my senior by rank but we both served in the government as soldiers. He was a strict disciplinarian. This at times brought him problems with people that disliked his methods of work”. 

“I have had stories about him; that when he found anybody wearing slippers in Kampala, you would be forced to eat the slippers. I believe that this information spread like wildfire and got misinterpreted by many,” Mr Ssebi Karim said. 

Hajat Zenar Nasur describes her father as a strict parent but one who always inspired the youth to work together. 

“The family missed him when he was in prison but when he reunited with the family after the presidential pardon, he was a jolly man and loved us equally. He made sure that we grow up disciplined and always had jokes with the youth. Even at the time of poor health, our father could still put on a smile. He lost the battle to acute respiratory syndrome,” she said. 

This side of the colonel was not widely known, just like his close association with the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.  

Whether for convenience or self-preservation, Nasur became a fervent advocate for the NRM within the large Nubian community in Bombo.  

This probably explains why the party’s director for Information and Publicity, Mr Emmanuel Dombo said the “NRM has lost a vibrant mobiliser, elder and strong pillar in the name of Col Abdallah Nasur” when news of his death broke. 

“We received the news with a big shock. We stand with the family, friends and the NRM party members at this trying moment. May His Soul Rest in Eternal peace,” Mr Dombo said. 

Col (rtd) Francis Itabuka, also a former officer in Amin’s Uganda Army attached to the feared State Research Bureau security agency, mourned the “big loss” of a man he remembered as a strict and disciplined officer. 

His links with the Buganda Kingdom establishment became apparent in the eulogy delivered by the widely respected Prince Kassim Nakibinge.  

Nakibinge is a cousin of Kabaka (king) Ronald Mutebi and also the titular leader of Muslims in Uganda. 

For him, Nasur was always a symbol of unity and self-sacrifice. 

“Nasur did not seek riches but worked for the people. Even after serving a prison sentence for about 23 years, he came back and always rallied for dialogue. This is uncommon in many of our leaders,“ he said.

UPDF speaks out

“Though retired, and living a civilian life, he remained our own after getting the presidential pardon that gave him a new lease of life to serve his people. This is the very reason why the UPDF treated him. We referred him to Victoria Hospital when his health deteriorated. We are saddened by his sudden death,” Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Wilson Mbadi, said in his condolence message delivered by Gen Hassan Kimbowa, Adjutant at Army General headquarters, Bombo.

About Nasur

A devout Muslim, Nasur joined the army in 1964 and later served as an army instructor in Karamoja, commanding officer in Masaka and later Governor Central Province between 1972 and 1979.  He was born in 1946. He is survived by more than 30 children and a number of wives.