February 6: Martyrdom and 40 years of over-rule

We can learn a lot from the story of the Uganda Martyrs without necessarily having to be religious. The story of the Ugandan Martyrs is even more enriching and broad beyond the religious ownership. These were Ugandans in the middle of a political and administrative superstructure. But they chose to challenge the political leadership of the time. The ideas they stood for, ie more liberties and freedoms, were later to become the dominant positions and formed the basis for the contemporary political values of Uganda.

The Church, for which these people died, has become the biggest influence on the social, economic and cultural narrative of our country. No wonder, they were declared martyrs and later elevated to sainthood; the ultimate designation of heroism.

Perhaps another lesson to learn from the Uganda Martyrs is that they created space outside the political arena. And for the blood of the Uganda Martyrs, the church made the ultimate sacrifice that has confounded leaders since independence.

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On Friday February 6, 1981, Mr Museveni and 41 others launched what they called an armed struggle against the Obote II Administration. Starting off as a band of brigands they attacked Kabamba Military Barracks. They later called themselves the National Resistance Movement. Almost five years to the dot, the NRM had captured power in Kampala and formed a government. Even at the risk of appearing uncharitable to the Uganda Martyrs’ sainthood, there is a temptation to proximate their witness in 1886 with the 1986 National Resistance Movement struggle for greater freedoms. The point is clear: Uganda has never been short of people with qualities and courage to offer inspiring leadership when the times called for it.

Like the Uganda Martyrs, the position of the National Resistance Movement in 1981 was a fringe minority view. Their courage and judgment was not based on numerical strength or disposition; but belief and conviction. The story of the Uganda Martyrs has been interpreted by different people to represent different socio-political morals and values. But it is not difficult to relate it with the fight for freedoms and liberties in other circumstances. The excuse or cause for the Luweero war might have been the theft of the 1980 elections but the choice to fight was an individual choice. One can fault the NRM leadership for their failure on the governance front but it will be difficult to take away their fortitude and courage to take a position when a position was required to be taken in 1981. How they have behaved since they captured power in 1986 is a different matter though.

Mr Bisiika is the executive editor of the East African Flagpost. [email protected] In 1886, a group of young men challenged the power of the king of Buganda merely by choosing to die for what they thought was the right thing. 
At that time, even with classical chivalry, many were still confounded by the benefaction of charity that comes with the Christian doctrine of bearing witness. Yet, even with circumstances of the time, they were given an option: Recant or die. They chose death over recanting what they believed was the idea whose time had come. And by royal edict, death it was; by burning at Namugongo. And in their death, they earned the favour of national history and the global Catholic Church. That is the official narrative of the Uganda Martyrs.
We can learn a lot from the story of the Uganda Martyrs without necessarily having to be religious. The story of the Ugandan Martyrs is even more enriching and broad beyond the religious ownership. These were Ugandans in the middle of a political and administrative superstructure. But they chose to challenge the political leadership of the time. The ideas they stood for, ie more liberties and freedoms, were later to become the dominant positions and formed the basis for the contemporary political values of Uganda.
The Church, for which these people died, has become the biggest influence on the social, economic and cultural narrative of our country. No wonder, they were declared martyrs and later elevated to sainthood; the ultimate designation of heroism.
Perhaps another lesson to learn from the Uganda Martyrs is that they created space outside the political arena. And for the blood of the Uganda Martyrs, the church made the ultimate sacrifice that has confounded leaders since independence.
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On Friday February 6, 1981, Mr Museveni and 41 others launched what they called an armed struggle against the Obote II Administration. Starting off as a band of brigands  they attacked Kabamba Military Barracks. They later called themselves the National Resistance Movement. Almost five years to the dot, the NRM had captured power in Kampala and formed a government. Even at the risk of appearing uncharitable to the Uganda Martyrs’ sainthood, there is a temptation to proximate their witness in 1886 with the 1986 National Resistance Movement struggle for greater freedoms. The point is clear: Uganda has never been short of people with qualities and courage to offer inspiring leadership when the times called for it.
Like the Uganda Martyrs, the position of the National Resistance Movement in 1981 was a fringe minority view. Their courage and judgment was not based on numerical strength or disposition; but belief and conviction. The story of the Uganda Martyrs has been interpreted by different people to represent different socio-political morals and values. But it is not difficult to relate it with the fight for freedoms and liberties in other circumstances. The excuse or cause for the Luweero war might have been the theft of the 1980 elections but the choice to fight was an individual choice. One can fault the NRM leadership for their failure on the governance front but it will be difficult to take away their fortitude and courage to take a position when a position was required to be taken in 1981. How they have behaved since they captured power in 1986 is a different matter though. 

Mr Bisiika is the executive editor of the East African Flagpost. [email protected]