Uganda apologizes for murder

Uganda

Twenty-six years after the martyrdom of Janani Luwum, a Church of Uganda archbishop, the government of the Republic of Uganda has apologized to the church and the global community for his murder.

The government has also announced the new Archbishop Janani Luwum scholarship fund at Kitemu Secondary School to benefit two students who enroll for theological training after their general education. In the apology at a special church service, Zamzam Kasujja, deputy director for legal affairs of government, said, “The murder of Archbishop Luwum by the Amin government not only robbed the church of a courageous and committed leader but also plunged our country into economic, political and religious lows never seen before.”

Archbishop Luwum was killed on Feb. 16, 1977, along with two outspoken government ministers for speaking out against the Idi Amin regime. He is one of 10 20th century martyrs whose statutes were unveiled by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1998 and now stand on the west front of London’s Westminster Abbey.