Flashback: When an anonymous caller warned Archbishop Lwanga to be careful or prepare to die like Janan Luwum

About three years ago before his death, Kampala Archdiocese Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga revealed an anonymous caller had used a private number to warn him to be careful or get ready to die like Janan Luwum.

Bishop Luwum died under the Idi Amin Dada regime.

In March 2018, Archbishop Lwanga told his congregation at Rubaga that he had got the call from someone who spoke with an accent similar to that of people from western Uganda.

The caller’s identity, it seems, remained unknown to the Archbishop.

But the caller had reportedly told Lwanga some priests had been hired by the state to spy on him.

The caller, according to the cleric then, faced accusations of plotting to overthrow government.

He denied these claims.

About three months earlier, Parliament had passed the age limit removal bill.

Lwanga was one of the clerics that had opposed the MPs’ move.

Some ruling NRM party MPs and ministers who had backed the bill were heckled at events.

The following is what Archbishop Lwanga said about the particular phone call:

A few days ago I got a telephone call and on the the telephone you can see the number of the person but it had ‘private’, so I didn’t know [the caller’s identity ].

This person had an accent from western Uganda and this is what he told me: That ‘there are many lies being told to the president.’

Two, that ‘even members of these organisations have recruited your priests, your sisters, your brothers, even catechists and even seminarians.’

And I said, ‘what?’

“Even this man [anonymous caller] told me last week that ‘be careful my Grace. You might be the next [Janan] Luwum.’

I said, ‘my goodness! If God wants me to die that way, I will. But if I am going to die for wrong accusations, that is criminal.’

You know for murdering people there are two things: you can shoot a person over what they call character assassination.

So some members of ESO, ISO, CMI etcetera, they are character assassinating people and that is not good.

But fortunately, those of you who are believers, there is still in a period of lent which are concluding tomorrow…

I kindly call upon you to repent and stop telling lies.

I call upon all of you to stop telling lies. Stop misleading our president.

Mr President, we love you very much and that is why we have been electing you.

These [security] people are your enemies.

They’re going to make you fail because your mind is poisoned and you act on such information.

Additional reporting/archives: courtesy