Uganda will be celebrating the 34th Heroes Day on Friday, June 9, 2023, under the theme; “Arise Uganda; Our Heroes’ Sacrifices Are Now Bearing Fruits.”
The celebrations will be in commemoration of the heroes and heroines who prepared Uganda for the peace and tranquility the country enjoys today. They sacrificed themselves during a time of human suffering until the NRM government came into power in 1986.
Heroes and heroines shed blood for this great country to be liberated from political tyranny that had engulfed her for 25 years after independence in 1962.
It is a day when Uganda honors victims like Edidian Luttamaguzi, who died at the hands of Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) soldiers on June 9, 1981.
Luttamaguzi’s killing followed his collaboration with the National Resistance Army (NRA) liberators led by Yoweri Kaguta Museveni during the liberation war that was launched in the Luweero Triangle in the early 1980s. In fact, it is for that reason that Heroes Day here in Uganda is celebrated on this very date.
President Idi Amin ordered the public execution of other citizens in 1973. These were accused of collaborating with the Front for National Salvation (FRONASA) rebel movement led by Yoweri Museveni.
FRONASA, precursor to the NRA/M; and these were Masaba and Namirundu who were killed in Mbale City; Nkoko and Ntale who were killed in Jinja City; Obwona and Labeja executed in Gulu City; Malibo and Kasolo killed in Fort Portal City; Karuhanga, the mathematics teacher nicknamed Muharaabu, killed in Mbarara City; Karambuzi and Bitwali who were killed in Kabale Town.
Following the clarion call, President Yoweri Museveni and his other comrades resolved that they must fight in order to become our own liberators as early as the 1970s. Therefore, honoring these heroes and heroines is significant, as they crossed many rivers of blood so that the country could be a free people rather than an oppressed people.
It is due to their sacrifices that Ugandans can dream of prosperity rather than fear the nightmare of torture and extrajudicial killings.
Heroes were people who chose to forego their own personal concerns. They forgot their individual ambitions when they were confronted with events that affected not just them but their countrymen and women.
They found themselves at crossroads and chose to make the ultimate sacrifice. They could have chosen to remain focused on their private battles, disregarding what was going on around them, but instead they chose a path walked by few.
In the same way, Uganda will pay tribute to the great African compatriots who gave a helping hand for Uganda to chase the post-Independent fascist regimes. The brave people of Tanzania, with their brave leader, comrade Julius Nyerere, and the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, carried the torch of Pan-Africanism which guided Uganda forward in the darkest period.
“On the home front, Uganda pays tribute to its brave men and women of the armed forces as well as the gallant sons and daughters from the Greater Luwero for courage and compatriotism. You are the gatekeepers of the peace we so greatly cherish. We salute your bravery and sacrifice. Pan African and International Solidarity, as Ugandans we shall never tire of paying tribute and giving thanks to those who supported and sacrificed their well-being for the freedom of our country,” said HE Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in a statement. He added, “Because of the above-outlined objectives and others not listed, it is appropriate for Ugandans to celebrate Heroes Day. Our theme “Arise Uganda; our Heroes’ Sacrifices are Now Bearing Fruit” is therefore suitable and reassuring.”
At Butuntumula, the fallen gallant sons and daughters found a final resting place befitting their stature as national heroes.
