As the National Resistance Movement (NRM) prepares to celebrate 40 years since it took power, voices demanding recognition and compensation for contributions made during Uganda’s long liberation struggle have not fallen silent. One such voice belongs to Prof Solomon Baluki Wakabi of Nakabago Village in Mukono Municipality, who says four decades on, his role remains ignored. ‘For 37 years, I have looked for President Museveni in vain,’ Prof Wakabi says. ‘I joined the liberation struggle immediately following Idi Amin’s military takeover in 1971, when I was barely 15 years old. My family lost a lot during the entire struggle,’ he adds.
Prof Wakabi says during the Bush War, he was an external resource mobiliser for the NRA/NRM through the late Dr Samson Kisekka. ‘But up to now, I have never been compensated or recognised at all. History has to be put right,’ he adds. Prof Wakabi, the founder of Fairland High School and Fairland Foundation, an organisation that supports vulnerable children to access affordable education, said he has spent decades seeking recognition like others who participated in the liberation struggle in vain. He says since returning to Uganda in 1990 after completing doctoral studies in the Philippines, he has written numerous letters to President Museveni, sought help from senior government officials, and even reached out to Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, all in vain.
‘I have written countless letters to the President, approached several senior officials and sought assistance from the CDF, but nothing has worked,’ he says. ‘I am surprised that my name appears nowhere among those who contributed to the liberation, yet I suffered and my family lost a lot,’ he adds. Prof Wakabi traces his political awakening to his childhood. Born on September 18, 1956, to the late Kezekia Wakabi and Dorothy Kyomubi of Buwenge Town in present-day Jinja District, he grew up in a household that closely followed national and regional affairs. ‘At home, we read newspapers like Munno, Uganda Argus and Taifa Empya,’ he recalls. ‘What caught my attention most were the rampant military takeovers on the African continent and the gross human rights violations that followed,’ he adds.]
When Idi Amin seized power in January 1971, Wakabi was a student at Jinja Senior Secondary School. While many Ugandans initially celebrated the coup, he says he was among the few who sensed danger. ‘Though Amin received a warm welcome and became a darling to many, I immediately sought to fight him and his regime,’ he says. Inspired by Tanzania’s refusal under President Julius Nyerere to recognise Amin’s government, Wakabi wrote directly to Nyerere, asking him to intervene militarily to help remove the dictator. ‘My letter was intercepted by Post Office officials at Buwenge,’ he says. ‘Soon after, authorities invaded my father’s home and arrested him. They also came to my school and arrested me,’ he adds.
His arrest was widely reported on Radio Uganda and in newspapers, including Uganda Argus, Munno and Taifa Empya. He was later arraigned before the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Jinja, charged with sedition, convicted and sentenced to three years in prison. ‘Because I was barely 15 years old, the magistrate converted the prison sentence into probation; I was confined at home, with my movements restricted except for school,’ he says. After completing high school in 1975, Amin’s government offered him a job as a community development assistant in South Busoga, now Iganga District. He declined, fearing for his safety. He instead enrolled at Bugema College (now Bugema University) to study theology.
With the support of Dr Kisekka, Wakabi later fled into exile in Malindi, Kenya, where he continued lobbying for Tanzanian support for Uganda’s liberation.
After Amin’s fall, Wakabi returned to Uganda and dedicated himself to community development. However, the disputed 1980 elections plunged the country into another period of conflict, culminating in the NRA/NRM Bush War. ‘With Dr Kisekka, we mobilised resources to support the struggle,’ he says. ‘In 1986, Museveni won the war, and I was there in person when he was sworn in at Parliament,’ he adds. Prof Wakabi says Dr Kisekka, who became prime minister, had planned to introduce him to President Museveni. But before that meeting could take place, Wakabi received a scholarship to pursue doctoral studies in the Philippines. He returned in 1990. On his return, he joined efforts to transform Bugema College into a university, a milestone achieved in 1994. By then, Dr Kisekka had been removed from office and later passed away.
Struggles
‘Since then, I have struggled to meet the President but in vain,’ he adds. He adds that his late father sold 50 acres of family land to finance his court defence during Amin’s regime, sacrifices he says were made for the sake of liberation and good governance. ‘We have never received any recognition or compensation,’ he says. ‘We have been denied access to the President for four decades. Yet I was part of the external mobilisation team that facilitated the struggle,’ he adds.
Despite his frustrations, Wakabi says he has continued serving the country.
‘I have worked to transform lives, especially those of vulnerable children, through Fairland High School and Foundation. But it pains me that my efforts have gone unrecognised while others have been compensated,’ he adds. As the NRM marks four decades in power, Prof Wakabi says his appeal is simple. ‘I want the records to be put right; I want to be counted among those who risked and contributed to the peace of this country from the early days of Idi Amin.’