Opinion: Is the Fight for Justice and Democracy in Uganda Invain? - Written by Mawa J Collines, 2026 Maracha East Constituency MP Candidate Aspiring as Independent.

📸: Mawa J Collines, Courtesy Photo.

16-Feb-2025.

*Janani Luwum Day: Was it worth it?* 

Today, as I attended a prayer service at St. Paul’s Chapel, Gulu University, I fought back tears as the life of Archbishop Janani Luwum and the brutal way he met his death were narrated. 

In reality, I did not cry for the man of God who now rests in eternal peace. I cried for what his sacrifice has come to mean in a Uganda that still bleeds.

I sat there, my heart heavy, asking myself: Was his death in vain? He spoke against injustice, knowing it would cost him everything. He died for the truth, believing in a Uganda where righteousness would one day prevail. But as I looked around, I wondered; has that day ever come? Will it ever come?

I thought about the leaders God once sent us; men like Ben Kiwanuka, who stood for justice and paid with his life. I wondered why God used to raise such leaders, but now He has stopped. Where are the fearless voices today? Where are the men and women who would rather die than betray their convictions? Or have we stopped listening? 

Then, I remembered the soldiers, our men in uniform, who fought and died believing in a better Uganda. They bled for this land, leaving behind widows, orphans, and graves marked only by fading memories. Did they die for a country that still remains shackled by the very oppression they fought against? Did their sacrifice move us forward, or are we merely running in circles, chasing an illusion of freedom?

I remembered Dr. Kizza Besigye, a man who has spent a large part of his life in and out of detention, yet his only crime was believing Uganda could be different. I thought of political prisoners, locked away in cold, dark cells, without trials 

I thought of the many unsolved murders, of journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens who vanished without a trace. I thought of the state of our country, where truth is still a dangerous thing to speak.

Janani Luwum’s blood, like that of so many before and after him, soaked the soil of Uganda. And yet, I kept asking God: When will this man’s sacrifice mean something? When will the blood of the righteous be more than just a tragic memory? When will Uganda finally become the nation they all died for?

It is easy to gather in churches and celebrate martyrs long after they are gone. It is easy to sing hymns and say prayers in their honor. But the true test is not in remembering their deaths—it is in living out their legacy. If we truly honor Luwum, then we must be the voices that refuse to be silenced. 

We must be the truth that cannot be erased. We must be the courage that stands even when fear demands we bow.

Luwum did not die in vain, but his sacrifice will only bear fruit if we refuse to let history repeat itself. The burden now rests on us. Will we carry it forward, or will we let it be buried with him?

 _Tears of Collines Jeremiah Mawa_