The 1966 army attackk on the kabaka's palace
According
to witness Sentamu, a prison officer at Luzira at the time of the
attack, Obote as Prime Minister and Commander in chief of the Armed
Forces incited the Lubiri massacre. Sentamu said Obote had earlier made
a threatening speech while at Soroti in which among other things, he
said:
"I warn you people of Soroti if you behave like a certain tribe you
know very well, I shall not hesitate at all, I will send my boys to
destroy both you and your property; I repeat, I will send my boys to
destroy both your lives and property. I say this for God and my
country. A good Muganda is a dead one".
Sentamu continued to report:
Soon after, an attack was made on the kabaka's palace at Mengo. Witness James Rubakuba stated to the commission that thousands of people lost their lives during the attack or after. Dead bodies were transferred in lorry fulls from the palace to Luzira prison cemetery where they were buried in mass graves.
According to Sentamu, many of the dead were brought in without heads and in some bodies, the intestines were falling out. All types of people, men, women, children were among the dead. Among those brought for burial, some were still alive and screamed for help: "Ssebo, tufa ekiziyiro, mutuyambe bannaffe! (Sir, we are dying of suffocation, help us friends!). When Rubakuba asked Captain Gaitano Opoka who was in charge of the transfer of the dead and the dying, the Captain replied that since all the people under transfer had been signed for as dead bodies, they had to be buried! Sentamu had to apply armed force before the dying were separated from the dead and taken to Mulago hospital. These incidents contributed to a long lasting relationship of hatred between Buganda and Obote's government, which, culminated in civil war in the Luwero triangle during Obote's second government in 1981 1985
Soon after, an attack was made on the kabaka's palace at Mengo. Witness James Rubakuba stated to the commission that thousands of people lost their lives during the attack or after. Dead bodies were transferred in lorry fulls from the palace to Luzira prison cemetery where they were buried in mass graves.
According to Sentamu, many of the dead were brought in without heads and in some bodies, the intestines were falling out. All types of people, men, women, children were among the dead. Among those brought for burial, some were still alive and screamed for help: "Ssebo, tufa ekiziyiro, mutuyambe bannaffe! (Sir, we are dying of suffocation, help us friends!). When Rubakuba asked Captain Gaitano Opoka who was in charge of the transfer of the dead and the dying, the Captain replied that since all the people under transfer had been signed for as dead bodies, they had to be buried! Sentamu had to apply armed force before the dying were separated from the dead and taken to Mulago hospital. These incidents contributed to a long lasting relationship of hatred between Buganda and Obote's government, which, culminated in civil war in the Luwero triangle during Obote's second government in 1981 1985
National Movements and New States in Africa