KAMPALA – More than four decades after Uganda’s bush war, thousands of families of war victims continue to demand justice, compensation, and recognition for the pain they endured. Survivors say they live with deep trauma while struggling in poverty, excluded from the official narrative of national “liberation.”
Many families claim compensation is distributed selectively, often reserved for those pledging loyalty to the National Resistance Movement (NRM). Others say they are ignored entirely, or forced to pay large sums of money just to secure an audience with the president.
In Isingiro District, one family recalls how soldiers raided their homestead during the 1980s, looted cattle, and violated women. Despite repeated attempts to seek redress, officials allegedly dismissed their petitions. “They tell us unless you are NRM, don’t waste your time,” said an elder from the area. “But our pain is real. Our cattle were taken, our homes burned, our people killed.”
Human rights groups confirm that survivors across the Luweero Triangle, West Nile, and the Rwenzori region have filed claims for years, but most remain unresolved. Instead, critics say selective payouts have been used as political rewards.
The case of Moses Kakuru highlights this enduring injustice. Kakuru’s father was tortured, and cattle stolen by Museveni’s rebels in 1978. Both parents later died due to violence and war-linked disease. His family’s suffering, like that of thousands of others, remains absent from official accounts, leaving generations trapped in cycles of loss and poverty.
Analysts argue that Uganda risks entrenching historical wounds. “If the state only compensates those it deems loyal, then justice is denied to victims,” said a Kampala-based political historian. “You cannot build unity on selective memory.”
Today, survivors still wait for their cries to be heard. Their homes remain in ruins, their children orphaned, and their stories silenced. While the bush war ended decades ago, for these families, the fight for justice for Uganda’s war victims has never ended.
