KAMPALA | Uganda’s post-independence history is written in the language of wars and promises of liberation. Yet, for many survivors, the very struggle that was meant to restore dignity became the source of lifelong scars. Kakuru’s story is not isolated—it belongs to the silenced chapters of a nation still wrestling with its past.
Four decades after the end of Uganda’s bush war, survivors and their families continue to live with unhealed wounds, unresolved grievances, and systemic neglect. Among them is Tugume Kakuru Moses, a teacher and former civil servant from Isingiro District, whose life has been shaped by violence, political exclusion, and personal tragedy.
A Childhood Marked by War
Born in Ruzinga Village, Kyamusoni Parish, in 1979, Kakuru is the eldest of seven siblings. His early life was scarred by brutality even before he understood politics. In 1978, his father was attacked by rebels loyal to Yoweri Museveni, then leading a guerrilla movement. Armed men tied him up, beat him, and subjected him to degrading sexual torture while stealing the family’s cattle. He survived, but the injuries and trauma haunted him for the rest of his life.
In 1987, after Museveni rose to power, their home was raided by plain-clothed soldiers of the National Resistance Army (NRA). At dawn, soldiers stormed the household, looted property, and raped both Kakuru’s mother and her sister in front of the children. The two women later contracted HIV from the assault and died in 2001. His father passed away three years earlier, in 1998, leaving Kakuru to care for his siblings as an orphaned young man.
Political Persecution and Job Loss
Despite the hardships, Kakuru pursued education, earning a Grade III Teaching Certificate in 2001. He began teaching at Kikagate Primary School but was later struck off the government payroll in 2006, allegedly for supporting the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) under Dr. Kizza Besigye.
His troubles deepened after joining the Uganda Electoral Commission as Deputy District Registrar in Hoima in 2010. During the 2011 general elections, Kakuru says he was instructed to manipulate results in favor of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM). He refused. Shortly afterward, he was dismissed.
In 2015, he secured a position as 2nd Deputy Human Resource Manager at the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS). But by 2017, his job was re-advertised without explanation. Internal sources hinted that his political affiliation had again cost him employment.
A Family Targeted
Persecution extended to his family. Kakuru’s twin brother was fatally shot during an opposition rally by armed security forces. Kakuru, who witnessed the killing, describes the trauma as irreparable. “We were raised to believe in unity, but politics in Uganda has destroyed entire families,” he said in a 2018 interview.
Living in Fear
Like many Ugandans openly associated with the opposition, Kakuru has lived under constant surveillance and intimidation. Human rights observers and historians note that his story is part of a broader pattern — where political loyalty often determines access to employment, justice, and even survival.
For Kakuru, the war did not end when the guns went silent. It continued through poverty, loss, and the slow erasure of those who stood on the wrong side of power. His life reflects the untold reality of many survivors of Uganda’s conflicts: promises of liberation overshadowed by selective memory, silenced suffering, and the absence of justice.
