By KT Reporter
President Yoweri Museveni has directed the Minister for the Presidency, Milly Babalanda, to expedite the long-delayed compensation of all remaining claimants affected by Alice Lakwena’s rebellion, which claimed lives and destroyed property across several communities.
Alice Lakwena led a spiritually driven rebellion in the 1980s, mobilizing fighters in an attempt to overthrow the then newly established Museveni government. Her movement, which began in Northern Uganda, advanced through several regions, especially Busoga, before being intercepted in 1987.
Though short-lived, the insurgency left devastating human and economic losses in its wake, including deaths and extensive looting of gardens and livestock to feed the rebel forces.
Addressing journalists in Busoga Sub-region, President Museveni instructed Minister Babalanda to work closely with the Attorney General to speed up the compensation process. The government has earmarked 5 billion Shillings to settle long-standing claims affecting an estimated 2,000 people whose cases have been evaluated over the years.
For many families, the president’s directive has revived long-fading hopes.
Susan Nakiirya, one of the claimants, says her family lost livestock during operations to suppress Lakwena’s rebellion, but decades of compensation pledges have yielded little.She adds that her father and his siblings, who were directly affected, died without ever receiving the promised support.
Nakiirya says President Museveni’s renewed public commitment offers a sense of relief to families who had begun to view the compensation process as a mere formality with no real outcome.
Moses Matege, another claimant, recalls losing his father during the conflict. As a young boy, he watched Lakwena’s rebels surround their village, coercing older men to join the insurgency.
When his father resisted, the rebels allegedly stabbed him to death in front of his wife and children. Matege says the trauma has lived with them for decades, but the long-overdue compensation may help restore some confidence that the government recognizes the suffering endured by its citizens.
For Samuel Mugalya, the memories are equally harrowing. He says both his parents were killed during the rebellion, leaving him and his five siblings orphaned in their teens.
Lakwena’s fighters reportedly accused his father of leaking intelligence to state actors.
Mugalya narrates how the rebels surrounded their home one evening, stabbing his father in the head and killing him instantly. His mother, who broke down in grief, was attacked shortly after, her left arm severed before she succumbed to injuries two days later.
Forced into the role of guardian at a young age, Mugalya says the president’s pledge brings hope that their 38-year wait for acknowledgement and compensation may finally come to an end.
For thousands of families across the affected regions, the directive marks a potential turning point, an opportunity not only for compensation, but for long-overdue closure and recognition of the deep scars left by Lakwena’s rebellion.
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