In 2001, an act was passed in the Parliament of Uganda, which recognized June 9 as National Heroes Day. The day is used to remember the brave lives who contributed to the liberation struggle that ushered in the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government on January 26, 1986.
lives during the Ugandan Bush War that took place between 1981 and 1986. It is estimated that around 100,000 to 500,000 people, which includes both combatants and civilians, died across Uganda as a result of the Ugandan Bush War of 1981 to 1986.
The Ugandan Bush War, also called the Luwero War, the Ugandan Civil War, or the Resistance War, was a civil war fought between the official Ugandan government’s armed wing the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), and several rebel groups, but mainly the National Resistance Army (NRA).
In 1971, the unpopular President of Uganda, Apollo Milton Obote, was overthrown in a coup d’état by General Idi Amin, who then established a military dictatorship.
Amin was overthrown in 1979 after the Uganda-Tanzania War and Obote was elected as President of Uganda.
Amin’s loyalists started the Bush War and launched an insurgency in the West Nile region in 1980.
Elections held later saw Obote return to power in a UNLA.-led government.
But many opposition groups claimed that the elections were rigged, which led to Yoweri Museveni forming the NRA. This was the start of an armed uprising against Obote’s government on February 6, 1981.
*Why June 9 is key*
On June 9, 1981, at the start of the Ugandan Bush War, Edidian Mukiibi Luttamaguzi made the ultimate sacrifice by refusing to reveal the hiding place of Museveni and the soldiers of the NRA and was killed by the UNLA for it.
The war ended with victory for the NRA on January 25, 1986, with Yoweri Museveni becoming president.
