Images and reports of perfectly innocent people killed or injured in the suicide bombing in Kampala today ignited emotions of anger, helplessness, and renewed incredulity at humanity’s self-destructive nature. My anger turned to transient paralysis when I learnt that my nephew was one of the victims of the bombing. By God’s grace, he lived to tell the story:

“Dear Uncle Muniini,

Today morning, I was going to Clement Hill Road and as I was crossing the road to walk on the side of the former police headquarters on Parliament Avenue, a huge blast went off. It was so loud that I fell to the ground, shattering my phone which I was holding in my hand.

I noticed that I had just crossed from where the bomb went off. I noticed later that I was bleeding on my upper left arm. I sat there for a few minutes in shock and confusion. I got first aid from a gentleman, and I left immediately on a boda boda to a clinic near my home for further check-up. I thank God that I'm still alive. Still in shock though, but I'm okay.

Phillip.”

I spoke with Phillip Kimumwe a few hours after the bombing. He is going to be well. Like his father, the late Major Patrick Balati Kimumwe, one of Uganda’s unsung heroes, Philip is a cool, unflappable man. Where others would have been mute with shock, he narrated his near encounter with death with a surgeon’s calmness. “I’ll be fine, uncle,” he assured me. Of that I am confident and very thankful for.

Sadly, there are many who were not so lucky. I think of the families of those who will never tell their stories again. Non-combatants who were going about their lives only to have them violently ended in seconds. I think of those who were severely injured, facing a new reality of physical and emotional pain, disfigurement and post-traumatic stress disorder that may define them for years. 

I think of Uganda’s rulers who must secure the country, protect citizens, track down the perpetrators of the crimes, and dispense justice without violating human rights.  May the Lord grant Uganda’s president and his security team the wisdom to secure the country without compromising the rights and freedoms of innocent citizens. 

I certainly hope and pray that the police, the army, the intelligence services, and the militias will resist the temptation to beat people out of frustration or fear. Better to make citizens your friends, not your enemies. Better to presume everybody to be innocent, than to shoot in the dark, so to speak, hoping to hit the bad guys. 

This is the moment for all Ugandans, regardless of our political opinions, to rally together, stand behind the flag and, with God’s help, seek a solution to the violence. 

Blessings