 Twenty three years ago on March 5, 1987, on a moonlit night in a place called Gaba on the outskirts of the Ugandan capital Kampala, a family sat down to dinner outside their house, enjoying the cool breeze while downing a few lagers. Two days earlier, electricity had suddenly disappeared. The family therefore decided to use oil lanterns as they had their dinner. Music was switched on from a battery-powered radio and a guest was wondering loud how quickly things had changed in Uganda.
The guest, Dr Andrew Lutakome Kayiira, was talking about the relative peace that had settled on Uganda since the National Resistance Movement and its army had captured power the previous year. "Who would have thought a few years ago that one would sit so peacefully outside their house and have dinner?" As Dr Kayiira's host, I couldn't have agreed more.
As fate would have it, moments after Dr Kayiira had uttered these words, we were suddenly surrounded by between seven to ten heavily armed men, some of them in army uniforms and others in civilian. The rest is now history that I have written about so many times. By the time the men we later understood to be soldiers of the National Resistance Army (NRA), Kayiira was lying dead in a pool of blood in the guest room in my house.
After several warnings from those close to the Ugandan security forces, my wife and I left the country. Our children joined us a few months later. The killing of Dr Kayiira affected us so much so that to this day we have found it difficult to return to Africa. Indeed, no one may ever know the kind of trauma we have since suffered. The wounds are still fresh in our minds. Many of those who professed to be Dr Kayiira's true friends and who had fled the country together with us, have since returned home and many are serving the government of the very person highly suspected of having ordered the elimination of Dr Kayiira.
 The man who left the comfort of his home in the United States to take up arms and fight the dictatorial regime of Apollo Milton Obote is now lying in a cemetery full of wild grass, in an unmarked grave. His family say the grave is falling in and is unattended. There is not a single sign to show where the man who laid down his life so that others might have a chance to enjoy good life is buried. That good life seems to have gone to many but it has not reached his family, especially his children. While in the hearts of many he was a hero who chose to go to the bush long before the present incumbent of State House Entebbe had thought about it, his name is not among those recently announced by the Ugandan government as heroes worth remembering.
His children have written a harrowing letter, describing to me how Ugandan politicians have used their father's name to score political points while appeals to these very politicians for financial help to help the children go to school or feed themselves have fallen on deaf ears.
 There are thousands of Ugandans who were given leave to remain in this country after mentioning that they had been part of Dr Kayiira's Uganda Freedom Movement. 95 per cent of those who claimed asylum soon after Kayiira's death were allowed to remain in this country. The majority of them have since returned to Uganda to build themselves nice homes while earning hard currency here through the use of Dr Kayiira's name. we want them to join us in remembering the best President Uganda never had.
A great friend of Dr Kayiira, who shared his early days especially when he was a law professor on Massachusetts, has written:
On March 6, 1987, Dr. Kayiira was murdered in cold blood. Saturday, March 6, 2010 marks the 23rd Anniversary of his death.
With his Uganda Freedom Movement Dr. Kayiira was serious on liberating Uganda from dictatorship. With his UFA his approach was a surgical one. M7 with his NRA the approach was of a protracted and resistance war.
In the early Eighties Dr. Kayiira landed a sizeable and effective consignment of armaments. Before taking any surgical moves with them he had consultation with M7 (Yoweri Museveni, the current Ugandan leader). He suggested that he was going to hit Obote's life nerve, the army barracks positioned in the Lubiri. He requested M7 and his troops to participate in the exercise of taking over Kampala and returning the country to the people.
M7 refused to participate. Instead he chose to harass Kayiira till Kayiira could no longer see the light of this world. This is one of the examples of the effects of the Ogunenki syndrome which continues to bedevil Uganda. Kayiira will go down in the history of Uganda for his advocacy of federalism that would help Ugandans to be proud of what they are and save Ugandans from being arrogant because of  what they are.
I am glad to inform all listeners to Ngoma Radio that the author of the words above is Professor Aloysius Muzzanganda Mugerwa Lugira. For those who have never heard of him, Lugira is Professor of Comparative Theology Emeritus at Boston College, Massachusetts. I first heard about him from the late Dr Kayiira who spoke so well about him. Since coming to the United Kingdom, I have visited his home in Boston, Mass., where I was warmly welcomed. It is therefore with great pleasure to announce that Prof. Lugira will be our main guest during our 'Tompalampa' programme this Saturday March 13 2010. Coincidentally, this is the same date I left Uganda in 1987. He will tell us all we did not know about Dr Kayiira, what type of man he was and what he stood for.
In addition to Prof. Lugira, we will have Dr Kayiira's children live from Uganda who will tell us what they have been through since their father was taken away from them. So if you loved Dr Kayiira, please do tune in and listen to what these and other people close to our fallen hero have to say. Call in and ask them questions. Help make sure his name is never erased from our memory. The programme starts at 1500 GMT (1800 Uganda time).
''It is now twenty three years down the road since our father was assassinated. The same full years that we have never known the real killers yet the government instituted an investigation into the murder of our dad. The same 23 years that we have gone through untold misery, suffering and neglect. We really feel sorry for ourselves to see that we have gone through all this yet our father sacrificed everything to serve this country'' Kayiira's children said.
Below is the letter from Kayiira's children in remembrance of their father:
We as the children, we have lived a life we never thought we would go through. Some of our brothers and sisters are in Diaspora because of the hard life back home. Our father participated in the liberation of this country. He served twice as minister both in the Lule and Museveni governments, but we have not gained anything from the good things he did for this country.
The people he helped to be where they are, his ex-soldiers who are holding big posts in the government, his close friends, his confidants, have all turned their backs on us and they have never even bothered to know the whereabouts of his family.
There are things we are going to point out that have really made us cry day and night, asking ourselves questions why dad left us so early; desiring to know who really killed our father.
(1) We have been denied anything good in life. We have lived like children of any commoner, no good education, without proper shelter and everything have been through the hard way. We live in Mizigos with our mothers, selling local brew to get something to eat. But even paying rent has been a problem and most of the time we have been thrown out by landlords.
(2) When it comes to education, it is really a pity that we lost our careers, failed to go further in our studies because we cannot support ourselves. Our dreams have been shattered and our future is no more. What can we do minus education?
(3) We don't have a home of our own, not even one room. The only small shelter left behind by our dad in the village (in Kambidde, Masuuliita) is almost falling down. Our dad's grave is almost falling in. We can't raise money to renovate it; he was buried like a common man. We wish you could realize what we are talking about. We at times pause a question to ourselves: "Why did our father had to sacrifice his life to bring stability in this country while us his children are suffering yet there are people who could have helped us? The government has kept a deaf ear to our plea, yet so many times we have approached them seeking help. We have written several letters to the president but he has never come out to meet us. Many people, mainly the opposition, have been using our dad's name as a political platform.You are aware they even came to you (Dr Henry Gombya). But they have never helped us in any way. Ssebaana last year chased us from his office when we approached him while looking for school fees. He made walk for a whole week then at last he said he can't help us because he is suffering due to our father's case in court for having printed the murder report in the media.
Francis Bwengye used our brother Andrew Kasibante during the presidential elections and later dumped him. He had completed senior six and he needed help to join the university. He didn't even give him a single coin yet he used him to show the country that he is helping.
Why is the government holding our father's murder report? Why is Scotland Yard not telling the truth? The people our dad helped have not done anything to help us. People like Dan Ssozi the Ugandan consulate to Sweden. So as we remember 23 years since our dad was killed, we want to bring the attention of the government and everyone concerned to hear our story and listen to our plight. Those who are using our father's name to get what they want must stop. Please don't hesitate to expose those you know that have done so.
We are:
Kayiira, Andrew Kasibante (32)
Kayiira, Patrick (30)
Kayiira, Teddy (27)
Kayiira, David (25)
Kayiira, David Yawe (22)
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NEW LOOK WEB HOMEPAGE!!! (8226)
Good enough we here, we can carry forward our great grands’ spirit from which Buganda managed to sprout to the world map. I believe we are one of the most intelligent people in the world and we can manage whatever we can aspire for.
We must do something for our motherland.
Ndi Kirwana Wilberforce
Awangale Ssabasajja Magulu Nyondo