More than two decades after the gunfire faded and the dust of rebellion settled, a long-awaited moment of reconciliation and compassion unfolded at State House, Entebbe, on Thursday.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni finally met with the family of the late Francis Eregu Hitler, one of the most feared and formidable rebel commanders of the 1986–1994 insurgency in Eastern and Northern Uganda.
Eregu, who led the Uganda People’s Army (UPA) during a time of immense national turmoil, was killed in a fierce battle with the National Resistance Army, the precursor to the current Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF).
Once a rebel fighter who aimed to unseat Museveni’s government, Eregu’s memory returned not in resistance this week, but in a moment of healing, reflection, and renewed hope for the family he left behind.
The President, acknowledging the pain and hardship the family has endured since Eregu’s death, expressed regret that a man who once fought against him could not live long enough to possibly join him in building the nation.
“If Eregu had been alive, I would have offered him a role to serve this country, just like I have done with others,” Museveni said solemnly. “It is unfortunate he died while in the struggle. But in his memory, I will stand with his family.”
The meeting, filled with emotion and quiet dignity, brought together Eregu’s aging 102-year-old mother, Aero Angela, his widows Ajiko Joice and Aisha Namutebi, children, and siblings. For years, they have lived in poverty and silence, burdened by the weight of their past and forgotten in the shadows of war history.
“We’ve been suffering,” said Enabu Selen Ebwangu, Eregu’s brother. “After he died, we were left with nothing, no land, no home, no help. Life has been very hard for us.”
Calvin Ecodu, an aspirant for the NRM Vice Chairmanship (Eastern Region), had taken note of the family’s desperate situation and began assisting quietly, building a modest two-room house for Eregu’s elderly mother and offering financial aid. He brought the matter to the attention of Dr. Kenneth Omona, Minister in charge of Northern Uganda, and Augustine Otuko, the President’s Private Secretary for Political Affairs, who facilitated the State House meeting.
President Museveni, visibly moved, commended Echodu for his compassion. He pledged to build a permanent modern house for the family and promised to construct rental units for the widows to ensure they have a steady income.
To empower the late commander’s children, he urged them to form a group that will be funded to start a poultry farm, a pathway toward self-reliance and dignity.
Among those in attendance was Eregu’s son, Engulu Jude, 33, who dropped out of school after Senior Four due to lack of school fees. Today, he is a peasant farmer, longing for a chance to change the trajectory of his life. “I just want to work and make my father proud,” he said quietly, fighting back tears.
The President also pledged to support Eregu’s broader clan, symbolizing a gesture of national healing for a man who once stood on the opposite side of Uganda’s fight for peace.
This meeting served as a powerful reminder that even in the aftermath of war, the human cost lingers longest in the lives of those left behind. But it also revealed the power of forgiveness, and the capacity of a nation to heal its deepest wounds.
“Supporting the family of Eregu is not just charity,” said Museveni. “It’s a recognition that the past, no matter how painful, must not dictate our future. It’s about building unity from our divisions.”
And for a family long forgotten, this gesture means everything. It is the beginning of a new chapter, not marked by loss, but by possibility.
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This is good then. We thank God for He has kept the family for all that long.