A new 16-storey commercial office suite in the heart of Uganda’s financial district will carry the name of martyred Archbishop Janani Luwum, the Primate of Uganda, Archbishop Stanley Ntagali has announced. The building, to be known as “Janani Luwum Church House”, was first envisioned by Archbishop Janani before he was murdered on the orders of Idi Amin in February 1977. The building, which is being constructed by the Church of Uganda with the support of the Kenyan-based Equity Bank, will provide an income stream to support the ministry of the province.

Archbishop Janani Luwum.
Photo: Church of Uganda

Work on the building, which is opposite the Bank of Uganda, the country’s central bank, is in its final stages, and it is anticipated that tenants will move in later this year. Equity Bank, which is expanding across the region, will move their Ugandan corporate headquarters to the building and will become the anchor tenants of Janani Luwum Church House. The remaining space will be let to other businesses and commercial organisations.

Work continues on the new Janani Luwum Church House commercial office building, opposite the central Bank of Uganda in Kampala.
Photo: Google Street View

Paying tribute to Archbishop Janani, Archbishop Stanley said: “I get a lot of inspiration from him. He was a pastor, he was a teacher, he was a counsellor and he was very developmental.

“Church House, which we are about to complete, was his idea. . . And that is why the provincial assembly has decided to name it Janani Luwum Church House. We have many things we remember about him: his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he was a peace-maker – he loved peace and he wanted reconciliation. And that is why he died.

“We remember him, we commemorate him, we value his ministry and that is why we are inspired. . . He was a great leader and he inspires us all. We should emulate his example to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Archbishop Stanley made his comments in one of a series of video “remembrances” being posted by the Church of Uganda on its Facebook page in the run-up to this year’s anniversary of Archbishop Janani’s assassination. The anniversary date – 16 February – is a public holiday in Uganda and is commemorated with church services across the country.

In another video remembrance, Bishop Johnson Gakumba of Northern Uganda, where Archbishop Janani served from 1969 to 1973, said that the church needs “to cultivate in the lives of our people” the pillars of Archbishop Janani’s ministry: “evangelism, discipleship, ministerial formation, socio-economic development, standing for justice and love for humanity.”

The Church of Uganda’s provincial office will continue to be based in their current building near St Paul’s Cathedral on Namirembe Hill.