Cardinal Emmanuel Kiwanuka Nsubuga; Opposed Idi Amin’s Rule

Cardinal Emmanuel Kiwanuka Nsubuga, 77, a former head of the Roman Catholic Church in Uganda and an opponent of human rights abuses under Idi Amin’s rule. Nsubuga was ordained in 1947 and became the East African nation’s sole cardinal in 1976. During the nine-year rule of dictator Amin, Nsubuga spoke fearlessly against the government’s human rights abuses. Amin was overthrown in 1979 by Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exiles. Nsubuga also encouraged priests and nuns throughout the country to shelter people fleeing harassment by the army during the civil war that raged during former President Milton Obote’s five-year rule. Obote was ousted by the military in August, 1985. Nsubuga retired in April, 1990. In a hospital in Cologne, Germany, on Saturday of blood and bone cancer.