When Idi Amin's son walked out onto the stage in front of 40 000 men, including the Eastern Cape premier Phumulo Masualle, at a conference in the Karoo last weekend, the only likeness to his maniacal father was his towering frame.
Today saying sorry is what Jaffar lives for. As he travels the length and breadth of Uganda, he meets victims and widows of his father’s regime. He believes that owning up to the atrocities of the Amin regime is necessary for him and for his country to move forward and to heal.
But this is a process, not a one-off event. Jaffar also says it takes a lot more courage to work for peace than it does to stir up conflict or talk war.
“I believe it takes nothing to punch someone, but it takes courage to say sorry,” he said.
So committed is he that he has pledged to go with Lwere to the ends of the earth if it will help bring about peace and reconciliation.
That is why they came together to South Africa.
Jaffar’s message to the thousands of men of all race groups gathered on a farm near Middleburg was simple: “South Africa needs to get back the spirit it had in 1994.”
He believes South Africans demonstrated something remarkable during the transition to democratic rule and he urges the nation never to slip back to racial or ethnic conflict.
It was very encouraging to see Premier Masualle among the men who braved the cold weather. Invited by the KMMC organising committee, he was very attentive during the address by Jaffar and Lwere, nodding enthusiastically as they spoke about the need for the cessation of any hostilities and the promotion of peace and reconciliation.
Jaffar’s message was abundantly clear. But, as I stood in that vast open space, I wondered how many South Africans fully grasped the depths to which our nation could descend if we allow our peace and reconciliation project to unravel.
The horrific stories of sabotage, slaughter and tit-for-tat killings between Ugandans described by Jaffar Amin and Joshua Lwere – which even involved medical practitioners acting against ill patients in hospitals – convinced me that peace is worth everything.
Seek peace or face the abyss
Today saying sorry is what Jaffar lives for. As he travels the length and breadth of Uganda, he meets victims and widows of his father’s regime. He believes that owning up to the atrocities of the Amin regime is necessary for him and for his country to move forward and to heal.
But this is a process, not a one-off event. Jaffar also says it takes a lot more courage to work for peace than it does to stir up conflict or talk war.
“I believe it takes nothing to punch someone, but it takes courage to say sorry,” he said.
So committed is he that he has pledged to go with Lwere to the ends of the earth if it will help bring about peace and reconciliation.
That is why they came together to South Africa.
Jaffar’s message to the thousands of men of all race groups gathered on a farm near Middleburg was simple: “South Africa needs to get back the spirit it had in 1994.”
He believes South Africans demonstrated something remarkable during the transition to democratic rule and he urges the nation never to slip back to racial or ethnic conflict.
It was very encouraging to see Premier Masualle among the men who braved the cold weather. Invited by the KMMC organising committee, he was very attentive during the address by Jaffar and Lwere, nodding enthusiastically as they spoke about the need for the cessation of any hostilities and the promotion of peace and reconciliation.
Jaffar’s message was abundantly clear. But, as I stood in that vast open space, I wondered how many South Africans fully grasped the depths to which our nation could descend if we allow our peace and reconciliation project to unravel.
The horrific stories of sabotage, slaughter and tit-for-tat killings between Ugandans described by Jaffar Amin and Joshua Lwere – which even involved medical practitioners acting against ill patients in hospitals – convinced me that peace is worth everything.
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