President Museveni yesterday castigated the killers of Anglican Archbishop Janani Luwum at the orders of former president Idi Amin 44 years ago.

He said there was no reason to kill the man of God even if he could have been criticising his government.

"A lot of people died. They were killed for no good reason. There was no reason for killing the bishop even if he was criticising him [Amin]. You just ignore him or if you criticise me, I also criticise you. You tell a lie and I say you have told a lie here. Why kill a person? That means you are insecure; you are guilty. It was the structure of the State we had. We had a lot of illiterate people like Idi Amin, who were manning the structures of the State like the army. What do you expect? The politics was fragile. That is what we should be careful [about]... " Mr Museveni said as they celebrated the life of Archbishop Luwum at State House Entebbe yesterday.

Ethics minister Simon Lokodo revealed that the President had advised that they celebrate the day at State House because of coronavirus.

The day's theme centred on "life in its fullness".

Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu appealed to government to bring wrongdoers to the courts of law so that justice is served.

"Janani Luwum would plead that people arrested be released. He was a good shepherd. Life was not cheap... We remember stories of boda boda [riders] being killed using iron bars... Even last November, we heard a report from [Internal Affairs minister] Jejje Odong that people were missing. I am grateful, Your Excellence, that you have come out... Let the wrong doers be brought to courts of law so that justice can be pursued," Archbishop Kazimba said.

However, Mr Museveni asked religious leaders to be fair when criticising his government because some of the people have committed crime.