Although the official account describes a car crash, it is generally accepted that he was murdered on the orders of then-President Idi Amin.

After five years he was appointed Archbishop of the Metropolitan Province of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga (in Zaire), becoming the second African to hold this position.

[4] Archbishop Luwum was a leading voice in criticising the excesses of the Idi Amin regime that assumed power in 1971.

[5] In 1977, Archbishop Luwum delivered a note of protest to dictator Idi Amin against the policies of arbitrary killings and unexplained disappearances.

Henry Kyemba, minister of health in Amin's government, later wrote in his book A State of Blood, that "The bodies were bullet-riddled.

[9] According to Vice President of Uganda Mustafa Adrisi[10] and a Human rights commission, Amin's right-hand man Isaac Maliyamungu carried out the murder of Luwum and his colleagues.

The holiday is dedicated to the life and service of Janani Luwum, the former archbishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda, who is typically regarded as having been murdered on the orders of the then-President Idi Amin.