The Teeth May Smile But The Heart Does Not Forget
Murder and memory in Uganda.
Written by Filed under History
The accused (from left): Mohammed Anyule, Nasur Gille, and Yusuf Gowon. Photo by Andrew Rice.
Uganda is considered one of the great success stories of Africa. But today’s relative calm and prosperity belies the country’s dark past under the regime of military dictator Idi Amin Dada. Among the tens of thousands of atrocities committed during Amin’s brutal reign was the politically motivated execution of local chief Eliphaz Laki, who was “taken” on September 22, 1972, when his son Duncan was just nine years old.
For close to three decades, Duncan wondered about the mysterious circumstances surrounding his dad’s disappearance. Over the years, he made several halting attempts to identify his father’s killers, but his efforts went for naught until he discovered that Eliphaz’s Volkswagen Beetle had been registered in another man’s name in November 1972. Beginning with that key bit of information, Duncan tracked down those allegedly responsible for his father’s murder—former Amin chief of staff Yusuf Gowon, triggerman Nasur Gille and informer Mohammed Anyule—and had them arrested for their crimes.
Duncan’s attempt to bring Gowon and his co-defendants to justice roiled parts of Uganda, a country that has taken a “forgive and forget” approach to its bloody past. At the same time, his determined action seemed to assuage fellow victims of Amin-era violence, who had long been denied the opportunity to seek reconciliation or witness a day of reckoning.
In “The Teeth May Smile But The Heart Does Not Forget” (Metropolitan), author Andrew Rice recounts how Duncan solved this real-life murder mystery, and also explores the case’s impact on 21st century Uganda. Recently, Failure caught up with Rice to discuss the story and the outcome of the trial, and to find out whether Duncan is finally at peace after a journey of more than 30 years.
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