On the morning of July 10, 2019 at 8:30am, the Acholi community was gripped with shock following the news of the passing of Mzee Savio Ojok Awany, 79. Mzee Awany was a legendary pace-setter, unifier, educationist, sportsman, retired Prisons Officer, gifted hunter and talented dancer. He was a gentle giant; exuding an infectious smile. Five years ago, Stephen Bwire sat down with this erudite son of Acholi, and recorded his story in his own words. Excerpts;-
My name is Savio Ojok Awany. I was born on 5th March 1940 and brought up in the family of Mzee Luka Awany and Kerodia Lawino. Luka Awany was born in the Payira Clan, and Kerodia Lawino was born in Palema Clan. My mother was the first and last wife of my father. They were matrimonized in church in early 1950. I was still young by then.
By the time I was born, my parents were already very old but they managed to bring me up and educate me in St Aloysius Nyapeya College. I was brought up and educated by American brothers in Gulu at Ongom Primary School and Anaka Primary School and went to my Junior Secondary at St Aloysius Nyapeya. But we were having difficulties, I couldn’t continue with school, I was even supposed to go to university but this wasn’t possible. So, after Junior secondary I joined the Uganda Prison Service where I served diligently and earned my promotion to Principal Officer. Before heading to the Prisons service I was staying with my elder brother Okuttu Awany.
By the time I joined Prison Service, I had already married my first wife who is Mama Todwong, and when I completed my training I took her with me. We stayed in Luzira for quite some time. She produced four girls at first. And she was very frustrated, but as for me I wasn’t worried because I believed that was God’s plan. I would comfort her that if it’s God’s will, we would get a boy.
Later on I would resign from Prison because of political events during Idi Amin’s days. And when I was at home, we bore a boy called Alex. This boy grew up nicely and the one who followed Alex was also a boy and I loved the boy so much, but unfortunately the boy died without even falling sick. I felt like committing suicide. My father would always comfort me and sit by my side following the death of this boy. It took some time before I could recover from the shock of this loss.
It wasn’t long before we got Todwong. Todwong means one who follows one who is dead. That was a gift from God because Todwong grew up as a nice and intelligent boy, taking on responsibility at home. By then I was a farmer, we would graze goats, and I was very happy with him.
Again I was reinstated to Prison Service, after the liberation war that toppled Amin. I called Todwong to come with me because I loved him, I couldn’t leave him to stay with the mother. He came to stay with me in Luzira and he was studying at Luzira Prison School. The Prisons Authority saw in me a dedicated officer, and so they deemed it fit to transfer me to run my own prison that’s Lugowere Prison. While in Lugowere, another war broke out, and I again left the prison service and went back home. While at home I worked so hard and built two houses in Anaka Town centre and also bought my cows- about 400 herds of cattle.
As I was beginning to settle in my retirement, another war broke out. This time the LRA war. By this time my son Otema was serving in the new government of Museveni as an army officer. So this made me to become a target of the rebels since they said I was the father of a boy who was serving their enemy- the NRM government. Fortunately, I was also a tough man. I wouldn’t allow to be intimidated. There was a time I had gone to sell meat so that I could return with salt and medicine. I was with some of my children including Towdong traveling a distance of 30kms. We fell in ambush of rebels. The rebels were determined to kill me. They arrested me, and I told them that I wanted to talk to my children first before I die. They allowed me to talk to my children. I advised my children to go back home and wait for a week; if after a week they wouldn’t see me then it means I would be dead, and they shouldn’t even cry.
Todwong didn’t want to leave me. He followed me to where the rebels were taking me. By that time he was very much trying to plead with the rebels to leave me. The rebels felt a bit sympatric, that this child was crying too much; and they decided not to kill me. That is how Todwong saved me and we returned home.
When we went home, I would stay there, not coming out of home. Life became unbearable. One day the rebels came and I even boxed one of them, a small boy but I managed to escape with my whole family and left all the property behind. I took one of my wives who was about to give birth and wanted to leave her with my grandfather. My mother cried for me. She was so scared. I even sold cows so that I could escape to Zaire through West Nile. But after selling the cows, I thought this people would come and kill my family, and it wouldn’t make sense for me to disappear. I was imprisoned in my own village. I became a primary target for the rebels; I wouldn’t hide in anyone’s home for fear that rebels would ransack homes and kill anyone found hiding me. I even went to my father in law’s home but he chased me away because he knew the rebels wanted to kill me. But some of these rebels tried to help me and offer me support. They were my clansmen. One of my children even joined them but he ended up being killed and another survived. He was a brother to Todwong.
When I saw that my life was at stake in Anaka, I decided to mobilise my family and run to Gulu. I enrolled my children at Negrey primary school, and Todwong went to the same school and that’s where he did his primary and passed to go to study in Kampala for senior secondary.
We were in Gulu at the intensity of the LRA war. I remember fierce fighting broke out one night between the rebels and government forces. During the time we were staying in Gulu, another war broke out at night. We were sleeping adjacent to the main road. Other children ran but Todwong was sleeping. When he woke up he tried to run and a bullet missed him by a whisker. It was a miracle he survived. As the rebels were following him, the government soldiers came for rescue. That’s how he was saved.
Gifted hunter
One thing I must say is that during the time I stayed home I was a very excellent hunter. I was licensed to hunt in the game park. Elephants. I would come face to face with dangerous animals including lions, leopards, buffalos and among others, and would kill them. There is a popular story about me in my community of “Awany who killed a lion with his bare hands.” I remember one day a group of baffalos surrounded me and I shot all of them. I was a very good marksman. I shoot on target. The remaining buffalo stood right over me! I aimed my gun and I killed it. That is how I survived the charged buffalo.
Talk about how you survived being killed by Amin
I was one of the prisons officers Amin admired. Not just because of my dedication to service but I was also a good sportsman, and you know how Amin loved sports. Word would soon go round that I was sending money to the rebels in Tanzania and I was arrested. I was taken to Makindye Military Barracks. This was a torture and killing dungeon. I almost boxed the Sergeant who was in charge of my jail. I was one man who wouldn’t allow to be intimidated, and I knew my fate of death was sealed. One day soldiers came and took us and bundled us on a truck, blind-folded us and drove us to be killed at Mabira Forest. Fortunately the driver of the truck knew me and he quickly organized for me to escape. He confused the other soldiers around; they concentrated on other prisoners and for me I quickly ran back. I walked up to Kampala, then from Kampala all the way to Gulu. I would behave like a mad man eating leaves and wearing rags just to confuse about. I reached home after three months when my legs had swollen. My family members knew I had been killed. So they had organized a funeral for me. But when I returned they thought they were seeing a ghost! My children began to cry, they couldn’t believe that their father was alive. From the time I escaped from Amin’s executioners I never slept in my house. I wouldn’t move about anyhow for fear of being seen by Amin’s people.
Talk about your large family?
I am a man of many wives and children. I wouldn’t wish to count the number of children I have. My culture doesn’t permit me to do so. I have brought up all my children well, and taken good care of them including their mothers. My children are well-behaved, they would follow strict rules of discipline from me. I became a role model to my children; they would never loiter around the trading centre of Anaka and get spoilt. By 5pm, all my children would be inside the house. Otema was always with me. He learnt a lot of things including hard work. He learnt how to become his own man. No wander God has blessed that son of mine because he adopted the same spirit of hard work, determination, bravery from me. He never let anything stand in his way, young as he was. We suffered together until one day he disappeared to join the military.
My other hard working and principled child is Christine, Todown’g eldest sister. Christine has succeeded in business. She beats men in business. She started taking care of her siblings when she was still young. She paid school fees for them. She also believed in the value of education like me, and she decided to go back to school at her old age.
My grandfather was a warrior who migrated from Udek to Bora clan. He is said to have killed an Arab who were slave dealers, and they started hunting him down. Together with his children including my father who was very young by then, they ran and joined Payira. That is where I was born- in Payira. We are related to Omtek. When we had inter-clan wars some of us scattered to places including Lango. Those are the Acholi people called Langomat. And the Majagwa-payira are the ones who migrated from Udek to Bora. During one of the many wars we would have with other clans, my father being a sharp young man ran away with the drum of our chief. To date we have the drum. It is now at his uncle’s home. We are in the kingship of our clan.
My father was an orphan. He said his father died when he was very young and he couldn’t even identify him. His mother died when he was 17. My father was a very sharp boy. The other clans liked him and gave him two daughters for his marriage. He gave one girl to his elder brother.
My father was a very hardworking man. He believed in hard work for development. He managed to marry four women. He wanted education for all of us though he never went even to Primary One.
When NRM captured power, how did you join Museveni?
It wasn’t easy for me to join Museveni, I hadn’t seen my son Otema for about two months after the NRA capture of power, and I said to myself that my son had been killed by the new government. But good enough Otema came back home and he had joined Museveni. Otema was a good man, he wasn’t tribalistic. And that is how he managed to survive. And when he came back, I became almost mad, I even slaughtered a bull and that made me a strong supporter of NRM. I was convinced that the new NRM government doesn’t kill people like the previous regimes. I encouraged my people to support the new regime, and today I continue to support NRM.
We are told you had a very good lifestyle, you loved dancing and you are even a boxer especially boxing Amin’s soldiers. Tell us about your days of dancing.
Infact those men of Amin used to call me a brave man. I was having this rifle 375, I would shoot very fast and someone would think I was shooting SMG. They even feared me the most because they knew I was a good hunter. I used to come and dance with them. I also had a girlfriend in their intelligence from Kitgum. I loved her. She would tell me how I should escape. But I didn’t have a child with her. I was a gifted dancer; and still I am. I would dance twist, waltz, and modern dances one would think that I was an English man. My fellow officers envied me for this because my dancing would attract lots of nice ladies to me. One of the children who took after my dancing is Todwong. I had two cars and I would use them for special hire. I had two drivers. One of my drivers was a Muyankole and another was a munyoro.
Being an educationist
I am a very strong believer in education. I set up a private school in Gulu called Murchison Falls View Academy. Later on I moved to Bweyale in the current Kiryandongo District and started another school when we were still in the time of war. This school performed well and enabled so many children who were affected by war in the North to study. I even managed to buy a bus for the Gulu school. Unfortunately the war destroyed the school. This particular school benefited a number of children most of who couldn’t afford the high fees in government schools like Layibi College, Gulu High and among others. I have managed to model most of these children into responsible citizens. Some of them would come to my school after being expelled but I would council and guide them. They would later on appreciate my contribution in making them better people.
How would you want to be remembered?
I would want to be remembered as a man who has impacted my community, had a number of children and taken care of them plus their mothers. I would also want to be remembered as a reformer and pacifier. I have settled a number of conflicts and disputes among my community and clan members who would run to me for help. My advice to the young people is that do good things when you are still alive that when you are no more your good deeds will live after you.
