Lamwo, Uganda: THE LOTUTURU HILLS: THE MYSTERY OF A PLACE BELIEVED TO BE A HIDE OUT OF KING GEORGE VI OF BRITAIN DURING WORLD WAR II.

The wreckage of some of the buildings at Lotuturo (Birmingham of Uganda) hills, Photograph. Bernard Lakony, writer.

Standing tall on the Agoro ranges at Uganda and South Sudan boarder lies one of history’s most mysterious stories, the Lotuturu hills a place believed to be British’s King George VI “hide out” during World War II.

Bernard Lakony, Reports for Oyengyeng.

At the peak of the war, Europe was not safe and in a highly secret move, the British moved the Royal Family to the Lotuturo as one of the safest places to keep them away from; Germany’s Hitler, Italy’s Mussolini and Japan’s Hirohito’s triple alliance.

They therefore established a secret military camp to protect the king in the middle of the Northern Ugandan jungle.

Later on in 1976 it was re built by President Idi Amin and his cabinet to hold top secret government meetings and assassination plans, a place unburden by the villainy of a civilized community, a place exceptionally fertile, and beautiful, indeed this is one of the jewels of Northern Uganda.

The biggest mystery now remains, if this place really hosted the royal family of Britain, why do we have very scanty information about it? Why have the British not written it anywhere in their history books? And all the wreckage today lies in ruins.

My journey to unearth this closed and thrown book of history takes me to Lotuturo hills to exactly understand this mystification.

Our journey began from Gulu town to Lamwo district (neighboring Kitgum to the south and bordering South Sudan to the North).

On reaching Lukung (a town in Lamwo) we got a Bodaboda that left us at the foot of the hill, we walked for about two hours to reach the top of the hill.

It was a relief to find a pleasant climate with a cool breeze on top of the hill. Currently, there is a government prison farm with series of very well organized farms of coffee, and other crops and very beautiful scenery.

One side looks into South Sudan and the other into Uganda. We were welcomed by the officer in charge of the prison who later on took us through the whole history of the area.

According to him, the Lotuturo hill was a hideout place for King George VI during World War II. The wreckage of the buildings around looks ancient though there was no prove to show that those houses and other structures could be that old.

The guide goes on to explain that during that period president Amin was employed in the King African Rifle and he was a cook so he had the chance to be in the crew that supported the king during his stay because it was a little safer in Africa compared to Europe at that time.

Some little evidence appeared as he narrates to us that an old white lady came and visited the area early this year 2019 and told him that she was born from the Lotuturo hills and that is why she had to come and visit.

My attempt to the get the real names of the lady was in vain since he could not remember her name and exactly where she had signed.

The place was probably chosen by the British to safe guard the King during World War II because of its strategic location which oversaw all the neighboring areas and in case of an enemy attack, they could easily view their foes from a distance on binoculars and be ready to defend it.

Just like the Gbadolite “jungle paradise” nicknamed the “The African Versailles” of the late Mobutu Seseko in Congo, in the middle of a forest which had an international airport and one of the places where a Concorde ever flew in Africa.

Likewise, in 1976, president Amin came and rebuilt the Lotuturu and used it as a high profile government secret meeting place where most of the important decisions would be made and would be executed in Kampala.

He was a president who loved greatness and relaxation therefore he made it his “jungle paradise.”

They would fly from Kampala on a chopper and land in Kitgum town and drive their armored vehicles to Lotuturo over weekends and go back on Sundays.

Till now the wreckage of former Inspector General of Police, the late Erinayo Oryema’s house is still clearly visible.

This place was also believed to have been occupied by the LRA during the insurgency in Northern Uganda.

What is left as former IGP Erinayo Oryema’s house. Photograph; Benard Lakony

Upon the rocks on the ranges lie two beautifully built seats said to be the relaxing place for president Amin.

One could imagine how he sat drinking his tea or coffee looking into the vast land and beautiful scenery or watching the setting sun.

Inside a wreckage house (for Amin) were two rooms with a bathroom, slightly below the house entrance on the verandah, there are beautifully engraved words written “welcome to Lotuturu 1976”and a number of grinding stones used probably by the King George VI

Slightly below the ranges, is a very beautiful waterfall believed to be place where the king would go to take a shower during day.

President Amins “seat of throne.” Photograph Benard Lakony.

Today, the Lotuturo is a regrettable, sorrowful and emotional piece of history, a mockery of both the British legendary history and Amin’s vision of greatness.

The once beautiful place is slowly being reclaimed by nature and all the stake holders have kept their eyes away.

The British left this place after 1962 and Amin is also gone but all these things should be kept as a state treasure, history should be preserved, at times certain history might be painful but it remains our history.

The future generation will ask questions and we won’t have answers because of our negligence and it is a necessity that we should pass history from one generation to another.

I am therefore as a writer calling on the support of other individuals, ministry of tourism or the British Government to come together and we make this history come back to life by gathering the real truth to revive this place to become a tourist and educational site.

A panoramic view of Lamwo from President Amin’s “seat of throne”. Photograph Benard Lakony.