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The thundering explosion of steel-toed boots must have shattered the stillness of the warm February evening as a ragtag band of soldiers kicked down the front door of Janan Luwum's official residence. Before the archbishop would have had time to react to the violent assault, the angry men pushed their way inside, demanding information about an alleged conspiracy to overthrow Idi Amin's military regime. Finding no incriminating evidence in the old man's house, the soldiers were forced to retreat empty-handed. Shortly after the frightening incident, the House of Bishops published an open letter condemning the government for their blatant disregard for human rights. Amin responded to the allegations by summoning the archbishop to State House for questioning. He also detained two additional suspects, Charles Oboth-Ofumbi and Erinayo Oryema- both high-ranking cabinet ministers. In front of a large group of diplomats, religious leaders, and military personnel, Amin forced the men to read their "confessions." When Vice President Mustafa Adrisi asked the crowd what should be done to the "traitors," the gathered soldiers cried out loudly, "Kill them!" Several hours later, the three men died in a mysterious car accident on their way to detention.1 Although their bodies had been riddled by bullets, post-mortem reports listed "motor accident" as the official cause of death.2
On the day following the announcement of these high-profile deaths, one would have expected to find a large number of articles investigating the accident and profiling the deceased. In a repressive military state, however, this was not how things were done. Instead, on February 18, 1977, the state-operated newspaper's lead story was "Entebbe Town Untidy."3 This story, I argue, symbolizes a much larger "disconnect" between the fantastical narratives being spun by the state and lived realities on the ground. For Amin, dirt served as a powerful metaphor for subversion and sabotage- activities that threatened the regime's stability. It represented dangers that could only be eliminated through "cleaning." However, as I will argue below, his movement to Keep Uganda Clean was largely a foil, a massive political whitewash designed to cover up a host of deadly sins and hoodwink the public into believing that "dirt" could be eradicated through cleaning.4 Given the regime's notorious reputation for violence, it is not surprising that government officials...