Early life Bernard Rwehururu was born to Nathan Kyamwonyo around 1941 in Ruhoko, Rugarama Sub-county,
Ntungamo District. His parents were
Protestant Christians, but he defied them to convert to
Catholicism when he was 15. At first, he attended a four-month training course in
Jinja. After completing the course at Jinja, he was sent on a training mission in India. Upon returning to Uganda, he served at
Moroto Town. In October 1978, the
Uganda Army launched
an invasion of Tanzania under disputed circumstances, resulting in
open war. A few weeks later, Rwehururu was called by Lieutenant Colonel Tom Asiki in
Masaka; he was ordered to oversee the "guarding and patrolling the border as well as training the recruits" in the border town of
Mutukula. There were also accounts that the Suicide Battalion mutinied during the battle. The unit rallied outside Masaka, and then retreated to the north. In his autobiography, Rwehururu claimed that he and the Suicide Battalion were later involved in the
Battle of Sembabule from March to April 1979, However, journalists
Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey –who accompanied Tanzanian troops during the war– stated that the Ugandan Tiger Regiment, not the Suicide Battalion, had fought at Sembabule. Journalist Joshua Kato also claimed that the Suicide Battalion was involved in the
Battle of Lukaya during March 1979. On 11 April, Uganda's capital of
Kampala fell to the Tanzanians and their rebel allies; Amin subsequently fled into exile. Unlike most of the Uganda Army soldiers, Rwehururu and his troops did not surrender or flee upon hearing of this. He opted to keep fighting, later stating that he "was not defending [Amin's] government. I was defending Uganda from invasion." he published an autobiography, titled
Cross to the Gun, in which he detailed his experiences during Amin's rule and, according to the
Daily Monitor, attempted to "decipher what went wrong with the country's political and military class". From July 2009 to 2011, he served as the chairman of the General Court Martial in
Makindye. His last military post was chief advisor to UPDF commander
Aronda Nyakairima.
Retirement and death Rwehururu retired from the military with the rank of
brigadier in November 2013. He had long suffered from hypertension and diabetes, and these ailments worsened in his last years. On 26 February 2015, he died of heart and diabetic complications in his home in Jinja. He was buried in his birthplace of Ruhoko. He was survived by his wife Rosemary and eight children. His eldest son, Paul, had died three months before him. After his death, Rwehururu was lauded by UPDF spokesperson Paddy Ankunda as someone "who spoke his mind". Ankunda also highlighted the importance of his book
Cross to the Gun as detailing Uganda's historical development. UPDF commander
Katumba Wamala praised Rwehururu as "a knowledgeable, and smart officer". == Personal life ==