The family escaped roadblocks and informers while death squads searched for them across borders.
Janet writes that she resisted leaving at first. She had already suffered refugee life in Tanzania. The danger worsened after Museveni challenged Obote election return in 1980.
Protecting the children became the only choice. The plan was secret and slow to avoid spies watching them in East Africa.
The two eldest children Muhoozi and Natasha were sent ahead to Nairobi with a trusted friend. Janet followed by plane alone. Museveni stayed away from the airport to avoid attention.
At arrival a close operative received her and took her to Westlands where allies sheltered the family briefly.
After weeks the family settled into modest homes around Nairobi. They lived in Ngong then Muthangari while the children joined schools.
Money was scarce. Janet traveled abroad to buy clothes and sold them locally. She raised the children alone while Museveni fought in the bush.
Life turned darker when the Ugandan state named Museveni an enemy. Fear followed them daily. He visited Nairobi secretly then vanished again.
Soon the family moved into Shauri Moyo a place known for Ugandan exiles. Security agents watched closely and entered the house when Janet was away.
The children were trained to hide their identity. They used no surname and said their father was never home. One day men tried to collect the children from school.
The headmaster refused and saved them. Another time their house help was abducted at the gate in a clear warning.
Friends warned that operatives were being seized and handed back to Uganda. Janet acted fast. She pulled her daughter from boarding school and fled without packing.
Britain declined to host them fearing Obote. Help finally came through the UN leading them to Sweden and safety.
In Sweden the family found calm after years of hiding. Nairobi remained a memory of courage fear and survival.
Shauri Moyo stands as a quiet witness to a season when a future president lived as a shadow protecting family while history moved around him silently. Those days shaped choices alliances and resolve that later defined his long rule forever
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