Edith Mary Bataringaya ''née Kaijuka'' (1929–1977) was a prominent

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

n Political Activist and Ugandan

Political figure A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

in post-independence Uganda. She was a co-founder of the Ugandan Women's Union and the Uganda Council of Women alongside Rhoda Kalema and Theresa Mbire. She was married to Basil Kiiza Bataringaya a prominent Ugandan politician in post-independence Uganda.

Early life

Edith Mary Kaijuka was born in 1929 in

Kabale Kabale is a town in the Western Region, Uganda, Western Region of Uganda. It is the chief town of Kabale District, and the district headquarters are located there. Sometimes nicknamed “Kastone” as in the local language Rukiga, a “kabale” ...

, a city in the Western Region of Uganda. Her father was Reverend Kaijuka, a prominent reverend in the

Church of Uganda The Church of Uganda is a member province of the Anglican Communion. Currently there are 37 dioceses which make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop. Each diocese is divided into archdeaconries, each headed by a senior priest known a ...

and teacher from the neighboring village of Bugongi Hill.

Political career

Edith Mary Kaijuka married Basil Kiiza Bataringaya, son of Marko Kiiza the Ssaza Chief of Bunyaruguru, and she changed her name to Edith Mary Bataringaya. At the time of their marriage, Basil Kiiza Bataringaya was attending school, at the Government Teacher Training College of Uganda (TTC) and at

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, Uganda. Basil Kiiza Bataringaya quickly became a prominent

political figure A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

in Uganda. Bataringaya ran as a member of the Democratic Party of Uganda for the legislative seat for the

Ankole Ankole (Nkore language, Runyankore: ''Nkore''), was a traditional Bantu peoples, Bantu kingdom in Uganda and lasted from the 15th century until 1967. The kingdom was located in south-western Uganda, east of Lake Edward. History Ankole Realm, K ...

District to the

Uganda Legislative Council The Uganda Legislative Council (LEGCO) was the predecessor of the Parliament of Uganda, prior to Uganda's independence from the United Kingdom. LEGCO was small to start with and all its members were Europeans. Its legislative powers were limited, ...

in the transitional government between the colonial-era

Uganda Protectorate The Protectorate of Uganda was a protectorate of the British Empire from 1894 to 1962. In 1893 the Imperial British East Africa Company transferred its administration rights of territory consisting mainly of the Kingdom of Buganda to the Brit ...

and the

Republic of Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The souther ...

in the first Ugandan nationwide direct elections, the March 1961 Ugandan general elections. He became the

Leader of Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

during the Apollo Milton Obote regime and helped to establish the role as a check on the political leadership in Uganda. Basil Kiiza Bataringaya defected from the Democratic Party of Uganda to Apollo Milton Obote's

Uganda People's Congress The Uganda People's Congress (UPC; sw, Congress ya Watu wa Uganda) is a political party in Uganda. UPC was founded in 1960 by Milton Obote, who led the country to independence and later served two presidential terms under the party's banner ...

party on the floor of the

Parliament of Uganda The parliament of Uganda is the country's legislative body. Unicameral, the most significant of the Ugandan parliament's functions is to pass laws that will provide good governance in the country. The government ministers are bound to answer t ...

in the first high-profile political defection in Ugandan history. Basil Kiiza Bataringaya became the powerful Minister of Internal Affairs and quickly earned the trust of Prime Minister Apollo Milton Obote, and earned a spot in Obote's small inner circle of trusted advisors and amassed a large policy portfolio as one of the most powerful ministers in the Obote government. Edith Mary Bataringaya became an influential figure in the Apollo Milton Obote regime following Basil Kiiza Bataringaya's defection and ascension to the role of the Minister of Internal Affairs. She frequently traveled with her husband on trips abroad representing

, representing Uganda and discussing her role as the head and co-founder of the Uganda Council of Women with diplomats abroad. She most notably traveled to the United States of America and met with members of the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

in addition to visiting

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

Activism

Edith Mary Bataringaya was a prominent activist in addition to the political duties she assumed as a high profile political spouse. Bataringaya started the Uganda Women's Union and the Uganda Council of Women alongside Rhoda Kalema and Theresa Mbire. In 1960, under the leadership of Bataringaya, the Uganda Council of Women passed a resolution urging that laws regarding marriage, divorce, and inheritance should be recorded in written form and publicized nationwide—a first step toward codifying customary and modern practices. During the first decade of independence, this council also pressed for legal reforms that would grant all women the right to own property and retain custody of their children if their marriages ended.Uganda country study

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Federal Research Division The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress. The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unite ...

(December 1990). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

.'' The work of the Uganda Council of Women under the leadership of Bataringaya led to changes in Uganda's Divorce Laws, leading to the written codification of the Divorce Act that gives men and women equal opportunities for divorce.

Death

Edith Mary Bataringaya's husband Basil Kiiza Bataringaya led an attempted arrest of

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

, making him one of the first Ugandans to be detained by the new

government. While in detention, Bataringaya was

Torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

d and was

imprisoned Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...

Makindye Prison Makindye Prison was a Uganda government state-run prison which became notorious for extrajudicial killings and execution of government opponents during the time of Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin. Makindye Prison started and was built as a normal civil ...

. Bataringaya was then sent to the outskirts of the town of

Mbarara Mbarara City is a city in the Western Region of Uganda and the second largest city in Uganda after Kampala. The city is divided into 6 boroughs of Kakoba Division, Kamukuzi Division, Nyamitanga Division, Biharwe Division, Kakiika Division, Nyakay ...

, where he was

dismembered Dismemberment is the act of cutting, ripping, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise disconnecting the limbs from a living or dead being. It has been practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, especially in connection with ...

alive. His severed head was then displayed on a pole, and paraded around the town of

until ultimately his severed head was displayed in the

barracks. Edith Mary Bataringaya became a

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

raising her eight children alone on the Bataringaya land in

, and became a prominent threat political opponent to Idi Amin. Bataringaya herself was executed in 1977 during a later purge by Idi Amin, allegedly at the hands of Juma Bashir, the governor of the Western Province of Uganda. Her burnt body was later found on land in

owned by the Bataringaya family. This left her eight children orphaned. They were raised by her brother, Dr. Emmanuel Kaijuka.

Personal life

Family

Edith Mary and Basil Kiiza Bataringaya had eight children, Dr. Geoffrey Basil Bataringaya, Basil Bataringaya Jr., Grace Bataringaya, Kenneth Bataringaya, Jackie Bataringaya, Janette Bataringaya, Juliet Wavamunno, and Dr. Aisha Bataringaya-Ssekalala. The children were orphaned in 1977 as both parents were killed by the Amin regime. Edith Mary Bataringaya's brother, Dr. Emmanuel Kaijuka who later served as the Ugandan Commissioner of Health, raised the children since they were still young when they were orphaned by their parents' murders. In 1985, the eight children reunited for the first time since their mother's murder in the town of

Muyenga Muyenga is a hill in Kampala, the capital city, capital of Uganda and the largest city in that country. The name also applies to the upscale community that sits on that hill. Location Muyenga is located in Makindye Division, one of the five admin ...

, Uganda. Their children all went on to successful careers as of 2003: Grace Bataringaya is a veterinary doctor and events manager, Kenneth Bataringaya is a businessman who manages the family estate, Jackie Bataringaya is a doctor for Action Aid working in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

, Zimbabwe, Janette Bataringaya is working in Public Health in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts in the United States, Juliet Wavamunno (née Bataringaya) is a doctor working for the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

, and Aisha Bataringaya-Ssekalala (née Bataringaya) is studying at the

University of Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is a public research university in Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the South African government as a university for Coloured people only. Other uni ...

in South Africa.

Religious Views

Bataringaya was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and involved with the Catholic Church in Uganda throughout her career in both activism and politics. Bataringaya's father was a

reverend, and Bataringaya was raised in the

. Bataringaya's husband was initially a teacher at a Catholic school in

, and eventually ran all

Catholic school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

s in

before entering politics. Edith Mary Bataringaya became a

after marrying Basil Kiiza Bataringaya and she worked with local Catholic ministries throughout her career, and has been listed as a friend and ally of the Catholic missions in the Mbarara Region of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bataringaya, Edith Mary 1929 births 1977 deaths Ugandan Christians Ugandan activists Ugandan women activists Ugandan politicians 20th-century Ugandan women politicians 20th-century Ugandan politicians People from Kabale District