Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere (11 February 1932 – 18 November 2022) was a Ugandan politician who was the leader of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

for 25 years, and one of the main players in Ugandan politics until his retirement in 2005.

Early life and education

Ssemogerere was born on 11 February 1932, in the Buganda Region (present-day

Kalangala District Kalangala, also known as Ssesse, is a district in Central Uganda. The district is coterminous with the Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria and does not have territory on mainland Uganda. Like other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town' ...

) of Uganda. He attended St. Henry's College Kitovu for his high school. He received a Diploma in Education from

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 ...

in Kampala. He studied the Politics and Government Program at

Allegheny College he, תגל ערבה ותפרח כחבצלת , mottoeng = "Add to your faith, virtue and to your faith, knowledge" (2 Peter 1:5)"The desert shall rejoice and the blossom as the rose" (Isaiah 35:1) , faculty = 193 ...

Meadville, Pennsylvania Meadville is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The city is within of Erie and within of Pittsburgh. It was the first permanent settlement in Northwestern Pennsylvania. The population was 13,388 at the 2010 censu ...

. In 1979 he obtained a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

(

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

) degree in

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

Political career

From 1961 to 1962 Ssemogerere was elected as a member of the Uganda Legislative Council, and afterwards of the

National Assembly 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 ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for North Mengo Constituency. In 1972, he replaced

Benedicto Kiwanuka Benedicto Kagimu Mugumba Kiwanuka (8 May 1922 – 22 September 1972) was the first prime minister of Uganda, a leader of the Democratic Party, and one of the persons that led the country in the transition between colonial British rule and indepe ...

as the leader of the Democratic Party, having previously served as his Parliamentary Secretary. Following the 1971 coup, Ssemogerere was in exile until 1979, when he returned as Minister of Labour. In 1980, Paul Ssemogerere assumed leadership of the

. In 1984, he was reelected as leader over the challenge of Okeny Atwoma. In response to Okeny Atwoma's unsuccessful challenge, Atwoma established the Nationalist Liberal Party alongside former minister Anthony Ochaya,

Cuthbert Joseph Obwangor Cuthbert Joseph Obwangor (1 November 1920 – 19 May 2012) was a longtime Ugandan minister and legislator. He was a minister and a political prisoner for the Apollo Milton Obote regime after he opposed Obote's extension of power while Obwangor was ...

, and Francis Bwenge. Ssemogerere was a Presidential Candidate in the disputed 1980 General elections which were won by

Milton Obote Apollo Milton Obote (28 December 1925 – 10 October 2005) was a Ugandan political leader who led Uganda to independence from British colonial rule in 1962. Following the nation's independence, he served as prime minister of Uganda from 1962 to ...

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 ...

. Ssemogerere then became the leader of the parliamentary opposition from 1981 to 1985. He was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs during the presidency of

Tito Okello Tito Lutwa Okello (1914 – 3 June 1996) was a Ugandan military officer and politician. He was the eighth president of Uganda from 29 July 1985 until 26 January 1986. Background Tito Okello was born into an ethnic Acholi family in circa 1914 ...

(1985–86). After

Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...

became president in January 1986 following a coup, Ssemogerere was consecutively Minister of Internal Affairs (1986–88), Foreign Affairs (1988–94) and Public Service (1994–95) and at the same time held the post of deputy prime minister in Museveni's

National Resistance Movement The National Resistance Movement ( sw, Harakati za Upinzani za Kitaifa; abbr. NRM) has been the ruling party in Uganda since 1986. History The National Resistance Movement (NRM) was founded as a liberation movement that waged a guerrilla ...

government (from 1986). He resigned from his government posts in June 1995 because he was the presidential candidate for the mainstream opposition, but he lost the 1996 presidential elections to Museveni. Ssemogerere was also a delegate to the

Organisation for African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...

(OAU), and was chairman of the OAU Council of Ministers from 1993 to 1994. After his retirement from politics in November 2005, he was succeeded as party president by

John Ssebaana Kizito John Ssebaana Kizito (12 September 1934 - 3 July 2017) was a Ugandan businessman, economist and politician. He was the president of the Democratic Party (DP) in Uganda from 2005 to 2010. Kizito was a member of the University Council of Ndejje Un ...

, the mayor of

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 ...

at that time.

Personal life and death

Ssemogerere was married to Germina Namatovu Ssemogerere, a professor of economics at Makerere University. Their children include Grace Nabatanzi (1963–2011), who married

Gerald Ssendaula Gerald Majera Ssendaula is a retired Ugandan politician, and current banker and farmer. He is a former Cabinet Minister and MP Member of Parliament, representing Kingo sub-county, which became Lwengo District. Background and education Ssendaul ...

; Karoli Ssemogerere, an American-trained lawyer; Anna Namakula, a public policy analyst with the Foundation for African Development, Immaculate Kibuuka, a fashion designer; and Paul Semakula an ICT Consultant. He was a member of the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

religion. Ssemogerere died on 18 November 2022, at the age of 90.

Political timeline

*1961–62 Parliamentary Secretary to Chief Minister Benedicto Kiwanuka *1963–69 Publicity Secretary Democratic Party *1979–81 Member National Consultative Council *1981–85 Leader of the Official Opposition *1984–94 Vice President Christian Democratic International *1985–88 Minister of Internal Affairs *1988–90 Chair OAU Council of Ministers *1988–94 Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and Regional Affairs *1994–95 Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Service *1999 Brought the first of 5 landmark cases that outlawed the Movement System and set stage for return of Political Parties to Uganda. *2005 Retired as DP President to private business. *2011 Honored as Sabasaba 2011 by Sabasaba Flame Award, for being an all time pro-Democracy and peace politician

References

External links