Who is Dr Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere, the life and times of a fallen DP Stalwart?

KAMPALA, UGANDA: The longest-serving Democratic Party President General Dr Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere is dead at 90 years. He passed away on Friday morning at around 4am at his home in Rubaga Division in Kampala, according to his family.

The late Democratic Party (DP) stalwart’s young brother, John Baptist Kawanga said Friday morning that Ssemogerere’s health deteriorated Thursday at around 10pm before his doctor was called to check on him and left.

“But throughout the night, he was not stable until in the wee hours of Friday morning when he returned from the shower and collapsed on his bed. He was pronounced dead moments later,” former Masaka Municipality Member of Parliament told journalists at his brother’s home in Rubaga Division.

Born 11 February 1932 in present-day Kalangala District, Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere led the opposition Democratic Party in Uganda for 25 years and was an active player in Ugandan politics until his retirement in 2005.

But Who is Dr Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere

Early Life & Education

Ssemogerere attended St. Henry’s College Kitovu for his high school. He received a Diploma in Education from Makerere University in Kampala. He studied the Politics and Government Program at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. In 1979 he obtained a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in public administration from Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.

Political Career

In 1961–62 Ssemogerere was elected as a member of the Uganda Legislative Council and afterwards of the National Assembly of Uganda as Member of Parliament for North Mengo Constituency. In 1972, he replaced Benedicto Kiwanuka 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 Democratic Party. 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, and Francis Bwenge.

Ssemogerere was a Presidential Candidate in the disputed 1980 General elections which were won by Milton Obote’s Uganda People’s Congress. Him and the DP stalwarts by then disputed the result.

The disagreement triggered a civil war in Uganda during which various political actors, including then minister Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, took to the bush to overthrow the Obote government. Museveni founded the PRA (People’s Resistance Army) which would later morph into the NRA (National Resistance Army) for this purpose.

Museveni had also been a contender in the general election under his Uganda People’s Movement (UPM).
Others who opposed the result included breakaway DP party member Andrew Kayiira who led his UFM (Uganda Freedom Movement) in a similar struggle.

Ssemogerere was reportedly against an armed resistance to the “theft” of his victory. A lifelong believer in democracy and dialogue, Ssemogerere repeatedly expressed concern that a war would cost lives and not really resolve the misunderstandings that plagued the political class at the time.

Ssemogerere opted to challenge the election result in court, setting a precedent that lives on to this day. He would also become Leader of the Opposition in the Ugandan parliament from 1981 to 1985.

The 1981-1986 “Liberation War” would cost an estimated 300,000 Ugandan lives before Museveni’s NRA battled their way to the capital city Kampala in January.

Ssemogerere would serve as Internal Affairs minister (1986-1988) in the Museveni-led government as the NRA leader sought to heal the divisions that had nearly torn apart the country. Decades later, sitting DP president Norbert Mao would point to this precedent to argue for his taking up the seat of Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs in 2022 while still DP leader.

Ssemogerere would go on to hold various positions in the Museveni government while agitating for a return to multiparty politics through numerous court challenges.

He left Museveni’s government for good in 1995 ahead of challenging for the presidency in the 1996 general election which he lost in what was his second presidential bid.

Ssemogerere struggled to hold together an increasingly divided DP through his 25-year tenure before relinquishing his position in 2005. He would be succeeded by longtime friend and ally, and future Kampala mayor John Ssebana Kizito.

Former FDC President and four-time Presidential Runners up Dr Kizza Besigye once referred to Mr Ssemogerere as Uganda’s “most senior political activist.” He served as the Democratic Party of Uganda’s leader for 25 years and was a significant figure in Ugandan politics until his retirement in 2005.

His Political life Summary

1. 1961–62 Parliamentary Secretary to Chief Minister Benedicto Kiwanuka
2. 1963–69 Publicity Secretary Democratic Party
3. 1979–81 Member National Consultative Council
4. 1981–85 Leader of the Official Opposition
5. 1984–94 Vice President Christian Democratic International
6. 1985–88 Minister of Internal Affairs
7. 1988–90 Chair OAU Council of Ministers
8. 1988–94 Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and Regional Affairs
9. 1994–95 Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Service
10. 1999 Brought the first of 5 landmark cases that outlawed the Movement System and set stage for return of Political Parties to Uganda.
11. 2005 Retired as DP President to private business.
12. 2011 Honored as Sabasaba 2011 by Sabasaba Flame Award, for being an all time pro-Democracy and peace politician

Personal Life

Ssemogerere is married to Germina Namatovu Ssemogerere, a professor of economics at Makerere University. Their children include Grace Nabatanzi (1963–2011), who married Gerald Ssendaula, 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 is a member of the Roman Catholic religion.