Uganda National Congress (UNC) was the first political party in Uganda. It was a socialist party.
26-435: Formed on Sunday 2 March 1952, Ignatius Kangave Musaazi was its first president, and Abubaker Kakyama Mayanja the party's first secretary general. Apollo K. Kironde was the legal advisor to the party. The six men who founded the party were: Ignatius Kangave Musaazi ( Buganda ), Abubakar Kakyama Mayanja (Buganda), Stefano Abwangoto (Bugisu), Ben Okwerede ( Teso ), Yekosofati Engur ( Lango ) and S.B. Katembo ( Toro ). The UNC
52-549: A British Labour Party Member of Parliament(MP). He also received support from many intellectuals, particularly from the London School of Economics (LSE), who were sympathetic and supportive. While in London, Musaazi had the opportunity to speak to LSE students and among them was an American, George Shepherd who was completing a PhD in political science. George Shepherd accepted Musaazi's invitation to provide technical help for
78-506: A scholarship to study divinity in the UK. On completion of his studies in the UK he was told that he could only graduate in his own country Uganda. Musaazi met Mary Ritah Nansikombi while he was at King's College Budo and she was at Gayaza High School . In 1936 they were married in Kenya. They had 11 children. Mary is the granddaughter of Sir Apolo Kaggwa who was a Katikkiro (Prime Minister) in
104-540: A teacher at the department of education, at what was then Makerere University College (later became Makerere University), in order to help African farmers oppose the prevailing unfairness in trade, especially for cotton. I. K. Musaazi went to London in 1950 and lobbied the British Parliament for support of the FPUAF and its aspirations. Among many in the British Parliament who supported him was Fenner Brockway ,
130-520: A whole. Shepherd was in Uganda for only two years but with the help of his FPUAF colleagues left a significant mark on the political landscape of the country. The arrival of Sir Andrew Cohen (Governor of Uganda, 1952–1957) in January 1952, provided for a more progressive climate in colonial Uganda. Sir Cohen constituted a commission to look into the farmer's demands and conceded to most of them. Prior to
156-683: The High Commissioner for Palestine . His later service included the following posts: Sir John was awarded the GCMG in the New Year's Honours List of 1950. After retiring from the colonial service, Sir John became a director of several companies, including the P&;O and British India steamship lines, and the Midland Bank . A portrait of Sir John by Walter Bird is now part of
182-525: The Uganda National Congress party (UNC) on Sunday 2 March 1952. The party was a force for political change in colonial Uganda. The UNC party split up later into factions but the groundwork for Uganda's independence was laid by the UNC and its founder, Ignatius Kangave Musaazi, who died in 1990 at the age of 85 at Namirembe hospital. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni , the current president of
208-548: The Uganda National Congress (UNC) party on 2 March 1952. Musaazi became its first president, and Abubaker Kakyama Mayanja was the party's first secretary general. Other key figures of the UNC included Apollo K. Kironde who was the legal advisor to the party. Towards the end of 1951, Musaazi rented part of the ground floor of a house on what is now known as Musajjalumbwa Road near the Lubiri (palace) in Mengo. The house belonged to
234-458: The Buganda riots of 1945 and 1949 which resulted in the burning down of houses belonging to pro-government (British Colonial Government) Baganda chiefs. Buganda is part of Uganda, and the people of Buganda are called Baganda; they speak Luganda. Briefly, the background to the Buganda riots mentioned above, is that the rioters demanded the following: (1) the right to bypass the price controls on
260-538: The FPUAF. The main aim was to fight the agricultural policies in Uganda which greatly disadvantaged Africans in favour of Asians and Europeans. George W. Shepherd arrived in Uganda in 1951 when he was only 25 years old. His presence in Uganda was unwelcome by the British colonial government. Although Musaazi was already perceived as a troublemaker by the colonial government, George Shepherd and his FPUAF colleagues managed to succeed on several fronts: (a) they reorganised
286-757: The Middle East Department of the Colonial Office and was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List of 1931. In 1927, Hall married Torfrida Trevenen Mills. In 1933, he was appointed Chief Secretary to the Government of Palestine (then a British Mandate under the League of Nations ). On at least two occasions, in 1934 and in 1937, he served as Officer Administering the Government of Palestine during absences of
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#1732765798511312-571: The Obote-led faction of the UNC formed a new party, the Uganda People's Congress (UPC), in March 1960. The DP and UPC parties became major political parties in Uganda. The UNC became less of a force, mainly because DP became popular and a new party, Kabaka Yekka , emerged. Ignatius K. Musaazi Ignatius Kangave Musaazi (1905–1990) formed the first political party in Uganda, namely
338-463: The accounting books of the FPUAF, (b) the FPUAF by-laws were redrafted, (c) transport issues affecting the FPUAF were sorted out. Significantly Shepherd and his FPUAF colleagues drew up a strategy to address the unfair agricultural policies. Shepherd's approach to racial reconciliation is perhaps one of the most significant contributions he made for Musaazi and his Federation of Partnerships of Uganda African Farmers (FPUAF) union, and indeed for Uganda as
364-686: The arrival of Sir Cohen, there was much needed change in Uganda. Up to that point matters tended to progress very slowly, for example it was not until 23 October 1945 that the then new governor, Sir John Hall, approved the nomination of 3 Africans as members of LEGCO – the Legislative Council, in effect the Parliament of that colonial period. Up to then LEGCO was dominated by Europeans. The three African representatives who joined LEGCO were sworn in on 4 December 1945. They were: Michael Ernest Kawalya Kaggwa ( Katikiro , i.e. Prime Minister in
390-588: The birth of the UNC, other political parties were formed in Uganda. In 1956, DP (Democratic Party) was formed. After the 1958 general election in Uganda , seven unaffiliated members of the Uganda Legislative Council (which was in effect Parliament in those colonial days), formed the Uganda People's Union. In 1960, the UNC party split into a Musaazi faction and an Apollo Milton Obote-led faction. The Uganda People's Union together with
416-534: The export sales of cotton imposed by the British colonial government, (2) Removal of the local Asian monopoly over cotton ginning – the Asians in Uganda were deemed to have an unfair advantage by having exclusive rights over cotton ginning, (3) The right to have their own representatives in local government and thus replace the chiefs appointed by the British Colonial Government. Ignatius Musaazi
442-539: The government of Buganda Kingdom ), Petero Nyangabyaki (Katikiro of Bunyoro ), and Yekonia Zirabamuzale (Secretary General of Busoga ) LEGCO was set up by the Colonial authorities in March 1921 and at the very start it was a small group composed of Europeans: the colonial governor, four officials, and 2 nominated non-officials. With the success of having most of the farmers' demands accepted by Sir Andrew Cohen, Ignatius Kangave Musaazi and Abubaker Kakyama Mayanja formed
468-490: The kingdom of Buganda Government, and is the daughter of Mary and Sepiriya Kaddumukasa. She recalls the difficulties which she and her family faced because of her husband's resolve to fight for Uganda's independence: "My husband was imprisoned 37 times.... he was charged with treason for organising Ugandans to rebel against the colonialists". John Hathorn Hall Sir John Hathorn Hall GCMG DSO OBE MC (19 June 1894 – 17 June 1979)
494-614: The late Yakobo Musajjalumbwa, a former treasurer (Omuwanika) of the Buganda kingdom. This house became a centre of political activity and in 1952 witnessed the birth of the Uganda National Congress. I. K. Musaazi is a national hero (1990), and agreeably the father of the nation, of the republic of Uganda in East Africa, and is buried at Kololo heroes ground, in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. He participated in
520-491: The republic of Uganda is patron of the I. K. Musaazi Memorial Foundation. President Museveni was present and delivered a speech about Musaazi, when Professor George W. Shepherd delivered the first annual I. K. Musaazi memorial lecture at the Kampala Sheraton Hotel on Friday 28 September 2007. Musaazi was born in a village called Timuna, near Wobulenzi, Uganda. He attended King's College Budo and then gained
546-497: The then Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung and Prime Minister Zhou Enlai to secure support for African freedom fighters involved in the struggle for independence in Africa. The UNC received £500,000 from China, as well as a modern printing press for the UNC from Italy. The printing press was installed in offices of two Ugandan newspapers at the time, namely The Uganda Post and The Uganda Express, which were based at Kololo in Kampala. Following
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#1732765798511572-669: Was a British colonial administrator. During World War I, he served with the 8th Royal Munster Fusiliers and the 27th Infantry Brigade , rising to the rank of captain, and was awarded the Military Cross as well as the Belgian Croix de Guerre . He worked in the Ministry of Finance of the Egyptian Civil Service (Egypt then being a British protectorate ) in 1919–1920. Subsequently he served in
598-605: Was banned as a result. Many supporters went into hiding. Musaazi himself was no stranger to prison as the colonial establishment tried to stop his efforts to bring about change in favour of the African farmers and Ugandans in general. I. K. Musaazi formed the Federation of Partnerships of Uganda African Farmers (FPUAF) union following the banning of the Uganda African Farmers Union. He gave up his job as
624-572: Was conceived at Musajjalumbwa's house located on what is now Musajjalumbwa Road, near the Lubiri (Kabaka's palace), at Mengo . In 1951, Ignatius Musaazi rented part of the ground floor of Musajjalumbwa's house, a house of the late Yakobo Musajjalumbwa, who was a Treasurer (Omuwanika) in the Buganda Kingdom . At this house, a lot of work was done which resulted in the creation of the UNC. The party did much to help achieve Uganda's independence from Great Britain on Tuesday 9 October 1962. The UNC
650-460: Was involved in the struggle for independence in Africa. In Cairo (Egypt) John Kale represented the UNC and coordinated the struggle for the independence of African countries. Abu Mayanja and John Kale established a UNC office in Cairo to link up with contacts all over the world in order to assist freedom fighters in Africa. The Secretary General of the UNC, Abu Mayanja, used his close relationship with
676-524: Was viewed by the British Colonial administration as being behind the riots. The British governor at the time, Sir John Hathorn Hall (Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Uganda 1945–1952), regarded the riots as the work of Communists. He refused to give way to the rioters' demands. Musaazi had formed the Uganda African Farmers Union (UAFU) in 1947 and the UAFU was blamed for the 1949 riots. The Union
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