Deaths that shocked Uganda, East Africa in 2022- Final Part

Elly Tumwine (April 12, 1954 - August 25, 2022)

The blunt speaking General who reportedly fired the first bullet in 1981 that launched the five year guerrilla war that brought President Yoweri Museveni to power. A patron of the arts, especially the fine arts, and artist himself, Tumwine had intended to pursue an artistic career in painting and fashion before the call to “liberate Uganda” came and he put down paint brushes to pick up the gun. He was, by the time of his unhappy retirement in 2021, calling on his hero and commander-in-chief Museveni to think of stepping down too. In a life of controversy, none will perhaps dog his legacy more than justification in November 2020 that the armed forces have a right to shoot and kill civilian protestors, if it deems their actions dangerous to public order.

Joseph Ssemakula Ndugwa (1956-June 9, 2022)

One of the godparents of modern Ugandan theatre, Omugave Ndugwa’s Black Pearls was responsible for nurturing the talents of people like Abby Mukiibi, Kato Lubwama, Mariam Ndagire, Ashraf Ssimwogerere, Jalia Walusimbi, Betty Tebategeera, Bob Fred Mpiima and Jolly Lulibe. A prolific writer, Ndugwa was authoring plays from 1972 like Obulamu bwa Ssembirige to popular hits in the 1980s like Ekimuli mu Maggwa I & II (1989). Towards the end of his active playwriting career, largely self-taught, Ndugwa was also writing film scripts like The Love Collision (2011). The collapse of his very popular Riverside Theatre forced this national treasure to seek work abroad as a nurse in the US where he died at 66. His consolation was that his beloved Buganda Kingdom had never forgotten him and continued to honour him with ambassadorial titles until his death.

Yona Kanyomozi (June 29, 1940 - August 28, 2022)

Widely considered one of the few Ugandan politicians with principles he would not compromise, Yona Kanyomozi was able to serve in every government from 1981 to 2006 despite being opposed to some of the policies. A Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) diehard, Kanyomozi had another distinction of being close to that party’s founder and president Dr. Milton Obote and and teaching a future president Yoweri Museveni mathematics in the 1960s. While in the Obote government in the 1980s as Cooperatives minister, Kanyomozi is credited with ensuring a wounded Mugisha Muntu who had been shot in the stomach received life saving treatment at Mulago hospital despite the fact that he was a rebel in Museveni’s National Resistance Army outfit.

Jakana Nadduli ( 1985- October 23, 2022)

The unexpected death of Jakana Nadduli, the son of a legendary Bush War veteran Hajji Abdul Nadduli, broke upon Ugandans as yet another manifestation of the old adage that a revolution will eventually devour its children. As outspoken as his father, Jakana had made a quick name for himself criticising the excesses of the NRM party his father had held high positions in before his August 2021 retirement. The death of Jakana, after allegations of being tortured in state custody, seems to have turned his elderly but influential and still fiercely eloquent father against the government he fought to bring into power. It may also be a harbinger of permanent cracks within the Movement among its leaders over the future of the party and country.

Ahmed Kashillingi (1940 - November 3, 2022)

The Lt Colonel who should have been a general will probably be Ahmed Kashillingi’s historical epitaph. One of the undisputed heroes of the five year Bush War that saw the NRA rebels shoot their way to power, Kashillingi was one of its stars. A trained soldier who turned many raw recruits into daring commandos, for reasons never fully revealed, Kashillingi fell out with the leaders of the NRA and Museveni, who he personally rescued in battle in Masindi, and lived neglected thereafter. Like his contemporary Brigadier Tadeo Kanyakore, by the time he died at 82, Kashillingi had come to symbolise the many who bled for the revolution but were speedily forgotten by it.

Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere (February 11, 1932 - November 18, 2022)

The man whose stolen 1980 election inspired a rebellion that toppled the Dr Milton Obote government, Ssemogerere was at the centre of Ugandan politics for over 40 years until his death at 90, sometimes it seemed reluctantly. Before that historical burden, Ssemogerere had to step into very large shoes by succeeding the charismatic founder of the Democratic Party Benedicto Kiwanuka after his 1972 murder and keep that party alive. Keeping DP relevant through the Idi Amin and Obote presidencies seemed a walk in the park in hindsight as he struggled for the return of multiparty democracy after 1986. In the end, Ssemogerere’s political career remains a sad reminder of “What could have been” not just for himself but Uganda at large.

His son Paul Joseph Ssemakula, in whom he had expressed a lot of hope, would shockingly die a month later on December 21.

Other notables who passed away in 2022

Doreen Katusiime Mweheire (1985- October 3, 2022)

Next Media Service’s first Chief of Staff, Doreen Katusiime Mweheire was described by her boss and friend Kin Kariisa as one of the people he trusted the most and could rely on. She was an early employee in the nascent NBS TV and rose through the ranks from production to overseeing staff that worked under the Next Media umbrella of companies.

Allan Gerald Kanyike (August 2, 1963- December 22, 2022)

Former diaspora worker and Kampala socialite whose love of dance and live band music earned him the nickname of “Dynamite,” Kanyike was a fixture of nightlife in the city for the last decade or so. A retired businessman, Kanyike was beloved by performers and revellers for his friendliness and willingness to get up and dance at the drop of a hat.

Musa Sewava (August 12 1962 - December 22, 2022)

Proprietor and director of the Sir Apollo Kaggwa chain of schools, a low key giant in the field of education who was deeply religious.

John Mitala (1948- December 24, 2022)

Uganda’s longest serving head of the Public Service (19 years) and secretary to the cabinet until his 2021 retirement, Mitala played an important role in the vetting of government workers. As Permanent Secretary, his approval was needed before they were formally hired into the civil service.