He would later become Uganda’s first Prime Minister, the country’s first Black Chief Justice, and one of the most prominent victims of Idi Amin’s regime.
Born into a Catholic family headed by minor chief Fulgensio Musoke Kawesi, Kiwanuka’s early life was marked by discipline, faith and education. He attended mission schools including Villa Maria Primary School and St. Peter’s Nsambya, where he developed a strong Catholic identity that later became central to his political career.
During the Second World War, Kiwanuka served in the African Pioneer Corps between 1942 and 1946, serving in Kenya, Egypt and Palestine and rising to the rank of Sergeant Major.
After the war, he worked in Uganda’s High Court before pursuing legal studies abroad. He studied in Lesotho and later at University College London before being called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn in 1956.
On returning home, Kiwanuka quickly emerged as one of the leading voices in Uganda’s independence movement. In 1958, he became President General of the Democratic Party, leading a party that drew much of its support from Uganda’s Catholic community under the slogan “Amazima n’Obwenkanya” or “Truth and Justice.”
His political breakthrough came after the 1961 elections when the Democratic Party won a majority, paving the way for Kiwanuka to become Uganda’s first Chief Minister on July 1, 1961. As Uganda moved towards internal self-rule, he became the country’s first Prime Minister on March 1, 1962.
But his hold on power was short-lived. Ahead of independence later that year, Milton Obote’s UPC formed an alliance with Kabaka Yekka, defeating Kiwanuka and pushing the Democratic Party into opposition.
Kiwanuka remained one of Obote’s fiercest critics and was later detained without trial in 1969 following an assassination attempt on Obote.
When Idi Amin seized power in 1971, Kiwanuka was released and appointed Uganda’s Chief Justice. Initially seen as a sign Amin would respect the judiciary, the appointment instead set the stage for a deadly confrontation.
Kiwanuka openly resisted attempts to turn the courts into political tools. In 1972, he ordered the release of British citizen Daniel Stewart through a writ of habeas corpus after Stewart had been illegally detained by state agents.
The decision angered Amin’s government and exposed Kiwanuka’s refusal to compromise judicial independence.
On September 21, 1972, armed men stormed his chambers at the High Court in Kampala and abducted him in front of staff and witnesses. A day later, he was killed at Makindye Military Prison. His body was never recovered.
More than five decades later, Benedicto Kiwanuka remains one of Uganda’s most important political and judicial figures, remembered for his commitment to constitutionalism, justice and the independence of the courts even in the face of deadly political repression.