KIWANUKA: Bishop who prepared Ugandans for independence

KAMPALA - Fifty-nine after the death of the Most Rev. Dr Joseph Nakabaale Kiwanuka (1899-1966), he is still remembered with great admiration. 

He made history when he became the first-ever black African Bishop (in Africa, South of the Sahara). 

He was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Masaka and Titular Bishop of Thibica in 1939. In 1960, he was appointed Archbishop of Rubaga. 

Catholic researchers acknowledge Kiwanuka as a great Catholic prelate who rejuvenated Africa. In his book, Archbishop Dr Joseph Nakabaale Kiwanuka; A Man of Vision, Fr Dr John Mary Waliggo (RIP) highlighted several interesting attributes of Kiwanuka. During his reign in Masaka, he championed women’s empowerment by starting girls’ schools such as Christ the King SSS, Kaliisizo. 

In 1941, he wrote a pastoral letter condemning the commercialisation of dowry. 
He placed a seal on the dowry, reportedly fixing it at sh120, plus three calabashes of local beer. 

He advocated for women in Buganda to be allowed to eat chicken and eggs for better nutrition. He designed effective poverty-eradication programmes that transformed communities in Greater Masaka. 

He pushed for commercial agriculture, encouraging people to grow food and cash crops, particularly coffee. He started the first ever co-operative movement in Uganda. 

He gave it the figurative name, Bwavumpologoma, a Luganda term meaning: poverty is a lion, if you don’t defend yourself, it devours you. He secured scholarships for Ugandans to study abroad. 

During his episcopate, Greater Masaka was the most prosperous region in the country. Prior to the 1990s, Kikuubo trading hub in Kampala was dominantly occupied by traders from Masaka, who had benefitted from Kiwanuka’s commerce scholarships. 

Waliggo described Kiwanuka as a visionary church leader who foresaw the future limitations of foreign aid and encouraged his parish priests and their parishioners to start income-generating projects. 

Kiwanuka also promoted peaceful co-existence and constitutional governance in Uganda. 

He participated in the Namirembe Conference, which normalised/improved relations between Buganda and Uganda. His greatest contribution to Uganda’s politics though is nonetheless the famous Pastoral Letter, Church and State; the Guiding Principles (1961), which projected his prophetic wisdom and patriotism. 

He wrote the letter during a difficult time when Uganda was bracing for her political independence. Political parties were busy making hypocritical alliances. 

Kiwanuka vehemently condemned the alliance of convenience between Kabaka Yekka (KY) and Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) which he saw as throwing the kingdom into a blazing furnace. 

Kasaija (seated-left) poses for a photo with Papal Nuncio Dr. Augustine Kasujja (wearing a purple sash over a white cassock), Ssemogerere (in black cassock), and other guests. This was during the 28th Archbishop Kiwanuka Memorial Lecture at Pope Paul Memorial Hotel on March 6. (Credit: Mathias Mazinga)

Kiwanuka was fiercely criticised and sometimes violently attacked by some KY supporters. At one time, some radical youth threw stones at his car near the roundabout on Rubaga Road as he drove from Kampala to his residence at Rubaga. 

On another occasion, someone deflated the tyres of his car when he was in a meeting with King Muteesa II at Bulange. Kiwanuka’s prophecy nonetheless came to pass in 1966 when the alliance crumbled and resulted in a deep conflict between President Muteesa and Prime Minister Apollo Milton Obote. 

Kiwanuka is remembered in a special way for his role in the process of the canonisation of the Uganda Martyrs (1964). Further in the area of education and socio-development, Kiwanuka is remembered for mooting the idea of starting Uganda Martyrs University and Centenary Bank. 

He also invited here religious and secular organisations such as the Carmelite Sisters, Roko Construction Company, etc, that have contributed a lot to the development of the Church and the country. 

Kiwanuka died at Rubaga Hospital on February 22, 1966. He was buried at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Rubaga.

Memorial lecture

The Catholic Church, through Rubaga Cathedral National Foundation, instituted a memorial lecture to honour Kiwanuka’s legacy. 

The latest (28th) lecture took place at Pope Paul Memorial Hotel Kampala on March 6, 2025. 

It was delivered by Dr Jimmy Spire Ssentongo (from Makerere University), who among many other things asked contemporary religious leaders to emulate the visionary leadership and courage of Kiwanuka. 

“He was a wise and courageous man who never feared to say the truth. If you stand for the truth, politicians may not like it, but they will internally respect you for your principles. How religious leaders respond to the afflictions of their people goes a long way in influencing their faith or lack of it. When Catholics were being persecuted by Kabaka Yekka, Kiwanuka boldly stood with them, the risk notwithstanding,” he said. 

In spite of the unfortunate misunderstandings that sometimes happen, Ssentongo said both the Church leaders and the politicians needed each other in order to fulfill their God-given mandate to the people. 

“Archbishop Kiwanuka understood quite well that national leadership was a critical determinant of a society’s development and quality of life. We cannot detach spirituality from material quality of life. A people wallowing in poverty cannot easily appreciate God,” he concluded. 

The Archbishop of Kampala, Paul Ssemogerere called for collective efforts in the promotion of democratic governance, peace and justice. He again clarified that denouncing the misrule and abuse of power by the politicians was a collective duty, not the preserve of the clergy. 

“Pointing fingers at each other is not the proper thing to do. Don’t say Ssemogerere must not remain silent. Rather say, we must not remain silent. We need to journey together as Christians and Ugandans. A lot is also said about the cars we receive from the government. But if I rejected that car, many of you would again come out and blame me for not taking it. In any case, what has the car done to you?” Finance minister Matia Kasaija (who was the chief guest) stressed the need for the clergy to mobilise the country’s young people to take advantage of the wealth-creation programmes put in place by government to free themselves from the yoke of poverty. 

The chairperson of Rubaga Cathedral National Foundation, Prof. Jane Mulema and the vice-chairman, Prof. Maria Musoke, also paid flowery tributes to Archbishop Kiwanuka.