Kawalya Kaggwa was a great and far-sighted man
SIR— In your issue of April 23, under the heading “Nothing great about Kawalya Kaggwa!â€,
SIR— In your issue of April 23, under the heading “Nothing great about Kawalya Kaggwa!â€, Mr Kulumba-Kiingi tried to dispute the greatness of the late Kawalya Kaggwa on the ground that he opposed self-government and the right of Africans to sell coffee and cotton on the world market when he was Katikkiro of Buganda (1945-1950).
Kiingi was wrong both on facts and his conclusions.
The clamour for self-government did not take root until 1952 when the Uganda National Congress was formed. As such, it cannot be said that Kawalya Kaggwa opposed self-government.
It was I.K. Musaazi who registered his Uganda African Farmers Association (not Buganda Farmers Association as per Kiingi) on April 2, 1948, whose sole aim was to demand for its representatives to be allowed to sell coffee and cotton on the world market. The demand failed, not because of Kawalya Kaggwa’s opposition, but because the Colonial Government rejected it on grounds of quality control and the difficulties involved in collecting, ginning and selling the crop. By the time he became Katikkiro, the country was in political ferment, following the resignation of Samwiri Wamala as Katikkiro and the assassination of Martin Luther Nsibirwa who succeeded him. Wamala’s administration had failed to introduce the Land Acquisition Law in the Lukiiko under which the Kabaka would have been enabled to acquire certain lands from landlords for the expansion of Makerere University and Mulago Hospital and for other public purposes.
Nsibirwa bulldozed the Law to Empower the Kabaka to Acquire Land for Purposes Beneficial to the Nation, 1945, sadly at the cost of his life.
It was against such a difficult populace that Kawalya Kaggwa was recalled from Ethiopia where he was serving as a lieutenant in the British army to lead as Katikkiro after the leading contenders had turned down the job. Only a soldier with Kawalya’s character was could govern in the face of the ever-present danger of an assassin’s bullet. He continued with Nsibirwa’s reforms and ensured that Makerere and Mulago got the land they wanted. He resolved the issue of African representation on the Legislative Council when he accepted its membership as the first African despite teething opposition. He also served well on the East African Legislative Assembly which he joined as one of the first three African members in 1948.
But above all, Kawalya Kaggwa introduced representative councils in Buganda in 1945 and Uganda in 1949.
In 1945, the colonial government ordered a study for the economic development of Uganda and among the limitations on the factors of production which were identified was “power based on the most inefficient use of fuels, namely wood. Kawalya Kaggwa formulated his demand for electricity based on the findings of the study. As a result, we got the Owen Falls Dam and we all see the value of his great foresight. He was great man.
Peter Mulira
Kampala
Kiingi was wrong both on facts and his conclusions.
The clamour for self-government did not take root until 1952 when the Uganda National Congress was formed. As such, it cannot be said that Kawalya Kaggwa opposed self-government.
It was I.K. Musaazi who registered his Uganda African Farmers Association (not Buganda Farmers Association as per Kiingi) on April 2, 1948, whose sole aim was to demand for its representatives to be allowed to sell coffee and cotton on the world market. The demand failed, not because of Kawalya Kaggwa’s opposition, but because the Colonial Government rejected it on grounds of quality control and the difficulties involved in collecting, ginning and selling the crop. By the time he became Katikkiro, the country was in political ferment, following the resignation of Samwiri Wamala as Katikkiro and the assassination of Martin Luther Nsibirwa who succeeded him. Wamala’s administration had failed to introduce the Land Acquisition Law in the Lukiiko under which the Kabaka would have been enabled to acquire certain lands from landlords for the expansion of Makerere University and Mulago Hospital and for other public purposes.
Nsibirwa bulldozed the Law to Empower the Kabaka to Acquire Land for Purposes Beneficial to the Nation, 1945, sadly at the cost of his life.
It was against such a difficult populace that Kawalya Kaggwa was recalled from Ethiopia where he was serving as a lieutenant in the British army to lead as Katikkiro after the leading contenders had turned down the job. Only a soldier with Kawalya’s character was could govern in the face of the ever-present danger of an assassin’s bullet. He continued with Nsibirwa’s reforms and ensured that Makerere and Mulago got the land they wanted. He resolved the issue of African representation on the Legislative Council when he accepted its membership as the first African despite teething opposition. He also served well on the East African Legislative Assembly which he joined as one of the first three African members in 1948.
But above all, Kawalya Kaggwa introduced representative councils in Buganda in 1945 and Uganda in 1949.
In 1945, the colonial government ordered a study for the economic development of Uganda and among the limitations on the factors of production which were identified was “power based on the most inefficient use of fuels, namely wood. Kawalya Kaggwa formulated his demand for electricity based on the findings of the study. As a result, we got the Owen Falls Dam and we all see the value of his great foresight. He was great man.
Peter Mulira
Kampala