The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | JB Kakooza was laid to rest at his ancestral home in Lwengo on Thursday, after several tributes to a life many said was dedicated to the complete democratization of Uganda.
It is said, the late Democratic Party stalwart, John Baptist Kakooza popularly known JB Kakooza always argued for all political parties are adequately funded. He also wished that President Museveni become tolerant to political opponents by ensuring the political parties are not stifled.
At a memorial a day before his burial, his wife Justice Irene Mulyagonja, likened Mulago Hospital to a monument. She also said her husband fought for the rights of other Ugandans.
While his death has again sparked debate about the quality of health services in Uganda, particularly at Mulago hospital, many mourners argue that JB Kakooza would have focussed more on pleading with President Museveni to keep political parties operational.
Uganda Radio Network had had several interviews with JB Kakooza about politics and political parties in Uganda. He had quite immense information about political parties.
His father was a Kabaka Yeka supporter but JB Kakooza during his youthful years, decided to support the late Benedicto Kiwanuka although he said he did not personally meet him.
Some in the Democratic Party, including the current DP President, Nobert Mao used to refer to JB Kakooza as a great DP volunteer.
While Kakooza did not hold a permanent job at the DP Secretariat under Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere and later John Ssebaana Kizito, he volunteered to serve on the DP Parliament – the National Council.
The council was crucial in forming policy meetings and decisions. Some of those decisions culminated in the legal battle against Article 269 that had limited the ability of political parties to freely operate and participate in the political landscape.
JB Kakooza together with Elia Lukwago and lawyer Joseph Balikudembe played the leading role in registering the present-day Democratic Party.
At the time, the party was torn into divisions. There had been attempts by the Late Alhaj Nasser Ssebagala and the party’s former Secretary General, Marino Drametu and Francis Bwengye wanted to register DP under themselves.
Because Mariano Drametu was aligned to the Bwengye and Ssebagala group, Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere fired him. JB Kakooza was then appointed Secretary General of the party. JB took on the task of the entire registration of DP.
JB Kakooza had when he lived, shared with Uganda Radio Network that registering DP at the time was not easy.
“It was very challenging because the party did not have its own resources. There was controversy because the other groups was still fighting. We were in court. I appeared in court several times” he said.
He died pleading for political parties
If there is any lesson that JB Kakooza learned from the short period as Acting Secretary General of DP, it is that running a political party without financing is not an easy task, especially in a country like Uganda where members of a political party are unable to entirely fund it.
He once referred URN to Paul Kawanga Ssemegerere’s book titled Political Party Financing published under the aegis of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. “It is a wonderful boo. It examines how parties are financed all over the world” he said.
As friends and relatives were preparing to send off JB Kakooza, the Parliament of Uganda was passing the Political Parties and Organisations (Amendment) Bill, 2025. Aspects of the Bill touched on financing of political parties. UPC’s Jimmy Akena said it was riddled with mischief. Another member of Parliament had suggested that the government should not fund parties.
The later suggestion would have rattled JB Kakooza if he had been living because he had all along held that “Political parties are supposed to be financed by the state regardless of their numerical strength in parliament or elsewhere.”
“There are many reasons. The most important reason is that you must help political parties to structure themselves so well. That they might if they take power, they should be able to run the country properly, ethically, democratically, and responsibly in terms of accountability,” he wished. He had opined that the current model of political parties under the Political Parties and organizations Act is not tenable because the ruling NRM continued to take the lion’s share of the allocations. “
Don’t Kill Political Parties
“The NRM has been trying to kill political parties. The danger with that they think that if you kill political parties, you keep power. That is what Amin thought. Ban political parties. That is what Obote thought. 1969 if I ban political parties. I will remain in power. Some other force which was not DP, which was not a political party came and removed him” said JB Kakooza.
He had believed that relinquishing power to a firmly rooted political party would ensure the posterity of the country.
“You see when Benedicto Kiwanuka was in power for at least that one year, he treated Obote with respect as Leader of the Opposition. For example when Ben was distributing scholarships, he didn’t distribute them in the statehouse. He formed a committee and asked Obote to nominate people to that committee.”
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