Ignatius K. Musaazi

Ignatius Kangave Musaazi (1905 - 1990) formed the first political party in Uganda, namely the Uganda National Congress (UNC) party on Sunday 2 March 1952. Musaazi became its first President, and Abubaker Kakyama Mayanja was the party's first Secretary General. Other key figures of the UNC included Apollo K. Kironde who was the legal advisor to the party. Towards the end of 1951, Ignatius Musaazi rented part of the ground floor at Musajjalumbwa’s house, a house on what is now known as Musajjalumbwa Road near the Lubiri (palace) in Mengo. The house belonged to the late Yakobo Musajjalumbwa, a former Treasurer (Omuwanika) of the Buganda kingdom. This house become a centre of political activity and in 1952 witnessed the birth of the Uganda National Congress.

I.K. Musaazi is a national hero (1990) of the republic of Uganda in East Africa, and is buried at Kololo heroes ground, part of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. He participated in the Buganda riots of 1945 and 1949 which resulted in the burning down of houses belonging to pro-government (British Colonial Government) Baganda chiefs. Buganda is part of Uganda, and the people of Buganda are called Baganda; they speak Luganda.

Briefly, the background to the Buganda riots mentioned above, is that the rioters demanded the following: (1) the right to bypass the price controls on the export sales of cotton imposed by the British colonial government, (2) Removal of the local Asian monopoly over cotton ginning – the Asians in Uganda were deemed to have an unfair advantage by having exclusive rights over cotton ginning, (3) The right to have their own representatives in local government and thus replace the chiefs appointed by the British Colonial Government. Ignatius Musaazi was viewed by the British Colonial administration as being behind the riots. The British Governor at the time, Sir John Hathorn Hall (Governor 1945 - 1952), regarded the riots as the work of Communists. He refused to give way on the rioter’s demands.

Musaazi had formed the Uganda African Farmers Union (UAFU) in 1947 and the UAFU was blamed for the 1949 riots. The Union was banned as a result. Many supporters went into hiding. Musaazi himself was no stranger to prison as the colonial establishment tried to stop his efforts to bring about change in favour of the African farmers and Ugandans in general. I.K. Musaazi formed the Federation of Partnerships of Uganda African Farmers (FPUAF) union following the banning of the Uganda African Farmers Union. He gave up his job as a teacher at the department of education, at what was then Makerere University College (later became Makerere University), in order to help African farmers oppose the prevailing unfairness in trade, especially for cotton.

I.K. Musaazi went to London in 1950 and lobbied the British Parliament for support of the FPUAF and its aspirations. Among many in the British Parliament who supported him was Fenner Brockway, a British Labour Party Member of Parliament(MP). He also received support from many intellectuals, particularly from the London School of Economics (LSE), who were sympathetic and supportive. While in London, Musaazi had the opportunity to speak to LSE students and among them was an American, George Shepherd who was completing a PhD in Political Science. George Shepherd accepted Musaazi’s invitation to provide technical help for the FPUAF. The main aim was to fight the agricultural policies in Uganda which greatly disadvantaged Africans in favour of Asians and Europeans.

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Wikipedia