Former Democratic Party (DP) President Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere has passed on at the age of 90. Ssemogerere is said to have passed on from his home Friday morning after falling sick in the past days.
Born February 11, 1932 in present-day Kalangala District, Dr Ssemogerere was DP leader for 25 years, and one of Uganda’s influential politicians until his retirement in 2005. In 1961–62, Ssemogerere was elected as a member of the Uganda Legislative Council and afterwards of the National Assembly of Uganda as Member of Parliament for North Mengo Constituency.
In 1972, he replaced Benedicto Kiwanuka as the leader of the Democratic Party, having previously served as his Parliamentary Secretary. Following the 1971 coup, Ssemogerere was in exile until 1979, when he returned as Minister of Labour. In 1980, Paul Ssemogerere assumed leadership of the Democratic Party.
Ssemogerere was a Presidential Candidate in the disputed 1980 General elections which were won by Milton Obote’s Uganda People’s Congress. Ssemogerere then became the leader of the parliamentary opposition from 1981 to 1985. He was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs during the presidency of Tito Okello (1985–86).
When the NRA/M government came to power, Ssemogerere served as Minister of Internal Affairs (1986–88]), Foreign Affairs (1988–94) and Public Service (1994–95). After his retirement from politics in November 2005, he was succeeded as party president by John Ssebaana Kizito, the then mayor of Kampala.
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