Who was Paul Ssemogerere?
The late Ssemogerere was born on 11th February 1932, in Bumangi, Buggala Island, Ssese.
He went to St. John Boys Boarding Primary School and later to St. Henry’s College Kitovu, in the primary section, before the primary component was abolished. He then joined Kisubi Boys where he completed his Primary Leaving Certificate (PLE) in1946.
In 1947, Paul Kawanga joined St. Mary’s College Kisubi Secondary. He obtained the Secondary Leaving Certificate in 1949, and was admitted to Senior Secondary One in 1950, and obtained the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate in 1952.
After St. Mary’s College Kisubi, Ssemogerere first enrolled at Makerere College, then the University College of East Africa, when it was still an affiliate of the University of London for a Diploma in Education.
He undertook several graduate courses abroad, obtaining a PhD in Public Administration at the Syracuse University of New York in 1979. He proceeded to Tanzania for the Moshi unity conference of Ugandans in readiness for the overthrow of Idi Amin, and became a member of the National Consultative Council, which was the Third Parliament of Uganda.
Ssemogerere contested twice for Presidency in 1980 against former President Milton Obote and in 1996 against the incumbent President Yoweri Museveni and lost before he retired from active politics.
He is a former President of the Democratic Party- DP, which he led for 25 years after replacing Benedicto Kiwanuka who was made to disappear in 1972. He handed over the party leadership to the late John Ssebana Kizito in 2005, the former Kampala City Mayor.
Dr. Ssemogerere is a former member of the Uganda Legislative Council in which he served between 1961 to 1962, a former Member of Parliament for North Mengo Constituency, former Leader of Opposition, former Minister of Labor and other positions.
