THE 56th DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF ARCHBISHOP JOSEPH KIWANUKA ON 22/2/2022

 CELEBRATING THE 56th DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1st AFRICAN BISHOP JOSEPH KIWANUKA RIP ON 22nd FEBRUARY 2022.

By Robert Ssempa

22nd February 2022 is the 56th death anniversary of the death of the first  African Bishop the Late Joseph Kiwanuka. He was buried in Lubaga Cathedral, in  a glass coffin and his body remained  visible until 1994 when the Uganda Episcopal  Conference decided to have him permanently covered. The job was done by Lubaga Cathedral National Foundation under the leadership of Henry Kibirige. The  actual work was done by the Late Architect Kagimu.

Archbishop Joseph Kiwanuka was born in June 1899 at Nakirebe  - Katende Parish, and was ordained the 1st African Bishop South of the Sahara in 1939 and he is the Founding Bishop of Masaka Diocese. He was Ordained a Bishop at a time when the Church in Uganda and the political situation were very unpredictable. At the time, the Archbishop of Lubaga Henry Streacher had his head quarters at Villa Maria in Masaka because the environment around Kampala was not not conducive. Kabaka Daudi Chwa  was facing many challenges at the time which later led to his death (It is believed that 

Kabaka Chwa was poisoned). Bishop Kiwanuka took on the roles of Bishop with zeal. He opened several parishes and for every parish he opened, he made sure that other than the Parish Church, both a boys’ and girls’ primary school was started, a secondary school and a Healthy Centre. Parishes like Kabuwoko, Nkoni, Kyamaganda are testimony. His leadership and education policies produced a number of educated young men and women, no wonder many first Ugandans in various  national offices came from his Diocese. These among others include: Bendicto Kiwanuka RIP, Joseph Mubiru RIP, Tomusange, Dr. Namboze, Mulwanyamuli Semwogerere. 

Archbishop  Kiwanuka is refered to as a man of vision. As a young African priest, it was him and Msgr. Temoteo Semwogerere who were the first African Priests to study in Rome, these were followed by the first African Seminarians: Adrian Ddungu RIP and Kalibbala. In Rome, Fr. Joseph Kiwanuka was very impressed by the work of the White Fathers and he decided to become one of them. Thus the first African to become a White Father.

Back in Masaka, Bishop Kiwanuka was faced by a number of challenges. He found the poverty levels were great. The schools, hospitals, girls child education, the politics of the period where Catholics in Buganda were extremely magnalised. He embarked on building his diocese. He established his headquarters at Kitovu, built secondary schools which include Christ the King Kalisizo and others, built a Harambe Hospital at Kitovu. In many of these projects, the Catholics in the Diocese were forced to contribute, those who were hesitant, were threatened with a ban on sacraments. He embarked on raising people's income by starting the first cooperative society in Uganda which he named "Bwavu Mpologoma"  (Poverty is like a lion,  if you don't fight, it eats you) this is the mother of the SACCOS and the Cooperative Movement in Uganda. ‘Bwavu Mpologoma’ did a tremendous job, people were encouraged to grow Cotton and Coffee. Each parish had a branch, the extension workers were at the service of the farmer to enhance productivity. This removed the Indian middle men. People got money, built iron roofed houses, took their children to school, and many bought bantam motorcycles nicknamed ‘Mwanyi Zabala’. All these developments were a vision of the Late Archbishop Kiwanuka. It is very sad, that this generation has killed many of Kiwanuka’s developments. 

Bishop Kiwanuka was very good at identifying talent. He would send two Seminarians from time to time to Rome for further studies and these were later to play a very big role in the life of the Church. The most notable, other than Seminarians Adrian Ddungu and Kalibbala, he sent Emmanuel Wamala and Paul Kalanda. Wamala was appointed a Bishop and later Cardinal, while Kalanda was appointed a Bishop and he is the only African Bishop who has headed three different dioceses. When Bendicto Kiwanuka the first Ugandan Catholic to study in UK failed to get a scholarship to study law abroad, it was Bishop Kiwanuka and Archbishop Joseph Cabana who contributed funds for his first year of study. He was later to support Joseph Mubiru, Mbaziira and others. Mbaziira passed on shortly after graduation as a lawyer. Kiwanuka started a scholarship scheme which helped many young men to further their education. It was out of this policy that when Bendicto Kiwanuka became Prime Minister in 1961, one of the first things he did was to secure 300 scholarships from America which benefitted many Ugandans.

The period 1953 to 1955, was a very hard period for Buganda Kingdom. The colonial leaders wanted to establish the East African Federation. Buganda did not agree. A lot went. Sir Edward Mutesa II the Kabaka of Buganda was exiled. Many people fought for the return of the Kabaka, among the behind the scenes operators was Bishop Joseph Kiwanuka. The colonial leaders later sent Professor Hankook to sort out the problem. Hankook organized a team of leaders, this led to the 1955 Namirembe agreement and thus the return of Kabaka. Bishop Joseph Kiwanuka was part of the team. Kiwanuka and Fr. Seguya participated in the Hankook negotiations and precipitated into the return of Kabaka Mutesa II. It is said that Professor Hankook could not decide on any political matter before consulting Bishop Kiwanuka.

In 1960, Archbishop Joseph Cabana a Canadian White Father retired, and in November 1960, Bishop Joseph Kiwanuka was installed as the new Archbishop of Lubaga Archdiocese.