The NRM transformed into the National Resistance Movement political party, while the NRA became the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF).

When the NRM and NRA eventually took power in January 1986, Kategaya was one of the groups' top leadership and considered by most as the Number Two after Museveni.

In May 2003, he was dropped from his ministerial position during a Cabinet reshuffle, along with other ministers who opposed the removal of term limits.

From the time he was dropped from the Cabinet, Kategaya returned to practice as a private lawyer with J.B.Byamugisha Advocates, a law firm based in Kampala.

[4] In December 2004, he participated in the formation of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) an anti-Museveni coalition which went on to become the main opposition group in Uganda after the 2006 general elections.