Ignatius K. Musaazi

Towards the end of 1951, Musaazi rented part of the ground floor of a house on what is now known as Musajjalumbwa Road near the Lubiri (palace) in Mengo.

He participated in the Buganda riots of 1945 and 1949[3][4] which resulted in the burning down of houses belonging to pro-government (British Colonial Government) Baganda chiefs.

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.

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.

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.

The main aim was to fight the agricultural policies in Uganda which greatly disadvantaged Africans in favour of Asians and Europeans.

Shepherd was in Uganda for only two years but with the help of his FPUAF colleagues left a significant mark on the political landscape of the country.

Up to that point matters tended to progress very slowly, for example it was not until 23 October 1945 that the then new governor, Sir John Hall, approved the nomination of 3 Africans as members of LEGCO – the Legislative Council, in effect the Parliament of that colonial period.

They were: Michael Ernest Kawalya Kaggwa (Katikiro, i.e. Prime Minister in the government of Buganda Kingdom), Petero Nyangabyaki (Katikiro of Bunyoro), and Yekonia Zirabamuzale (Secretary General of Busoga)[7] LEGCO was set up by the Colonial authorities in March 1921 and at the very start it was a small group composed of Europeans: the colonial governor, four officials, and 2 nominated non-officials.

With the success of having most of the farmers' demands accepted by Sir Andrew Cohen, Ignatius Kangave Musaazi and Abubaker Kakyama Mayanja formed the Uganda National Congress party (UNC) on Sunday 2 March 1952.