Pope Francis' death cheats conspiratoral Maj. John Kazoora

By Ofwono Opondo 

To the Catholic fraternity in Uganda, Adieu, for Pontifex Francis, 88, the first non-European Pope since St Peter began his Church, who died on Easter Monday. 

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina rose to the throne on March 13, 2013, following the sudden abdication of Pope Benedict XVI, (Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger) a German and former conscript into Nazi army in World 2, on February 28, 2013. 

And as should be, his death and the all-round international media publicity that comes with it, crowded out, and some would say, cheated our own cavalier, Maj. (Rtd) John Bashaija Kazoora, who had died a dejected man, a day earlier on Easter Sunday, of publicity. 

Having worked under, and known Kazoora for long, he was conspiratorial, full of intrigue, sneer and self-assuming in Uganda’s recent politics. While Kazoora would settle for no less, he had, in my assessment, mastered underhanded methods to outwit. 

To the unsuspecting and uninitiated new friends, especially in our convoluted politics, he passed off as the clever and genuine one, often accusing others of sidestepping him. 
No wonder, he wrote his book Betrayed By My Leader in unforgiving anger and containing many factual inaccuracies. 

When I first met Kazoora as Special District Administrator of Kampala in 1986, his office was at Wandegeya, from where, because it covered Makerere University, we were recruited into the nascent National Resistance Movement (NRM) just coming out from the bush war. 

It was on volunteer basis, as political mobilisers dubbed cadres and also conducting disguised intelligence to neutralised rearguard actions of the retreating Uganda People’s Congress moribund group, recently chased from government by Gen. Tito Okello’s junta.

Later, Kazoora was transferred to the newly created Internal Security Organisation (ISO), head-quartered at Nakasero, formerly Idi Amin Amini’s State Research Bureau, where thousands brutally died or disappeared without trace to-date. 

After a while, we learnt that Kazoora had fallen out with ISO director Gen. Brig. Jim Muhwezi Katugugu, over allegations of embezzlement of sh12m for which he was arrested, charged in court of law, convicted on his plea and handed a five-year jail term in Luzira Prison. 

Kazoora was acquitted on appeal after a stint because the trial Magistrate, Stephen Mungoma, “erred in law, and fact” by not subjecting his confession to the Police to a “trial within a trial”, his lawyer Protazio Sebutozi Ayigihugu argued, and the Judge agreed with him. 

Ofwono Opondo

After his release, Kazoora first lived a lonely life of shame in silent bitterness, before launching himself for the Constituent Assembly (CA) election in 1994, but lost. 

Undeterred, Kazoora returned to the campaign, entering the 6th Parliament alongside Winnie Byanyima with a vengeance to settle scores against persons they saw as having humiliated them earlier. 

They led the censure of Muhwezi and Sam Kutesa in 1997 and 1998 respectively, and harangued Gen. Salim Saleh with no love lost. Many of us joined the fray. 

In the pitched and extended political battles, the gap became wider, aggressive and irreconcilable between Kazoora and his allies on one side and President Yoweri Museveni leading NRM on the other, which they lost.

When Kizza Besigye broke off in September 1999, in preparation for his 2001 presidential bid, Byanyima, Kazoora, Miria Matembe, Mugisha Muntu, Amanya Mushega and Augustine Ruzindana, although disgruntled, calculatedly stayed back, until 2004 when they founded the Forum for Democratic Change. 

They claimed they understood the course better than Museveni who had recruited and continues to support them all even when they won’t admit publicly. 

Today, save for Besigye and Byanyima as “companions”, all the others have bitterly fallen out politically. Over the last four decades of NRM, it has been proven prudent never to hold unforgiving grudges among comrades because you may find yourselves in the same trench. 

Many will bury, but may not mourn Kazoora. Aluta Continua.