Government to Build Innovation Institute in Memory of I.K Musaazi
The second deputy Prime Minister Hon Kirunda Kivejinja this morning announced commencement of the memorial week to celebrate the legacy of one of Uganda’s heroes Ignatius Kangave Musaazi.
Musaazi led labor and cooperatives movements, independence struggles and championed multiparty democracy in Uganda.
As a way of celebrating his life Kivejinja said a memorial fundraising dinner will be held on 4th October 2019 to raise funds to build the I.K Musaazi Innovation Institute.
The institute will be built on six pillars basing on Musaazi’s ideologies, namely leadership and mindset change, cooperatives philosophy, commercial farming, innovation and think tank and credit union.
The memorial week that started today will run up to October 4th 2019 and will include various activities such as Thanksgiving prayers at Namirembe cathedral on 30th September, and I.K Musazi exhibition and Youth book club dialogue on 3rd October 2019 at Uganda museum.
The memorial week is celebrated under the theme “keeping Ignatius Kangave Musazi legacy alive; Growing patriotism in the youth.”
Kivejinja said Musazi was a renowned man who convinced British colonialists that Ugandans were mature enough to run their own business.
“He had four objectives in mind; to unite all the people of Uganda, to get independence for Uganda, to raise the standards of living of Africans and to fight for human rights for all people of Africa,” said Kivejinja
He applauded the late Musazi for leading a demonstration against imperialism in Uganda which earned him over 30 arrests and incarceration in various prisons including in Karamoja for three years.
“Musaazi left comfort of government employment to lead and attract educated Ugandans into cooperative movement. He travelled around the countryside organizing peasants into cooperative groups at every parish. Together with other nationalists, Musaazi later formed the first trade union of Uganda motor driver’s association which later metamorphosed into Uganda Amalgamated Transport and Genery worker’s union,” he added
Musazi founded the Uganda National Congress (UNC), the first truly Ugandan nationwide political party from which the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) sprang in 1961.
He was born on August 8th 1905, died on October 20th and was buried on October 27th 1990 at Kololo Heroes ground.
Musazi was born in Timuna village near Wobulenzi off Kampala – Gulu highway in Luweero district.
He attended Kings college Budo, then gained a scholarship to study divinity in the UK but was not ordained a priest by the Church leadership in England after completion of his studies, something that disappointed him.
He returned to Uganda and abandoned missionary work taking a teaching job at Kings college Budo and later became an inspector of schools in the colonial administration.
At his death in 1990, Musazi was recognized as a national hero of the Republic of Uganda.