Ugee

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

In 1956, the Democratic Party (DP) came on the scene. Matayo Mugwanya, a descendant of Stanislus Mugwanya, who had led the Catholic group through the wars of 1890s, was its first leader. For a long time, the Catholics had been marginalized in the politics of the protectorate. In all the Kingdoms the kings and the most senior ministers and most of the chiefs were Protestants. Although not officially pronounced, Protestantism was the de facto state religion. In the case of Buganda, Matayo Mugwanya ran for the office of the Katikkiro (Prime Minister) after the return of the Kabaka in 1955. He was poised to win but the Mengo establishment was not ready for a Catholic Katikkiro. The Kabaka asked Paulo Kavuma, a Protestant who had been Katikkiro before the deportation to step down for Kintu, a protestant, who beat Mugwanya by four votes. Mugwanya later won a by-election to represent Mawokota in Lukiiko but was refused leave to take his seat by the Kabaka on the dubious grounds that he was a member of the African Legislative Assembly. Feeling rejected and frustrated, he formed the Democratic Party (DP), which registered the support of the Catholics throughout Uganda. The colonial state had promoted Protestantism and marginalized Catholics who, therefore, formed the party as an outlet to challenge a political order that was against them.

 

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