Kirunda Kivejinja

Early life

Kirunda was educated at Kibuli Junior school in and Busoga College Mwiri in before taking a pre-university course at Madras Christian College and obtaining a Bachelor of Science (Honours) Degree in Zoology at Delhi University on a government of India scholarship.

He took an active part in the student movement during Africa's continental struggle for independence and was treasurer of the African Students Association under the patronage of India's founding Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Other active students included (founding Secretary General of UPC), Chisiza (founding Secretary General of Malawi Peoples party), John Mataure (founder member of ZANU-PF), Bingu wa Mutharika (current President of Malawi), (former Prime Minister of Uganda), and John Malecela (former Prime Minister of Tanzania).

Political career

Back in in 1962, he joined in mobilising nationalist support for () as Secretary for Research and Information. The party won the 1962 independence elections. Since then, Kirunda has been one of the major figures in Uganda's political evolution, both as an actor and as an affected party.

As a result of a power struggle in , Kakonge lost the secretary generalship of the party to at the 1964 Gulu delegates conference. Kirunda, with other Kakonge sympathisers, were expelled from the for having a communist agenda. He retreated with colleagues, and to private enterprise and founded .

After the fall of the regime in 1979, Kirunda was elected to the () in the () government. With Kintu and Bidandi, they founded the newspaper as a forum for discussation of policy and formulation of a national agenda.

In the run up to the 1980 general election, a group of former exiles organised as the () under and former members opposed to divisive politics formed the () to contest the general election, promising a people's rebellion if the election was rigged by . At the first UPM conference, Museveni was elected president, Bidandi Ssali the secretary general and Kirunda, the national treasurer.

In 1981,the () was formed to wage a protracted people's war against the UPC gorvenment with Yusuf Lule as Chairman and Yoweri Museveni as Vice Chairman and Chairman of the NRM/Army High Command. Kirunda was Chief of Publicity and Propaganda of the NRM, Commissioner of Finance in the NRM interim administration in the liberated areas and Member of the NRM delegation at the .

In the latter part of the NRM armed struggle, 1983-85, Kirunda sought refuge in Vienna, Austria as a base on the invitation of Erwin Lanc, foreign minister in the socialist governments of Chancellors Bruno Kraisky and Fred Sinowatz. At the death of the NRM chairman in 1985,Kirunda convened a meeting of NRM leaders in Unterolberndorf, Vienna, Austria which elected as Chairman of the NRM. This was also the final consultative meeting of NRM leaders before the fall of the Obote regime and subsequent Nairobi Peace Talks in June,1985.

With the capture of state power by the in 1986, he was appointed Minister of Relief and Social Rehabilitation. He was also elected to the that made Uganda's and has held several assignments in the NRM. He is the current Member of Parliament for Bugweri constituency and Chairman of the NRM Historical Leaders' Forum.