The Ugandan politician Benedicto Kagima Mugumba Kiwanuka (1922-1972) was one of the early leaders in the independence movement of Uganda and led the country in the transition stage between colonial British rule and independence. He was murdered by Idi Amin in the early 1970s.

Benedicto Kiwanuka was born in May of 1922 in Kisabwa in the Buganda kingdom of Uganda, the son of a minor but wealthy Roman Catholic Buganda chief. Kiwanuka received his early education in mission schools, and his career must be seen in relation to a continuing relationship with the Catholic groups of Uganda. During World War II Kiwanuka served in the African Pioneer Corps, with duty in Kenya, Egypt, and Palestine, completing his military career with the rank of sergeant major.

After the war Kiwanuka returned to Uganda and took employment in the Judicial Department as a clerk and interpreter. Wanting to study law, he...