Justice Katureebe eulogises UPC’s Bossa

The Chief Justice, Bart Katureebe, has described former vice president of Uganda Peoples Congress party (UPC), Joseph Bossa, as an intelligent and principled person that the country has lost.
Bossa died on Tuesday last week at The Hague in the Netherlands, according to his wife, Ms Solome Balungi Bossa, a judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
She said her husband suffered from colon cancer and his condition worsened in the last three weeks of his life.
Speaking to the mourners during a requiem Mass at St Peter’s Church Nsambya, Kampala yesterday, Justice Katureebe said he had known Mr Bossa for the last 50 years.
“I first met Bossa in 1969 when he was at Namilyango College because he was the first person to talk to me since I was coming from the village to join a big school.
“Bossa was a very intelligent and principled man. He liked debating very much and he was among the best debaters since we were in high school in 1970. I did not get surprised when he joined politics,” Justice Katureebe said.
He added that Mr Bossa was not scared to speak out his mind and was always willing to listen to anybody despite their political affiliation.
“I recall the time when President Idi Amin took over power. I got a letter from Bossa saying Amin had done the worst thing to Uganda. He was not in the country but he was following whatever was happening,” Justice Katureebe said.

Mr Otunnu hails Bossa
During the same requiem Mass, the former UPC president, Mr Olara Otunnu, said his friendship with Bossa started at Namilyango College in 1960s because he was a star debater and he liked his arguments.
“He was an intellectual, who was simple and social regardless of the station of his life,” he said.
Mr Otunnu added that Bossa got involved in national politics because he wanted to see Uganda as a better place.
“He always talked about fairness, equity and the society which gives an opportunity to our children to realise their potential, something that made him a social democrat because he believed in those values,” he said.
Ms Bossa, the widow, said that it was not easy to put in writing an experience of 35 years she has been with Bossa, because they were bonded together since they got married.
“Mr Bossa has been a very caring and responsible man, not only for his family but all the family relatives and the different types of friends, from high school, university and the Judiciary,” she said.

About Bossa’s life

Bossa was born in 1949, he is survived by a wife and eight children. He worked in various places including Law Development Centre, where he taught law.
He also practiced law before joining and after leaving Bank of Uganda. However, he spent the longest period of his active life working with Bank of Uganda from 1982 to 2004.
He will be buried at his ancestral home in Gayaza Manyangwa in Wakiso District Today.