UPC mourns party diehard Kulabako

Entebbe. At 71, Night Kulabako, a Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) stalwart, lived a life full of energy, drama and made her bold contribution to the party. An ardent supporter of former president Milton Obote, she rose through the ranks to become a sub-county chief.
On Tuesday, Kulabako breathed her last, with the UPC party and family members paying tribute to the woman, who adored Uganda’s two-time president Obote, making him her idol.
“Jenifer Night Kulabako, who was a senior cadre of the mighty party, went to be with the Lord,” a party statement issued on Tuesday, said.
UPC party twice governed Uganda from 1962 to 1971 and from 1980 to 1985, both times being overthrown by the military.
Kulabako died at Mengo Hospital after a short illness. Before her death, she has complained of body weakness and she was an outpatient for a week.
Born in March 1948 in Entebbe Abayita Ababiri, Kabale Village, Kulabako went to Namate Primary School and Nkumba Primary School. She then joined Nkumba Junior School where she studied up to Junior Three.She later enrolled for midwifery training.
Fondly called “Mama Night”, she is described as an embodiment of UPC.
Brave and bold, Kulabako saw her rise from 1980 when she rallied behind Obote, dedicating herself to the UPC party.
In 1983, she was appointed Division Chief of Katabi, Entebbe Municipality, at a time when Uganda Freedom Movement rebels were on the loose. It is said her division had a lot of rebel activities which she is credited for annihilating.
With the fall of Obote government to Tito Okello on July 27, 1985, the party was left in disarray, but Kulabako remained steadfast in her position in the new government, fighting for what she called bringing back freedom to Ugandans.
Eventually, when the Tito Okello government was overthrown by the National Resistance Army forces on January 26, 1986, “Mama Night” was shortly arrested and detained in Luzira prison for nine years on murder charges.
She was accused of killing a son of a Democratic Party member, and a woman who was about to give birth at Kiswa Health Centre. She denied the charges.

Drama at court
Kulabako’s fairytale didn’t end with the murder charges. On the day of judgment, with the court room filled to capacity, drama ensued.
The person who was believed to have been murdered appeared in the audience.
With the “resurrection” of the supposedly murdered person, Mama Night was set free and regained her freedom. She immediately joined the struggle to restore multiparty democracy in Uganda.
In 2001, she was elected as the chairperson of her village, a position she held up to the recently concluded LC1 elections.
After the return to multiparty democracy, she was heavily involved in the General election campaigns of 2006, 2011, 2016.
She will be laid to rest tomorrow at her ancestral home in Bombo, Luweero District.