Fr Denis Ssebuggwawo Mayanja

Fr Denis Ssebuggwawo Mayanja died on 14 November 2026 at the age of 90, while serving at Bisanje Parish in Masaka Diocese. His death was announced by the Bishop of Masaka, Serverus Jjumba, whose statement noted that he was born in 1936 and ordained priest in 1964. No cause of death was made public.

The diocese, through its Chancellor Fr Charles Jude Jjuuko, said a funeral Mass would be celebrated on Monday 16 November 2026 at Bukalasa Minor Seminary, where he would be buried in the seminary cemetery.

Denis Ssebuggwawo Mayanja was born in 1936, the second born in a family of ten children. His father, Pio Kaggwa, was a primary school teacher whose postings took the family from Kyebe to Kyesiiga and then to St Gerald Primary School, Kyango, after which he bought land at Kisunku, a village in Lwankoni Sub-county in present day Kyotera District, and settled there.

The young Mayanja attended St James Primary School, Manyama, and St Joseph Primary School at Biikira Parish, which was run by priests. He entered Kyamaganda Preparatory Seminary in 1951, a period he later recalled with great affection, and moved on to Bukalasa Minor Seminary in 1952 before completing his studies for the priesthood.

In October 1964, while still a deacon, he was chosen to represent Uganda's major seminaries at the canonisation of the 22 Uganda Martyrs in the Vatican. He was ordained priest in December 1964 by Bishop Adrian Kivumbi Ddungu at Kitovu Cathedral, and celebrated his first Mass at home in Kisunku.

Fr Mayanja began his ministry at his home parish of Matale in 1964 and 1965, then spent six months at Bigada Parish before becoming chaplain for schools at Kitaasa in Sembabule District. In 1967 he became parish priest of Kasozi Parish in Rakai District. He was later posted to Kitovu as diocesan assistant treasurer and served as parish priest at Kabuwoko, Butende, Biikira and Makondo. In 2000 he was posted to Bisanje Parish, where he remained for the rest of his life.

In 1972 Bishop Ddungu sent him to Rome to take part in the Movement for a Better World, which worked to spread the resolutions of the Second Vatican Council. He also served as spiritual director at Bukalasa Seminary, as Masaka Diocesan Dean and as director of the Laity at the Uganda Catholic Secretariat in Nsambya. Throughout his postings he promoted modern farming, education and the Church's role in national development.

He was a prolific writer, publishing more than 15 books on religion, politics, marriage, education, governance and social transformation. Titles included People Power, Church and Politics, Communism Has Invaded Uganda, A Call to End the Exploitation by Rich Countries and Kannungu (Kibeho III).

In 2019, then in his 80s, he publicly defended the People Power movement led by Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine, describing it as a charismatic revolution that could only be answered by meeting citizens' needs. He began writing his book People Power in the run up to the 2021 general election, and excerpts attracted national attention in 2020. Despite warnings from President Yoweri Museveni against clerics entering politics, he maintained that the Church had a prophetic responsibility to speak out against injustice, corruption and human rights violations.

Fr Mayanja's office at Bisanje Parish was known for its shelves of books, and visitors described a priest who welcomed them with a hospitable smile. He traced his convictions to the Old Testament prophets and to the Gospel, and said that speaking the truth was part of a religious leader's duty to help people understand their rights. In a 2024 interview with Monitor he said: "We are all political animals regardless of the religions we profess." He criticised those who used religion as a reason to silence clerics who questioned government excesses.

Fr Mayanja is remembered as a priest who challenged power through both the pulpit and the pen. Buddu County Chief Jude Muleke said the Church had lost a bold and knowledgeable priest who never hesitated to speak to the powerful on behalf of the less fortunate, and whose life left messages of reflection and a body of literature to help others into the future. His books on Church, politics and society remain his lasting contribution to public debate in Uganda.