John Kazoora was remembered at a funeral service at All Saints Cathedral, Nakasero, on Wednesday as a man of character and a true patriot.

Attendees at the service were told John Kazoora’s character allowed him not to be swayed from telling the truth to power.

From a childhood friend, his children, wife and former workmates, John Kazoora, who died early this week at the age of 67, feared God more than he feared people. They noted that his legacy is going to last for some time.

John Kazoora was among the young men who escaped from Makerere University to join the NRA bush war that brought President Museveni to power.

He served as Special District Administrator for Kabale and Kampala. He was also the director for political affairs at the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) during the early years of the NRA/NRM government.

John Kazoora served in the Sixth and Seventh Parliaments representing Kashaari Country. He is survived by a wife, Naome Kabasharira, the Rukiga County Member of Parliament. He has left behind four boys, which popularly referred to as the gang of four.

Rt. Rev. Dr. Hannington Mutebi, who led the service, said John Bashaija Kazoora lived a practical life as a Christian.

“When you hear his story, there is a book that he launched but disappeared, and he spoke his mind. And that is John,” Bishop Mutebi remarked.

Dr. Mutebi was referring to a Memoir by John Kazoora titled “Betrayed by My Leader”

“I’m sure that those who knew John will continue to benefit from having known him.  His deeds will continue to encourage and bless us. All of the present can impact people even when we die,” he said.

Former Deputy Inspector General of Police, Major General Steven Sabiiti Muzeyi, speaking as a family member and on behalf of the UPDF, said Kazoora.

He hailed the late for having served under the National Resistance Army at the age of 24. Kazoora joined the NRA in 1982.

Major General Sabiiti said Kazoora’s life was marked with what he described as unwavering patriotism.

A man of character

Albert Asiimwe Kazoora said his father was masterful and skilful with words when he spoke. “He loved us fearlessly. There was nothing that you could tell him that was contrary to what he knew of us and what he saw in us,” said Asiimwe.

Akampurira Dalton Kazoora, the youngest son of Naome Kabasharira and John Kazoora, sent his eulogy from Canada.

It was read by Romeo Kazoora. He said their father laid their foundations for their future.  “The foundation that he laid for the future that has been built and is still being built remains strong and steadfast”

According to the children, the late Kazoora taught them how they should treat people and how they should react to how they treat them.

He taught them to be patient and humble, but without compromising their courage to go against all odds.

Character shaped by school?

With the passing of John Kazoora, his close friend, Hannington Karuhanga revealed that his character might have been shaped by Nyakasura School, where Kazoora went in the mid-seventies before joining Makerere University.

Kazoora was reportedly part of the “Tough Six” group of boys during their days at Nyakasura. Others included the late General Benon Biraro, Hannington Karuhanga, Ben and Edward Tukasingura and Charles Kalira.

Karuhanga told mourners that Nyakasura, having been founded by a Captain of the Navy, was structured like a military school.

“Some of the values that you see are structured around two things. The way you were nurtured and nature,” he said.

He explained that most of the values that reflected John Kazoora’s character could have come from his upbringing by his mother, Manjeri and his late father, Enock Kazoora.

John Kazoora had in interviews testified that both of his parents were tough in parenting. His father, who served in the 7th King’s African Rifles and later was a driver in the then Ankole Kingdom, was a strict disciplinarian.

“In Manjeri, what you saw is what you got. There was nothing.  So I’m not surprised,” Karuhanga testified.

John Kazoora and Hannington Karuhanga were class captains at Nyakasura, helping the school to ensure strict discipline. While he was a leader, Karuhanga remembers that Kazoora was equally stubborn.

It said that having been provoked by David Tinyefunza aka David Sejjusa, Kazoora and the late Benon Biraro once arranged to burn the school’s bookstore. Karuhanga said, but the two listened to him and restrained from executing their heinous action.

Stories are also told of how Kazoora and others had made arrangements to kill one of their teachers who would subject them to canes, but later in the evening, move around their village trying to woo a girl who stayed near Rutooma Primary School.

At Makerere, Kazoora and Karuhanga became student leaders at Northcote and Nkurumah Halls.

In 1981, President Milton Obote abolished the Students’ Guild at Makerere University following student protests against the 1980 elections.

These protests were fueled by a belief that the elections, which brought Obote to power, were rigged. It is around this time that Kazoora, Dr Kiiza Besigye, and the late Ely Tumwine fled the University to join the war in Luwero.

“The traits that we see today, when I reflect over fifty-one and a half years, were already embedded. I would like to encourage the young people today that the community services that we talk about, how else would John live? The truth, the honesty, the firm. That was embedded,” said Karuhanga.

The Rukiga county MP, Naome Kabasharira, has been married to John Kazoora since 2009. She belongs to the ruling NRM party, while he belongs to the Forum for Democratic Change and later the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT).

She told mourners that the late was quite understanding that even when they did not agree on certain issues, they could not be separated. “It is a tendency at times in this country, when one belongs to another party, he is regarded as an enemy. I think John and I demystified that.”

Museveni did not abandon Kazoora

Apart from surviving the bullets during a five-year guerrilla war in Luwero, John Kazoora has on several occasions survived having spent several days under intensive care at hospitals in Uganda, Nairobi and Turkey.

Kabasharira said part of the reason why he has survived is because of the number of friends who made financial contributions to his treatment. He has been battling against diabetes from the time he joined the Seventh Parliament.

While many believed that Kazoora had parted ways with his leader, Yoweri Museveni, whom he accused of betrayal, Kabasharira said Museveni never abandoned his war comrade at his deathbed.

“His Excellency the President can never forget those people who fought with him in the bush. When someone is sick, they would come in. When he learned of it, he also sent money,” she revealed.

John Kazoora liked playing cards and chess during his free time. The funeral service in Kampala was attended by several dignitaries, including the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, former Chief Justice, Bert Katureebe, former Minister and Chancellor of Makerere University, Professor Mondo Kagonyera, former leader of the opposition, Wafula Oguttu, among others.