KAMPALA.
Seasoned lawyer and newspaper columnist Karoli Ssemogerere has quit writing his column in The Daily Monitor after assuming his new role as acting judge of the High Court of Uganda.
Karoli , a son of former Democratic Party (DP) President Paulo Ssemogerere has been penning a weekly column named Talking Point for 19 years ,but started writing in Daily Monitor at its inception in 1992.
In his last column on Wednesday, March 6,2025 Karoli said after taking oath as an acting judge at State House ,Entebbe on Tuesday ,President Museveni turned from the camera into his ears and asked: “ Are you the one who writes in the papers?” Karoli bravely responded “yes” .
Mr Museveni again asked : “ Are you a journalist ?”,
Karoli responded :“No, I am a professional in the ICT sector ,writing is just one of them .I work in the ICT sector”.
According to Karoli , his exchange with the President caught the attention of the cameras (Journalists) .
“I will miss these pages and promise to help my employer recruit a balanced column with an internationalist view of the world around us to replace me in these pages ,” he says
In the same last column ,Karoli narrates how vocal political commentator and journalist Andrew Mwenda enticed him to shift from being a regular contributor in Daily Monitor to writing a weekly column .
“We wrote a letter to Conrad Nkutu [former Managing Director ] to upgrade myself from amateur to column . Mr Mwenda left me in these pages like many others to do other things .I am yet to find him! But the column ran, and ran .It graduated from politics ,an obsession of the masses , to a wider range of topics .Justice Patrick Tabaro ,a retired judge ,in an interaction a few years ago noted the change . The advice came from former Chief Justice Bart Katureebe ,who served under my father as a deputy minister in the Foreign Ministry ,and became a good friend ,the tone sounded personalized .I learnt that lesson,” he writes
Karoli says there is special freedom that comes with a column since newspapers like Daily Monitor don’t subject its columnists with any form of censorship.
“ I never attracted a single libel suit in these pages ,” he brags . While still at high school , Karoli says his A-Level teacher Simon Peter Ongodia spotted his creative writing abilities and encouraged him to carry it forward .
“ One of side hustles was editing the St Mary’s College Kisubi School Magazine ,the Eagle . In dark press, the Block newspaper was published from my cubicle,” he reminisces.