l Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Kamuli District Woman MP
What was your first job? Where and when was it? How much did you earn then?
My first job was working as a legal assistant with Obol Ochola and Company in Kampala in 1979. I was earning sh150 a month.
What is the most enduring memory of your first job?
One day, a woman met me at the High Court with a photo of her late husband and asked: “Madam, do you see this handsome man?” I said yes. Then she asked me why I was defending his killer, who had made her a widow. “Why don’t you live him to go to jail. Why do you defend such people?,” she continued asking, in tears. I will never forget that moment in my profession because personally, I felt sorry for her, but still I was supposed to continue defending my client because of the profession.
What did you learn from it that makes you a better boss?
I learnt to be independent and not to seek jobs from the Government as the only way to success. In 1984, I started my own law chambers, Kadaga and Company Advocates.
Did the first job change your career path or perspective of life?
It did not because it was in line with my profession. In fact, it helped me to become the first female lawyer to set up her own law chambers in Uganda.
CAREER PROFILE
- Deputy Speaker of Parliament and MP, 2001 to date
- Minister for parliamentary affairs, 1999 to 2001
- Minister of Communication, 1998
- Regional co-operation minister, 1996
- FIDA-Uganda President, 1986/89
- Obol Ochola laws chambers, legal assistant, 1979
Interviewed by Nickson Turyahikayo