{"id":98443,"date":"2025-04-22T18:09:18","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T18:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/major-john-kazoora-nra-veteran-and-author-of-betrayed-by-my-leader-dies-aged-67"},"modified":"2025-04-22T18:09:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T18:09:18","slug":"major-john-kazoora-nra-veteran-and-author-of-betrayed-by-my-leader-dies-aged-67","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/major-john-kazoora-nra-veteran-and-author-of-betrayed-by-my-leader-dies-aged-67","title":{"rendered":"Major John Kazoora, NRA Veteran and Author of \u2018Betrayed by my Leader\u2019, Dies Aged 67"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Uganda. <\/strong><\/span><b>Major (Rtd) John Kazoora, a decorated veteran of the National Resistance Army (NRA) and a sharp critic of Uganda\u2019s post-revolutionary leadership, has died.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>His passing on Easter Sunday was confirmed to the Nile Post by a family member and close associates, including opposition activist Ronald Muhinda.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Betrayed by his leader, now called home by his Creator. Maj. John Kazoora has signed out,&#8221; said Muhinda.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Any Bush war officer who never got promoted had fundamental differences with their commander. Kazoora documented them in his memoir. Go well, sleep well.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Topics You Might Like<\/p>\n<p>Dies Aged 67<\/p>\n<p>Details of his cause of death at the age of 67 remains unclear.<\/p>\n<p>Kazoora, who hailed from western Uganda, is best known for his memoir Betrayed by My Leader, in which he chronicles his journey from an idealistic university student to a frontline fighter in the 1981\u201386 guerrilla war that brought President Yoweri Museveni to power.<\/p>\n<p>The book is a powerful indictment of what he described as the betrayal of the revolutionary values the NRA once stood for\u2014freedom, democracy, and the rule of law.<\/p>\n<p>A former Bush War comrade of Museveni, Kazoora emerged after the war as a principled voice in Parliament and within the security sector.<\/p>\n<p>He served as director of political affairs in military intelligence and later represented Kashari County in Parliament under the Movement system, before breaking ranks with the establishment.<\/p>\n<p>In later years, he joined opposition efforts led by Dr Kizza Besigye, with whom he shared both a personal friendship and political ideology rooted in reform.<\/p>\n<p>In Betrayed by My Leader, Kazoora does not spare himself from criticism. He reflects with brutal honesty on the choices made during the war and after, and how the struggle&#8217;s noble beginnings were derailed by what he saw as corruption, militarism, and intolerance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe fought for a Uganda where every citizen would be equal before the law,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut what we built turned into a pyramid of fear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even after retiring from active service, Kazoora remained outspoken, often warning of the dangers of silencing dissent and centralising power.<\/p>\n<p>His writings and public appearances captured the disillusionment felt by many of the revolution\u2019s original architects.<\/p>\n<p>Major Kazoora\u2019s legacy lies not only in the battles he fought in Luweero, but in the conscience he offered after the guns went silent.<\/p>\n<p>He believed Uganda\u2019s unfinished revolution would one day be completed\u2014not through war, but through truth and civic awakening.<\/p>\n<p>He is survived by his family and a generation of Ugandans who continue to wrestle with the ideals he once fought for\u2014and later mourned as lost.<\/p>\n<p>Funeral arrangements are expected to be announced by his family in due course.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Uganda<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Uganda. Major (Rtd) John Kazoora, a decorated veteran of the National Resistance Army (NRA) and a sharp critic of Uganda\u2019s post-revolutionary leadership, has died. His passing on Easter Sunday was confirmed to the Nile Post by a family member and close associates, including opposition activist Ronald Muhinda. &#8220;Betrayed by his leader, now called [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":98442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-98443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-culture-and-art","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Major John Kazoora, NRA Veteran and Author of \u2018Betrayed by my Leader\u2019, Dies Aged 67 - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/major-john-kazoora-nra-veteran-and-author-of-betrayed-by-my-leader-dies-aged-67\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Major John Kazoora, NRA Veteran and Author of \u2018Betrayed by my Leader\u2019, Dies Aged 67\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press &#8211; Uganda. Major (Rtd) John Kazoora, a decorated veteran of the National Resistance Army (NRA) and a sharp critic of Uganda\u2019s post-revolutionary leadership, has died. 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