Agnes Kattigira

Ugandan independence fighter who led women's battalions during the Buganda uprising

Agnes Kattigira (1925-1998) was a key figure in Uganda's struggle against British colonial rule through her leadership of the Abaganda Women's Resistance. As a teenager, she organized the Women's Transport Brigade during the 1953 Buganda crisis, smuggling supplies and intelligence across Lake Victoria. Her 1960 pamphlet Women's Liberation in Kampala argued for gender equality in post-colonial governance. After independence, she founded the Kattigira Vocational Institute for displaced women, training over 5,000 artisans. Her memoir From Canoes to Councils (1985) is housed at the Uganda National Archives. Though overshadowed by male leaders, her work inspired later feminist movements like the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action.