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Great Physician, founder of Kampala Hospital passes on
RIP. Prof Richard Masembe Kanyerezi, 85, took his last breath at his home in Rubaga where was receiving treatment. FILE PHOTO
Buganda’s notable son and illustrious old boy of King’s College, Budo and Makerere University, passed on Monday morning.
Prof Richard Masembe Kanyerezi, born on September 13, 1934, took his last breath at his home in Rubaga, a Kampala city suburb, where he was receiving treatment from.
Born to the late Asanansio Masembe and Manjeri Masembe Kanyerezi, Kanyerezi a second born in a family of 12 rose to become a great physician, Buganda minister, professor and politician.
Many of his contemporaries described him as a darling of many due to the way he handled patients.
Dr Emmanuel Ssekasanvu, Prof Kanyerezi’s personal physician, told Daily Monitor that Prof Kanyerezi died from a stroke he experienced two-and-a half weeks ago.
Describing him as ‘Uganda’s first and best rheumatologist’, Dr Ssekasanvu said his former teacher loved Medicine and continued practising it until he died.
A rheumatologist is a doctor who specialises in diagnosing and treating inflammatory conditions that affect the joints, tendons, ligaments, bones, and muscles.
“He was always available and worked with a concentration that puts the life of a patient first before money,” Dr Ssekasanvu, also the former president of the Physicians of Uganda, said.
About Prof Kanyerezi
He attended Mityana Primary School and later joined Mityana Secondary School for his O-Level. Kanyerezi was later admitted to King’s College, Budo for A-Level.
He joined Makerere University in 1955 and graduated in 1963 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. He then went to England where he studied for three years and was awarded the degree of Member of the Royal College of Physicians specialising in rheumatology.
In 1967, Prof Kanyerezi came back to Uganda to lecture Medicine at Makerere University. In 1969, he again moved to the US as a Fulbright scholar to pursue a doctorate at Harvard Medical School.
In 1971, he returned to Uganda and continued lecturing at Makerere University until 1980.
He also lived in Saudi Arabia for more than three years, before coming back to Uganda to establish a private clinic.
NRM Liberation and restoration of Buganda kingdom
ln 1980 Prof Kanyerezi went to Kenya for three years and during that period he was part of the NRM external wing in Nairobi. While there, he worked with the likes of the late Eria Kategaya and Sam Njuba, among others, in the liberation war.
Thereafter, Prof Kanyerezi was on the Sebataka supreme council that negotiated the restoration of Buganda Kingdom. By his death, he was been the sub clan leader in the Nsenene clan.
Boundless father and husband
Prof Kanyerezi was married to the late Elizabeth Kanyerezi, who passed on in 2010. He, however, remarried in 2012. He is survived by a widow, Ms Connie Mbabazi Kanyerezi, and four children.
Two of his children followed in his footsteps and are doctors; Dr Nakimera Kanyerezi Lubega and Dr Nandawula Kanyerezi Mutema. His other two children are Mr Timothy Masembe Kanyerezi, a senior partner of MMAKS Advocates, and Mr Kawalya Kanyerezi, an administrator at Kampala hospital.
Co-founder Kampala hospital
The desire to have quality health care with the provision of diagnostic equipment, pushed Prof Kanyerezi to garner his colleagues, among them Dr Jack Luyombya, Dr Edward Kigonya, Dr Nelson Ssenkatuka, Dr John Nsibambi, Leo Kibirango and Ntwatwa Kyagulanyi to moot the idea of a modern specialised hospital in 2000.
However, the idea remained on paper until 2007.
Prof Kanyerezi has in the past been quoted in the media as saying Kampala Hospital was built ‘without money.’
“The start was really slow but it later picked and has become what it is today,” Prof Kanyerezi once told the Daily Monitor.
READ:
Kanyerezi: The brain behind Kampala Hospital
In 2000, Richard Kanyerezi together with other colleagues worked their heads and built on an idea that could later morph into one of Uganda’s best and well facilitated hospital
“It gives me great pleasure to be working with such people, whose professionalism brings a smile on our patients’ faces,” Prof Kanyerezi was quoted.
These gallant men secured loans to buy specialised equipment for the hospital. The hospital has a child clinic, dental clinic, an echo laboratory, pathology unit and an imaging unit.
The hospital also has a cardio laboratory, which diagnoses cardiovascular diseases and a surgpath laboratory for pathology tests.
In addition to a number of laboratories, the hospital has three operating theatres with an endoscopy and colposcopy theatre.
Kampala Hospital, specializes in Anesthesiology, Hematology, Ophthalmology, Internal medicine, Surgery for both general, neural and plastic, Obstetrics and gynecology, Orthopedic, Oncology and Psychiatry.
Burial details
There will be vigil at his residence in Rubaga, today.
A funeral service will be held at Namirembe cathedral tomorrow at 5pm.
The soft spoken, dear to many as described by several relatives, friends and colleagues will be buried at his ancestral home in Maya on Thursday at 2pm.
What they say about him
Mr David Mpanga, his nephew, "Prof Kanyerezi was the younger brother of Ms Joyce Mpanga, my mother. He was more than an uncle to me, a great friend and mentor whom we shall dearly miss.”
Mujabi Robert, the Katikiro of Nsenene clan, "He has been a sub clan leader in Nsenene clan. We are very saddened by his death we shall really miss him. He fought hard in the restoration of the Buganda kingdom, he has been a noble person in the kingdom.”
Dr Fredrick Mutyaba, former student, "He was my teacher in the 70’s as a medical student. He was a great teacher very practical, professional and he's the reason we are who we are now."
