Prime
Sam Kalega Njuba lived a life of integrity
The late Sam Kalega Njuba
What you need to know:
In memoriam. On the first page of a book that was never formally published, a date is inscribed—December 17, 2013. The handwriting is mine, the note added during the late Sam Kalega Njuba’s requiem service held at his home in Nangabo, Gayaza, writes Angella Nampewo.
Seven years ago, a limited edition of Njuba’s story titled “The Betrayal” was printed and shared by his family on the day the advocate, freedom fighter, politician and my uncle was laid to rest.
Sam Njuba’s manuscript took him decades to put together, not for lack of materials but because of the unpredictability of life. His original manuscript was confiscated by the Kenyan police and the reproduced version disappeared in London, where he sought a publisher in vain.
When it was eventually printed posthumously, Njuba dedicated the book to his wife Gertrude and their children. Sam and Gertrude Njuba were married on September 14, 1964. He succumbed to intestinal complications at Nsambya hospital on December 13, 2013.
Background
Samuel Kalega Maggwa Njuba was born to Rev Canon Malaki Musoke Njuba and Nantege Njuba on February 22, 1941. Sam Njuba and his brother John were raised by his mother, a modest school teacher, after his father died when he was just two.
His mother, Nantege Njuba, was dedicated to the education of her boys as Sam later wrote: “She encouraged us to study hard. She promised us she will never fail to raise our school fees for as long as we are willing, able and determined to continue with our education.”
Education
Njuba went to Nyenga Primary School in Mukono District from 1947 to 1948. In 1949, he joined Mpumu Primary School and later Kadongo Gayaza Boys School when his mother was transferred to Gayaza in 1951.
He went to Makerere College School for his O-Levels and then in 1963, joined Government Senior Secondary School in Mbale for his A-Levels. Thereafter, he studied law at University of Dar es Salaam and graduated in 1968.
He continued his legal education at Queens University Belfast in Ireland, where he was sponsored by the International Legal Centre of New York. When he got an opportunity to go to the United States for an additional Master of Laws degree, he turned it down because of his mother. He considered her failing health. She needed his care more than ever.
It was his love for his homeland and his mother which kept Njuba around when he could have run to exile sooner in the face of imminent threats to his life during and after the reign of President Idi Amin.
Career
Njuba taught law at Makerere University where some of his prominent students include Amama Mbabazi, Khiddu Makubuya and Constance Byamugisha, among others. He would later express disappointment over Khiddu Makubuya’s performance as attorney general, having defended the award of a first class law degree to Makubuya when his peers were reluctant to grant it.
When Idi Amin ordered the expulsion of Asians within 90 days, there was a vacuum in all areas of state machinery. Faced with a manpower crisis, then Chief Justice Samuel Wako Wambuzi approached the Uganda Law Society to offer its members as magistrates.
Sam Njuba had opened a legal practice with his friend Fred Mpanga, having jointly bought it from Messrs Hunt and Aerly and renamed it Mpanga and Njuba advocates. When approached by the Chief Justice, Njuba considered declining the magisterial appointment but he was persuaded to serve in order to set an example to his colleagues. He accepted on condition that he serve only six months. He was stationed at Buganda Road Court as Chief Magistrate from April 1973 to September of the same year.
When the guns fell silent at the end of the liberation war in 1979, shortly before the celebration of the Njubas’ 15th wedding anniversary, Sam Njuba was summoned by the Director of the Criminal Investigations Department over remarks attributed to him as Chairman of Uganda Law Society as reported by the Standard newspaper of 28 August 1979.
Sam Njuba was also a jovial character and a man whose sense of humour never left him, even when he was in a precarious position before his one-time oppressive jailers. During his days in police detention, he recalls how he learnt his first lessons about prison life.
Of his detention, he narrates: “Prisoners in this part of the world are either fed once a day or starved. But if they are fed, it is usually one meal just before sunset. Shortly after my custody, food was served. I was invited to partake in the exercise. ‘No, I will not eat that food. My wife will bring me some’ I arrogantly responded. An inmate, a former policeman previously stationed in Karamoja, gave me my inaugural lecture on prison life.
“Once in prison,” he started, “never refuse an offer of food for it might be the last. This could be your last supper, so go ahead and eat.”
Subsequently, Sam Njuba was detained in Luzira prison in September 1979, where he says he was “a detainee with no prospects of an early release” at the hands of his learned friend and then President Godfrey Binaisa.
Joining the struggle
When former President Milton Obote returned, Sam Njuba could no longer continue resisting bad governance quietly. Shortly after guerrilla fighter Yoweri Museveni and his men attacked Kabamba military barracks on February 6, 1981 to start the bush war, Njuba fled to exile in Kenya where he served in his first year as secretary to the external committee of NRM.
Both Njuba and his wife Gertrude played key roles in the five-year liberation struggle. When the NRM government came to power in 1986, Sam Njuba was appointed Minister for Constitutional affairs in the NRM government from 1986-1993.
He was also Constituent Assembly delegate and parliamentary representative for Kyadondo East Constituency. He contested and won the MP seat for Kyadondo East from 2006 to 2011 on the FDC ticket. At the time of his death, he was the national chairperson of the Forum for Democratic change party.
Sam Njuba is celebrated as much for his achievements as his character, whose constancy in turbulent and challenging times gained him many friends and a reputation as a voice of moderation and a man of integrity to the end.
Perhaps the introduction to his memoir sums it up best: “Integrity and credibility are values one establishes without profit, popularities or recognition. The position an individual holds in life oftentimes causes people to notice that individual. But only one’s integrity will cause the people to respect that individual.”
AT A GLANCE
Njuba served as Minister for Constitutional affairs in the NRM government from 1986-1993, CA delegate and parliamentary representative for Kyadondo East Constituency. He contested and won the MP seat for Kyadondo East from 2006 to 2011 on the FDC ticket.
