Prime
Kabaka leads tributes as Mpanga is buried
Police officers carry the casket containing Joyce Mpanga’s remains at the funeral in Maya, Wakiso District on November 23, 2023. PHOTOS/COURTESY OF BUGANDA KINGDOM
What you need to know:
- Kabaka Mutebi said amid a myriad of challenges that the late Mpanga faced, she never gave up on her push for the restoration of Buganda Kingdom and democracy in Uganda.
The Kabaka (king) of Buganda has hailed the late Joyce Mpanga for her effort towards the restoration of Buganda Kingdom and her indefatigable fight for women emancipation.
In a message delivered by Princess Sarah Kagere during Mpanga’s burial at Maya in Wakiso District yesterday, Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi said amid a myriad of challenges that the late Mpanga faced, including plans to have her exiled, she never gave up on her push for the restoration of the kingdom and democracy in Uganda.
“Her dedication towards decent leadership, human rights and women empowerment is well recognised nationally and globally and forever we shall remain proud of her services,” Kabaka Mutebi’s message read in part.
Mpanga and her husband Fredrick Mpanga, who passed on in the 1970s, played a key role in supporting Buganda’s exiled king Edward Muteesa and Prince, now king, Ronald Mutebi, when they were in England. She also played a key role in the restoration of Buganda Kingdom.
Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, the president of the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party, appreciated Mpanga for endeavouring to keep her name clean without any corruption stain throughout her public life in the various capacities where she served.
“It’s very hard in Uganda today to find a top government official with a clean name like the likes of Maama Mpanga. If they are not named in iron sheets scandals, they are in bicycle and other corruption scandals,” he noted.
Mr Kyagulanyi reminded the government that the life Mpanga spent in exile should remind them of the several Ugandans fleeing into exile due to what he described as human rights violations.
Dr Specioza Wandera Kazibwe, Uganda’s first woman vice president, described the late Mpanga as a lady who set the foundation for the fruits enjoyed by a number of women in political spaces, and urged all of them to continue with the fight.
“We have the vice president, prime minister and her deputies but the fight should be kept on, to keep the legacy of Mpanga, Ms Sarah Ntiro and others alive,” she noted
The burial was attended by several public figures, among them Buganda second deputy premier Robert Waggwa Nsibirwa, four-time presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye and several MPs.
Background
Mpanga was born on January 22, 1933, in present-day Kasanda District. She attended Ndejje High School and Gayaza High School. In 1958, Mpanga graduated from Makerere before joining the University of London for a Bachelor of Arts and Indianna University for her Master of Science in 1962.
She has been a member of the Buganda Lukiiko since 2009. She served in the central government as the minister of Women in Development from 1988 to 1989 and the minister of State for Primary Education from 1989 to 1992. Mpanga was also a Member of Parliament for Mubende District from 1996 to 2001.
She also took part in the rewriting of the Constitution of Uganda in 1995. She was married with two children.
