Prime
Museveni’s longest-serving press secretary buried
Security minister Maj Gen Jim Muhwezi and his wife Susan lay a wreath on the casket containing the remains of Hope Kivengyere at Rugarama Cathedral in Kabale Town on Saturday. PHOTO/ ROBERT MUHEREZA
What you need to know:
- Kivengyere worked as the President’s press secretary from 1986 until her retirement in 2001.
President Museveni has described his deceased longest serving press secretary Hope Kishande Kivengyere as a freedom fighter whose contribution to the liberation struggle shouldn’t go unnoticed.
In his condolence message read at her burial in Rugarama Village, Northern Division, Kabale Municipality, on Saturday, the President said Kivengyere joined the liberation struggle at a tender age.
“Hope joined the struggle to liberate this country quite early in her life. She began the struggle when she was still an undergraduate student at Makerere University during Obote II [regime],” Mr Museveni said in a message read by the special envoy-in-charge of special duties in the Office of the President, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda.
“She helped some of the undergraduate students who had earlier joined the struggle and faced great danger from the then government agents. She helped the young freedom fighters to escape and hence saved their lives from those who were after their blood,” he added.
Kivengyere worked as the President’s press secretary from 1986 until her retirement in 2001.
The fourth child of late Bishop Festo and Canon Merab Kivengyere Hope Kivengyere was born on August 19, 1949.
She studied at Hornby Primary School in Kabale, Gayaza High School, Ellis High School and Chatham College in the United States of America. She also studied at Sorbonne University (Paris, France) and London University (United Kingdom).
Security minister Maj Gen Jim Muhwezi said he owes his life to Hope Kivengyere who helped him to escape from Uganda after being charged alongside Gen David Tinyefuza for being rebel collaborators in 1981.
“After escaping from the prison, I went to Hope Kivengyere’s house in Kampala where she gave me her dresses and wig for my head and that is how I managed to beat the security personnel that were deployed there. I am what I am because of Hope Kivengyere because by that time I had not had any child,” he recalled. Ms Peace Kivengyere, Ms Joy Kivengyere and Ms Charity Kivengyere — sisters of the deceased — thanked the mourners for standing with them in their time of need.
“We are sure that she is in heaven because she was a truly born again Christian and anyone wishing to meet her again should use her burial ceremony to accept Jesus as their personal saviour,” Ms Charity Kivengyere said.
OTHER ASSIGNMENTS
Upon retiring as the press secretary to President Museveni, Hope Kivengyere worked as a consultant in Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti.
She also worked as an election observer in Malawi, Comoros, and Zambia for the African Union. She was active in the African Women Mediators Network and was part of the group of eminent elders for Comesa.
