Tooro mourns Uganda Pentecostal University proprietor Ntabirweki
Deceased. Prof John Ntabirweki. Photo | URN
What you need to know:
- Friends, relatives and leaders eulogized the legal scholar who died on Wednesday at Le Memorial Hospital in Kampala, as a person who transformed Tooro into an elite region by ensuring that many people attain university education.
Mourners from Tooro region on Friday evening thronged St John’s Anglican Cathedral in Ruwenzori diocese for a requiem service and to pay their last respect to the late Prof John Ntabirweki, the proprietor of Uganda Pentecostal University.
Friends, relatives and leaders eulogized the legal scholar who died on Wednesday at Le Memorial Hospital in Kampala, as a person who transformed Tooro into an elite region by ensuring that many people attain university education.
They said the university benefited many people, especially students from poor families whom he offered scholarships and bursaries.
“Ntabirweki offered bursaries to our students in the Tooro region and his university contributed much to the economy of our region. We hope that his family and management of the university maintain his legacy,” the Kabarole District chairman, Mr Richard Rwabuhinga, said.
The Ruwenzori Diocese Bishop, Reuben Kisembo, described Ntabirweki as a person who maintained his words saying he appointed him as chancellor of the university and later fired him.
“We thank him for starting a university in the Tooro region together with people, he appointed me as chancellor and later he fired me but we remained friends, our appeal is that the university remains,” he remarked.
The Tooro Kingdom deputy Prime Minister, Ms Harriet Nyakake, said the kingdom allowed him to rent its infrastructure to accommodate the university because he had a heart for transforming the people of Tooro.
His wife Ms Pelucy Ntabirweki described him as a loving husband with whom they have stayed together for 26 years.
“He loved children, he helped children to acquire education, he believed in transforming people, sharing with others and above all, he was a scholar who had a sharp brain,” she said.
Ntabirweki will be buried on Saturday, April 15, 2023, at his ancestral home in Bisheshe, Ibanda District.
Ntambirweki founded Uganda Pentecostal University in 2001 as the Grotius School of Law and Professional Studies and has since been the Vice Chancellor.
In 2005, the Grotius School of Law was licensed by the National Council for Higher Education and named Uganda Pentecostal University.
