Veteran politician Yona Kanyomozi dies

Former minister for cooperatives in the Obote II government who went ahead to serve as the National resistance council member for Kajara county constituency in Ntungamo District, Yonasani Bankobeza Kanyomozi, has died.

Mr Kanyomozi, 81, died Sunday afternoon at Nakasero Hospital, Kampala where he had gone for a routine medical checkup according to friends.

“He felt unwell and was driven to hospital, he was not in bad shape and had travelled from his upcountry home in Ntungamo this week where he started many projects recently. I was called by his lawyer that he passed on,” Mr Wilson Twamuhabwa a close confidant of Kanyomozi said when contacted. 

He said Kanyomozi complained of headache and abdominal complications before going to hospital.

Mr Twamuhabwa says the family and friends are planning for the burial while waiting for a medical report on the real cause of death.

About Mr Kanyomozi

Born on June 29, 1940 in Rukindo Village in Ntungamo Municipality, Kanyomozi, a soft spoken gentleman served as the Member of Parliament for Kajara County from 1980 to 1997 with a break between 1986- 1987 when parliament was in suspension.

He studied at Katunga Primary School in Rukungiri District. He later joined Mbarara High School and is one of the pioneer students of Ntare School which he joined in 1956, a year it was started.

In 1963, he joined London School of Economics and in 1966 he was awarded with a Bachelor of Science in Economic Theory.

He became the minister of Cooperatives from 1981 to 1985 under Obote’s government spearheading a great breakthrough in cooperatives that had died out during the 8 years of Idi Amin Dada. He also represented Bushenyi South in parliament during the same regime. From 1989 to 1996 he represented Kajara County in the National Resistance Council.

Kanyomozi also served as a representative to the East African legislative assembly between 2001 and 2006. He was at the time the national chairman for the UPC, with many addressing him as the last UPC national chairman before internal conflicts emerged. In 2011 he contested for Ntungamo municipality member of parliament on FDC ticket losing to NRM.

“In Kanyomozi we have lost an elder, a counselor, a politician but most importantly an investor and lover of development. He is one of the people everyone would find the right answers to every political challenge.” Mr Micheal Timuzigu Kamugisha, the Kajara county MP, told Monitor on Sunday.

Several politicians took social media and mainstream media to mourn and celebrate his life.

“Hon Yona Kanyomozi credibility has never been questionable till his last breath. AbanyaKajara can testify,” Mr Dansun Basiima, a social activist working with the UN took to the Ntungamo development forum, wrote.

His wife Dorothy passed on in March 2015. He is now survived by six children and several grandchildren. His burial is yet to be communicated by his family.

Complied by Perez Rumanzi, Peter Sserugo  & Precious Delilah