Former tourism minister Maria Mutagamba is dead

Maria Mutagamba. File photo

What you need to know:

  • Mutagamba will be remembered for making Rolex a tourism product.
  • Maria Lubega Mutagamba was also Minister of Water and Environment.

Former Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities Minister, Maria Lubega Mutagamba is dead.
The Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Health Dr Diana Atwine on Saturday evening announced Mutagamba’s death on her twitter wall.
“I am saddened by the passing on of Hon Maria Mutagamba .May Her Soul rest in eternal peace,” Dr Atwine said.
When contacted by this reporter, Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda confirmed the news saying it was “A great loss to the country.”


Mutagamba was admitted at Case hospital in Kampala three weeks ago with stomach complications. She had liver cancer.

She was first admitted at Rubaga Hospital, which referred her to Case hospital when her condition worsened.
Mutagamba was also reportedly suffering from Gallstones. Gallstones occur when cholesterol and other substances found in bile form stones.

Mutagamba will be remembered for making Rolex a tourism product. Courtesy photo

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When the stone passes from the gallbladder into the small intestine or become stuck in the biliary duct it can cause pain.
Vincent Ssemakula Ssetuba, the former Rakai LC V Chairman, a close friend to Mutagamba and political ally, recently told journalists that he found the former minister in a worrying health state.

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According Ssetuba, Mutagamba could barely talk or recognize him when he visited her at Case hospital last weekend.

Maria Lubega Mutagamba was also Minister of Water and Environment. She served as Rakai Woman Member of Parliament from 2001 to 2016. She quit politics in 2016. She told journalists then that she decided to quit politics because of her deteriorating health condition.

Mutagamba noted that the 2011 campaigns had drained her energy and needed some rest.

Background

She was born in Rakai District on September, 5 1952. She studied at St. Aloysius Senior Secondary School in Bwanda, Kalungu District for her O-Level studies (1967-1970). For her A-Level education, she attended Mount Saint Mary's College Namagunga in Mukono District (1971-1972). Mutagamba attended Makerere University from 1973 until 1976, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in economics. She also held a Diploma in computer programming from the ICL Computer School in Nairobi, Kenya, obtained in 1980, and a certificate in executive leadership from the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, obtained in 1997.

Career

She served as a banking officer with the Bank of Uganda from 1976 to 1980. She was a director of the bank from 1991 until 1999. She was a Constituent Assembly delegate between 1994 and 1995. Between 1999 and 2000, she served as the deputy secretary general of the Democratic Party. In 2000, she was appointed Minister of State for Water Resources, a position she held until 2006 when she was appointed Minister of Water and the Environment. She held that position until 2012. The other positions that Mutagamba had held include the following:

President, African Ministers' Council on Water, 2004 to 2012.

Coordinator, Global Women Leaders Forum for Water and Sanitation, 22005 to 2012.

Member, Nile River Council of Ministers, 2001 to 2012.

Vice chairperson, United Nations Task Force on Integrated Water Resource Management.
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