MPs pay tribute to Jaffer Bandali
Ms Mobina Jaffer, the late Jaffer Bandali’s daughter, greets Education minister Jessica Alupo (R) and Uganda’s Ambassador to Canada Alintuma Nsambu (C) at Parliament yesterday. Photo by Geoffrey Sseruyange
Parliament. For more than two hours, MPs praised Jaffer Sherali Bandali for his contribution to the politics, education and economic development of the country while paying him tribute at Parliament yesterday.
Bandali, one of the few surviving members of Uganda’s first Parliament, passed away on December 17, 2014.
“The late Bandali was an enterprising Ugandan who provided employment opportunities for Ugandans. He believed in the freedom of faith and interacted freely with people from other religions,” said Gen Moses Ali, the deputy leader of government business in Parliament.
“Based on that, government entrusted him to host, Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II at his residence, when they visited in 1969 and 1993 respectively,” Gen Ali added.
Born in Nsambya in 1924, Jaffer is also remembered for settling more than 55,000 people, including many Ismailis who were expelled by president Idi Amin in 1972.
General Duties minister Tarsis Kabwegyere said what the late Bandali did was an indication of goodness.
“What we have in Bandali is the goodness of God manifested in the actions he was enabled to do,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Kyadondo East MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda asked political leaders to learn from Bandali’s spirit of hard work and desist from corruption.
“One of the monumental features of his legacy is Fairway Hotel. When Jaffer wanted to own a hotel, he constructed one. But our politicians and Generals took advantage of privatisation to own hotels such as Apollo Hotel, Magharita Hotel, among others,” he said.
Present in the House was Bandali’s daughter, Ms Mobina Jaffer, who is a senator in Canada.
Background
Jaffer Bandali was born in 1924 in Nsambya, Kampala. He was one of 80,000 Asians expelled by Idi Amin in 1972. He participated in the building of Nabisunsa Girls and Kibuli Senior Secondary School.
