Apolo Nsibambi: 1940 - 2019

What you need to know:

Prof Nsibambi was the first non-Head-of-State Chancellor of Makerere University, a position he served from October 2003 to October 2007.

Kampala. Former prime minister Apolo Robin Nsibambi has died of cancer aged 78.
Nsibambi, who to-date remains Uganda’s longest serving prime minister (1999-2011), died peacefully yesterday at his home in Bulange, Mengo in Kampala.
“The prime minister and the President have been briefed and we are in contact with the immediate family, especially the widow, Ester,” the government spokesperson, Mr Ofwono Opondo, said last evening at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala.

He said Prof Nsibambi leaves behind a widow, Ester Nsibambi and five children.
Nsibambi, an academic and politician, was prime minister from April 1999 to May 2011 when Mr Patrick Amama Mbabazi succeeded him. He retired from politics in 2011.

**Handshake.** Former Prime Minister Prof Apolo Nsibambi (centre) greets the then State Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Dr James Nsaba Buturo (right), and then Primary Healthcare Minister, Mr James Kakooza (left) at Parliament in 2010.

Nsibambi’s widow in a short and emotional statement at their home, told mourners that Nsibambi died peacefully in his home.
“He was able to speak well before he rested. He had a peaceful death,” Ester told mourners before breaking down.
“He has been suffering from cancer for nearly 10 years. And he received medication as our fathers in Christ kept on praying for us,” she added.
Mr Moses Kasibante, the Rubaga North Member of Parliament, and one of the first people to reach the deceased’s home after the sad news broke, said in Nsibambi, Uganda has lost a distinguished senior citizen who loved his country.

**Brotherhood.** Prof Apolo Nsibambi (right) with former acting Buganda Katikkiro Emmanuel Ssendawula at one of the functions in Kampala in 2017.

“We prayed together in the same church. On the political scene, he showed us that someone can serve and go home,” Mr Kasibante said.
In his last interview with Daily Monitor’s sister company NTV Uganda, Prof Nsibambi early this year opposed Parliament’s decision to amend the Constitution to remove the presidential age limit clause.
He prayed that President Museveni retires when he turns 75, the maximum age limit for presidency before the Constitution was amended in 2017 to scrap the clause.
“He needs to name a successor such that things can move on well…such that he can advise as a grandparent” Nsibambi advised the President then.

**Happy.** Prof Apolo Nsibambi (left) shares a moment with President Museveni (right) and First Lady Janet Museveni in 2010 at Namirembe Cathedral, Kampala. FILE PHOTO

About Nsibambi
He studied at King’s College Budo for secondary education and later joined Makerere University, the University of Chicago, the University of Nairobi and the University of London.
In the 1960s, he taught at Makerere University and thereafter served as the Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences from 1978 until 1983 and from 1985 until 1987.

He was appointed Head of the Department of Political Science at Makerere University in 1987, a position he held until 1990.

**Picture moment.** Former Premier Apolo Nsibambi (3rd right) with the participants at the 5th East African Petroleum Conference at Kampala Serena Hotel in February 2011.

He was also Director of Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR) from 1994 to 1996. Between 1996 and 1998, he served as Minister of Public Service in the Uganda Cabinet. In 1998 he was appointed Minister of Education and Sports, serving in that capacity until 1999 when he was appointed Prime Minister and Leader of Government Business.
Prof Nsibambi was the first non-Head-of-State Chancellor of Makerere University, a position he served from October 2003 to October 2007.