A tribute in honour of Rosa  Malango’s service to Uganda

At the 32nd Heroes Day national celebrations on June 9, the UN resident coordinator and designated official for security, Her Excellency (HE) Rosa Malango, announced the end of her tour of duty in Uganda. HE Malango arrived in Uganda in March 2016 and has since then dedicated five productive years of service to Uganda.

On behalf of fellow Ugandans and myself, I wish to extend a special note of gratitude to Malango, highlighting some of her achievements as explained below: 

During her tenure, Ms Malango brought the United Nations closer to the people of Uganda. UN in Uganda became a neutral home for member states, government, political parties, civil society and the citizens, to dialogue and act on national development priorities. 

In fact, she gave Uganda a renewed sense of confidence and identity. In her tenure, Uganda’s policy achievements in the areas of refugee settlement, HIV/Aids and Ebola management, have been globally recognised as effective ‘to learn-from’ models. 

In 2017, Ms Malango and President Museveni hosted the Global Refugee Summit, which raised support for the refugees and host communities, through investments, projects and development programmes by the international community. 

Given her outgoing international persona and exposure, Ms Malango has inspired efforts of a renewed identity of Uganda, locally and abroad. 

Uganda is now seen as a country of opportunities and possibilities – at the social and economic front. She supported the first agro-industrialisation programme in Uganda’s Rwenzori region called AgriLed; established a coalition of youth organisations called the Uganda Youth Coalition for SDGs as a hub for innovation and business incubation. 

Throughout her work, Ms Malango has endeavoured to transform Ugandan values into universal values. For the entire length of her tenure, she never forgot to remind Ugandans about the pan-African values as embalmed in the ‘Obuntu-bulamu’ philosophy.  

Ms Malango has championed important initiatives around civic education, wetland management, community policing and social cohesion as national priority areas. 

The National Initiative for Civic Education in Uganda (NICE-UG) launched in March 2019 is one of such initiatives that she spearheaded.  NICE-UG is the first structured collaboration between the Government of Uganda, the United Nations and non-government actors providing a safe space to coordinate and promote value-based civic education and mindset change for Ugandans at home and abroad. 

Recently, the initiative launched the first ever national mind-set change campaign called Uganda: This is Home, which aims to inspire a new generation of citizens informed by the pan-African value system of Ubuntu and a new world in which knowledge economies and digital platforms play an important role for all nations. 

Whereas Ms Malango brought the world to Uganda, at the time of her leaving, she is taking Uganda with her. About three years ago (2019), she adopted a son from Sanyu Babies’ Home, Kampala. This demonstrates her pan-Africanist love and respect for Uganda.

Ms Malango served Uganda selflessly with her heart. She was ever present and her presence was without doubt felt. She led and wore many hats; as a strategist, facilitator, influencer, mobiliser, mentor, mother, sister and daughter of Africa. 

She made things move!
As Ms Malango takes on another major role at the UN in New York as the director of economic affairs, it is in order to congratulate her on the new assignment and extend our heartfelt gratitude for her gallant service to Uganda.

Mr Kaheru is a socio-political commentator
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