The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
He once described – on the floor of Parliament, the plan President Museveni had of ruling Uganda for up to 50 years
OBITUARY | THE INDEPENDENT | Frank Wilberforce Bulima Nabwiso died on Saturday Dec.14 at Mukono Church of Uganda Hospital after a short illness.
He was a Member of Parliament for Kagoma County in Jinja District from 2001 to 2006 when he lost a re-election bid.
In 2021 he contested as the FDC flagbearer for the Jinja City mayoral seat but lost. Nabwiso has been a member of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) special Elders’ Council.
In a condolence message to the widow and family, President Museveni described Nabwiso as “a respected opinion leader and scholar in Uganda who contributed to the country’s development”.
Nabwiso’s journey which saw him rise from a Grade 3 teacher to earning a PhD in Rural Development show his tenacity and has been a major point of reflection on his life.
Many people who knew Nabwiso closely have written moving eulogies. One of them, Grace Mwesigwa; a journalist, is much younger than his fallen hero. But he describes how, over almost 14 years, Nabwiso moved from being his inspiration, to a mentor, and friend and confidant.
He describes Nabwiso as an educator, author, researcher, and lover of progress, of Busoga and Uganda. He also describes Nabwiso’s passion for the Lusoga language and his involvement in crafting key initiatives for Busoga, including the Busoga People’s Charter for Development and the Ten-Year Busoga Strategic Development Plan and Busoga University where he was Vice Chancellor.
Mwesigwa describes his integrity and honesty, built around his life as a committed Christian.
Nabwiso was a leading member of the Uganda Diaspora League that was based in Kenya. He was involved in mobilisation work for the National Resistance Movement (NRM) when it was still a rebel group fighting to grab power from the Obote II government in the 1980s. He was secretary on to the Nairobi Peace Talks between the government that toppled Obote II and Museveni in 1985.
In the early years of Museveni’s government, he was Director of the Uganda Export Promotion Council and also Director of Uganda AIDS information Centre.
He fell out with Museveni and the NRM on ideological grounds. He said they had diverted from the “original goals of the struggle”.
He describes how, Nabwiso once described – on the floor of Parliament, the plan President Museveni had of ruling Uganda for up to 50 years.
“True to his name he was frank,” says Mwesigwa.
Mwesigwa describes Nabwiso as an eloquent speaker with a gift for humour and wisdom, especially in the fields of education, leadership and governance. He says Nabwiso was also a talented musician who once sang for Queen Elizabeth II in England. According to those who knew his music, he had the rare ability to read both staff and solfa notation. Whether bass or tenor, his voice resonated with natural power, and he always knew the right key to begin a song, one of them wrote.
Mwesigwa recalled how Nabwiso described studying with some of Africa’s greatest leaders, including former presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Festus Mogae of Botswana, and former Kenyan Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka.
In Uganda, his luminaries included President Yoweri Museveni, Justice Prof. George Kanyeihamba, former Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, and Dr. Kizza Besigye. They also include many great names from the Busoga region; Dr David Kazungu, Bishop Cyprian Bamwoze, and Henry Kyemba (all of them deceased). He also worked closely with Busoga region leaders like former VP Speciosa Naigaga Kazibwe and Night Salaam Musumba.
“His legacy will forever live on in the lives he touched,” Mwesigwa wrote.
Among those Nabwiso touched was Amb. Moses Kawaaluuko Kizige, the Head of Uganda’s Mission in Moscow who described Nabwiso as “a man of remarkable intellectual and personal depth”.
Amb. Kizige wrote that Nabwiso was from the Baise Muwaya Clan and his father, Bulima, hailed from Kakutu, Saaka, in Namwiwa Sub-county, Kaliro District.
“His cultural roots ran deep,” Kizige wrote.
One newspaper, ran with the headline `Uganda’s ‘encyclopedia’ Frank Nabwiso dead’ and described him as a Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) “strong man”.
Another great eulogy was from his friend, Oweyegha-Afunaduula. He describes him as his “elder (by 9 years and source of inspiration in terms independent, critical thinking, writing and reasoning, and an incorruptible mind”.
Oweyegha-Afunaduula says he first heard Nabwiso through his voice on Radio in the early 1960s and he immediately fell in love with the news broadcasts Nabwiso read. They helped him improve his Lusoga and learn about local and global affairs.
He says he was inspired to pursue developmental studies when he was in lower secondary in 1969 and heard that Nabwiso was teaching senior army officers Development Studies. When he joined the University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania in 1972, Afunaduula was a Zoology student but he studied Development Studies under famous names professors Dani Nabudere, Mahmood Mamdani, Walter Rodney, and others.
Afunaduula says he worked with Nabwiso and other Busoga leaders to oppose the construction of the Bujagaali Hydroelectricity Dam because, they argued, it would erase the environmental and cultural value of the Bujagali falls.
