OBITUARY: Mayanja Nkangi 1931 – 2017

Nkangi also fled to exile when Kabaka Mutesa was ousted but not before he kept safely the Ddamula (the mace or staff of office for the Katikkiro of Buganda which is handed to him on assuming office).

Unlike the Kabaka who fled to exile through the south and via Rwanda, Nkangi went through the east. He hiked a ride on a cement-laden lorry up to the border at Busia from where he was helped by friends in Kenya where he stayed until his passport was smuggled from Uganda, enabling him to fly to England.

“Life in London was tough, for a whole year, I faced it rough. I had no job, no money and here I was in a foreign land. At one time, I had only one penny in my pocket, which was equal to only 50 cents.”

It was in exile in London that Nkangi met his wife Ruth who was pursuing secretarial studies with whom they lived for over 40 years and sired six children though one passed on. The children included Josephine and jazz musician Tshaka Mayanja known for his trademark dreadlocks.

After sometime Nkangi got a job as a research fellow at Lancaster University which paid him just enough salary to pay for rent and meals until when Amin overthrew Obote in 1971 and he returned to Uganda.

After returning to Uganda, Nkangi kept a low profile avoiding politics and only concentrating on his law profession throughout the Obote II regime.

It was after Obote was overthrown by one of his military commanders Okello Lutwa in 1985 that Nkangi came back to political limelight. Hoping to win Baganda to his side, Lutwa appointed Nkangi as labour minister in his short lived government which lasted from August 1985 and January 1986, when Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Army overthrew Lutwa. Nkangi had by this time founded a political party almost with a similar agenda as KY but called Conservative Party.

In 1993 Museveni’s government restored traditional rulers, and Nkangi pulled out the Ddamula that he had hidden in 1966 and held it when Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II was enthroned and he reappointed him Katikkiro.

Under Museveni’s regime, Nkangi perhaps had the most eventful career and he could be one of the longest serving ministers. From 1986 to 2002, he served as education minister, planning and economic development minister, finance minister and justice and constitutional affairs minister.

He was later appointed the Uganda Land Commission chairman, until recently when he retired from public service to concentrate on his law chambers at the age of 83 years.

At a time when politicians and civil servants were involved in corrupt practices and were amassing wealth, Nkangi, a born-again Christian lived a humble life. Even when someone accused him, as Chairman of Uganda Land Commission, of having government land transferred to the names of Pastor Samuel Kakande of Synagogue Church of all Nations in seconds, they failed to adduce evidence.

True as from the different reaction from people of all shades tweeted, Nkangi is a rare politician devoid of corrupt tendencies in this era. At one public function Museveni said he was the one who convinced him to build a personal house as he continued to live in a government house at Kyambogo University where his wife used to work.

It’s also said he used to show his humble nature by walking to office from Kyambogo to the city centre though he possibly had other reasons.

“My doctor told me to walk 2km every day,” Nkangi explained when asked in a newspaper interview in 2015 why he still walks at an advanced age of 84 years.

Following the announcement of his death, eulogies flowed in.

“They don’t come like Mayanja Nkangi anymore. …..Humble, dedicated public servants with impeccable records.” That was a tweet by BBC presenter Allan Kasujja.

Kampala lawyer and Minister in Buganda government, David F. K Mpanga also tweeted: “Owek. Mayanja Nkangi was a true servant leader. An honest, hard working and tireless man. May God grant him eternal peace.”

President Yoweri Museveni’s Twitter handle also had this about the fallen statesman: “Heard about the untimely death of Joash Mayanja Nkangi. He was a calm and industrious nationalist. He will be greatly missed. Rest in peace.”

He will be buried at Kanyogoga in Kalungu District.

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editor@independent.co.ug