Bugisu’s first Umukhuka Wilson Wamimbi dies at 85

Mbale, (UG):- Former Ugandan diplomat, and politician who reigned as the first Umukhuka of Inzu Ya Masaaba, Wilson Wamimbi has died, the Bugisu cultural institution announced Friday evening.

According to Mr Steven Masiga, the spokesperson of Inzu Ya Masaaba, Wamimbi who reigned as the Umukhuka between 2010 to 2015 died on Friday, April 12, at around 8:30 pm at Kiruddu Hospital in Kampala.

The former Bugisu king had initially been recently admitted to a health facility in Namulanda, Entebbe in Wakiso district, according to Mr Masiga, and was undergoing routine medical checks at Mulago Hospital before his condition worsened prompting a transfer to Kiruddu on Friday.

He said the government and the Inzu ya Masaaba leadership are expected to work hand in hand regarding the funeral arrangements with an exact date of the burial yet to be decided.

“The Inzu Ya Masaaba leadership and Bamasaaba are saddened by his sudden passing. He was an icon of peace and helped to preach peace in Bugisu,” Masiga said in a statement.

“At an appropriate time, the Prime minister of Inzu Ya Masaaba will brief the Bamasaaba, the country and the media on the burial arrangements,” he added.

Wilson Wamimbi Profile and Biography

Born in 1938, in Busano sub-county Mbale district, Wamimbi went to Nabumali High School and trained as a teacher at Kyambogo College before going for further studies at Makerere University, where he graduated with a degree in marketing.

He worked as a marketing officer with Bugisu Co-operative Union and later joined politics in 1987 when he became the Mbale district chairman.

He also served as Uganda’s High Commissioner to Canada in the 1990s.

Wamimbi was elected to the position of Umukhuka in August 2010,  beating his only opponent, Canon Codovia Wakiro, by 41 votes to 22 for a five-year non-renewable term.

The exercise almost flopped as delegates, who included seven members from Babukusu in Kenya, queried the method used by the cultural council to select the two candidates.

The council chairman, Augustine Wanendeya, had earlier read seven names, which included former Chief Justice George Masika ( RIP), former state minister for works and transport Sylvester Wanjusi-Wasieba, Francis Nagimesi, Situma Munyanda and Charles Walimbwa.

The controversy was solved by Masika, Nabudere and Prof. Timothy Wangusa, who argued that the selection of the candidates conformed to the provisions of the cultural constitution.

The elections come after Joseph Kanyanya had over the years imposed himself as Umukhuka.

He had at one time attempted to place his throne at Mutoto ( the seat of Bamasaba cultural activities) but the Bamasaaba, who had never had a royal family opposed the move.

By the time of Wamimbi’s election as Umukhuka, the Bamasaba had last had a cultural institution in the 1960s when Y. B. Mungoma was made the Umuinga (equivalent of Umukhuka) until Obote abolished kingdoms.