Maria Emily Lubega Mutagamba (5 September 1952 – 24 June 2017) was a

Ugandan }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The southe ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and politician. She was the minister of tourism, wildlife and antiquities in the Ugandan Cabinet from 15 August 2012 until 6 June 2016. From 2011 to 2012, she was the minister of water and environment. She also served as the elected

member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Rakai District Rakai District is a district in the Central Region of Uganda. The town of Rakai is the site of the district's headquarters. Location Rakai District borders Lyantonde District to the northwest, Lwengo District to the north, Kyotera District to ...

Women's Representative from 2001 until 2016.

Background and education

Mutagamba was born in Rakai District on 5 September 1952. She studied at St. Aloysius Senior Secondary School in Bwanda,

Kalungu District Kalungu District is a district in Central Uganda. It is named after the main town of the district, Kalungu, where the district headquarters are located. Location Kalungu District is bordered by Gomba District to the north, Butambala District t ...

for her O-Level studies (1967–1970). She then attended

Mount Saint Mary's College Namagunga Mt. St. Mary's College Namagunga is an all-girl boarding secondary school located in Mukono District in Uganda. The school is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lugazi. Location The school is on the Kampala–Jinja Highway, approxima ...

Mukono District Mukono is one of the districts in the Central Region of Uganda. The town of Mukono is home to the district's main commercial center and district headquarters. Location Mukono District is bordered by Kayunga District to the north, Jinja Distric ...

for her A-Level education (1971–1972). She attended

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

from 1973 until 1976, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in economics. She also held a Diploma in

computer programming Computer programming is the process of performing a particular computation (or more generally, accomplishing a specific computing result), usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as ana ...

from the ICL Computer School in

Nairobi, Kenya Nairobi ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows throug ...

, obtained in 1980, and a certificate in executive leadership from the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

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, obtained in 1997. In 2013, she was presented with an honorary doctorate in law by

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Career

Mutagamba served as a banking officer with the

Bank of Uganda The Bank of Uganda ( sw, Benki Kuu ya Uganda) is the central bank of Uganda. Established in 1966, by Act of Parliament, the bank is wholly owned by the government but is not a government department. History In 1979 and again in 1987, the Ba ...

from 1976 to 1980 and was a director of the bank from 1991 until 1999. She was a Constituent Assembly delegate between 1994 and 1995. In 1999–2000, she was the deputy secretary general of the Democratic Party of Uganda. In 2000, she was appointed minister of state for water resources and later in 2006 was appointed minister of water and the environment, a position she held until 2012. She was the President of the African Ministers' Council on Water from 2004 to 2012 and coordinator of the Global Women Leaders Forum for Water and Sanitation from 2005 to 2012. She also was vice chairperson of the United Nations Task Force on Integrated Water Resource Management. She was known for her works for the cause of water-related issues and the Global Water Harvesting Network. Mutagamba served as minister of tourism, wildlife and antiquities from 15 August 2012 until being replaced on 6 June 2016 by

Ephraim Kamuntu Ephraim Kamuntu is a Ugandan management scientist and politician. He is the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs in the Cabinet of Uganda. He was appointed to that position on 14 December 2019. Previously he served as Minister of Wate ...

. While she was minister, she was known for promoting a popular Ugandan egg, vegetable, and chapati wrap known as

Rolex Rolex SA () is a British-founded Swiss watch designer and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex'' as the brand name of ...

. She also revived the Miss Tourism Uganda beauty pageant that had started in 2010. She quit active politics in 2016 because of her deteriorating health.

Personal

She was married to Tarsis Matthew Mutagamba who worked for the Bank of Uganda for 17 years until his retirement in 1980. He was the first African chief accountant at the bank. Tarsis died from heart failure on 2 January 2004 at the age of 70. He was survived by 16 children.

Death

Mutagamba died on 24 June 2017 at

Case Medical Centre Case Medical Centre, also known as Case Hospital, is an urban, private, upscale, tertiary hospital in Kampala, the capital of Uganda and the largest city in that country. It is one of the few upscale private tertiary care hospitals in the city. ...

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

from complications of

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

, although she also suffered from

gallstone A gallstone is a calculus (medicine), stone formed within the gallbladder from precipitated bile components. The term cholelithiasis may refer to the presence of gallstones or to any disease caused by gallstones, and choledocholithiasis refers to ...

s. She was 64. She was admitted to hospital three weeks before her death. Prime Minister

Ruhakana Rugunda Ruhakana Rugunda (born 7 November 1947) is a Ugandan physician and politician who had been Prime Minister of Uganda from 2014 to 2021. He held a long series of cabinet posts under President Yoweri Museveni beginning in 1986. He served as Uganda's ...

called her death "a great loss to the country". She was buried on 28 June 2017 at Gamba village, Kakuuto Subcounty in Rakai District. The burial was officiated by

John Baptist Kaggwa John Baptist Kaggwa (23 March 1943 – 20 January 2021) was a Ugandan Catholic prelate who was Bishop of the Diocese of Masaka, where he served as the Ordinary from 10 January 1998 until his retirement on 16 April 2019. For a period of mo ...

, the bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Masaka The Roman Catholic Diocese of Masaka ( la, Masakaën(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Masaka in the Ecclesiastical province of Kampala in Uganda. History * May 25, 1939: Established as Apostolic Vicariate of Masaka from the Apostolic ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mutagamba, Maria 1952 births 2017 deaths People from Rakai District Makerere University alumni Ugandan economists Members of the Parliament of Uganda Environment ministers of Uganda Tourism ministers of Uganda Water ministers of Uganda Democratic Party (Uganda) politicians National Resistance Movement politicians Deaths from cancer in Uganda Deaths from liver cancer 20th-century Ugandan women politicians 20th-century Ugandan politicians 21st-century Ugandan women politicians 21st-century Ugandan politicians Women government ministers of Uganda Women members of the Parliament of Uganda