Richard Bwogi Masembe Kanyerezi MBChB, MD, FRCP, (13 September 1934 – 30 December 2019), was a Ugandan

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

. At the time of his death, he was the

Chairman of the Board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

Kampala Hospital Kampala Hospital is a private healthcare facility in Uganda. It is a specialists' hospital and diagnostic centre. Kampala Hospital was the first hospital in Uganda to install a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine and a CT Scanner. For alm ...

, a private hospital that he co-founded and co-owned in

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 ...

, Uganda's capital city. He served in the past as Professor of Medicine and Head of the Department of Internal Medicine at

Makerere University School of Medicine The Makerere University School of Medicine (MUSM), also known as the Makerere University Medical School, is the school of medicine of Makerere University, Uganda's oldest and largest public university. The medical school has been part of Makerer ...

. He was a consultant physician, specializing in the field of

Rheumatology Rheumatology (Greek ''ῥεῦμα'', ''rheûma'', flowing current) is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatolog ...

Background and education

He was born in

Buganda Buganda is a Bantu peoples, Bantu kingdom within Uganda. The kingdom of the Baganda, Baganda people, Buganda is the largest of the traditional kingdoms in present-day East Africa, consisting of Buganda's Districts of Uganda, Central Region, inclu ...

, on 13 September 1934, to Asanansio Masembe and Manjeri Masembe. He attended ''Mityana Primary School'', before transferring to ''Mityana Secondary School'' for his O-Level studies, graduating in 1952. In 1953, he joined

Kings College Budo King’s College Budo is a mixed, residential, secondary school in Central Uganda (Buganda). Location The school is located on Naggalabi Hill, in southern Wakiso District, off the Kampala-Masaka Road. This location lies approximately , by road, ...

for his A-Level education, graduating in 1954. In 1955, he entered

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 ...

to study human medicine, graduating in 1963, with a

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

degree. He later studied for and was awarded the postgraduate degree of

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

. He studied in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and was awarded the degree of

Member of the Royal College of Physicians Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom (MRCP(UK)) is a postgraduate medical diploma in the United Kingdom (UK). The examinations are run by the Federation of the Medical Royal Colleges – the Royal College of Phys ...

, specializing in

. Later, he was elected

Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

. He also studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, as a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

Career

Following his return from further studies in the

in 1967, Richard Kanyerezi was appointed

Lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

in the Department of Internal Medicine at

. He is credited with being a member of the team that started the

Master of Medicine Master of Medicine (MMed) is a postgraduate professional clinical degree awarded by medical schools to physicians following a period of instruction, supervised clinical rotations, and examination. The degree usually takes three years to complete, ...

program at the

. He later was appointed Senior Lecturer and in 1976, Professor of Medicine. For a period of time starting circa 1980 until 1981, he served as the Head of the Department of Internal Medicine at the

. He went into a period of forced exile from 1981 until 1986. Following his return, he and others built

, a state-of-the art health facility on Kololo Hill in central Kampala.

Family

Richard Kanyerezi was married to the late Gibwa Kanyerezi and together are the parents of four children, one of whom, Nandawula Kanyerezi Mutema is a successful Internal Medicine specialist, practicing in

, Uganda. Gibwa Kanyerezi died in 2010 and he married Connie Mbabazi Kanyerezi in 2012.

Illness and death

Two and one half weeks before his death, Kanyerezi had a

cerebral vascular accident Stroke (also known as a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or brain attack) is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to ...

. He died at his home in

Lubaga Lubaga is a hill in Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. It comes from the Luganda word ''okubaga'', describing a process of "planning" or "strengthening" a structure while constructing it. For example, ''okubaga ekisenge'' means to stre ...

(

Rubaga Lubaga is a hill in Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. It comes from the Luganda word ''okubaga'', describing a process of "planning" or "strengthening" a structure while constructing it. For example, ''okubaga ekisenge'' means to stre ...

), a suburb of

, Uganda's capital city, on 30 December 2019. He was survived by his second wife Connie Mbabazi Kanyerezi and four adult children. Two daughters, Nakimera Kanyerezi Lubega and Nandawula Kanyerezi Mutema are in successful private medical practice. One son, Timothy Masembe, is a partner at MMAKS Advocates, a Kampala-based law firm. The second son and fourth offspring, Kawalya Kanyerezi, is a corporate executive at

References

External links