Her encounter with Pope Francis lasted around 25 minutes. The Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja, who is also the Kakumiro District Woman MP (NRM), said she was elated. At the moment, she added, she felt like the MP for the Pope.

“Among the topic covered during the conversation, the Pope was touched by the welcome generously extended by Ugandan institutions to migrants and refugees, not only from the African region, but as far as Central Asian countries,” a statement from Holy See, noted.

After tete-a-tete, Nabbanja and the Pope exchanged gifts. The Pope gave Nabbanja a bronze statue representing a dove carrying an olive branch in it beak. The inscription on the statue had an inscription: “Be messengers of peace.”

For a woman, who has over time gained a nickname of Majegere or big chain, the trip to Italy was historic.

She described the 25 minutes with the Pope as a ‘privilege’.

“His Holiness the Pope commended our country for hosting refugees and asked world leaders to promote peace to reduce the burden of refugees,” she said.

This is the iron lady, whose appointment on June 8, 2021, steered shockwaves as President Yoweri Museveni roundly outsmarted efforts to predict his cabinet lineup after winning the six term.

Prior to her appointment, Nabbanja, who at one time said she was tired of being used by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) and Museveni as ‘spoons’, first attempted to contests as Deputy Speaker.

But the President had an assignment for her. In fact when she appeared before NRM’s top organ, the Central Executive Committee (CEC) for vetting, Museveni reportedly told her that she had better things to do rather than competing for the Deputy Speaker job.

A few months later, Museveni appointed Nabbanja as the country’s Prime Minister. She became the first female Prime Minister of the country and the youngest. She landed into the job at 51 years, replacing seasoned diplomat, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda.

While political pundits and the general public fascinatedly scrutinised the Cabinet appointees with “Nabbanja” as the most trending extract on the appointments list, Museveni’s expressed unwavering faith in his team.

The President described his new crop of leaders in Cabinet as fishermen, citing the Biblical concept of Jesus’s 12 disciples. 

Today, Nabbanja is 53 years old. And the spotlight is on her team as the semi-captain, playing third-fiddle after Museveni and the Vice President, Jessica Alupo, who is also the Katakwi District Woman MP (Independent).

Known for community mobilisation, the Kakumiro and greater Bunyoro political queen pin, has been described by Museveni as a “hardworking lady” and “mobiliser”.

NRM officials, for instance, cite the skill she displayed in the Kayunga LC5 chairperson by-election where she led the NRM team to secure the hard-earned victory against the formidable opposition.

“She is very committed, hardworking, a very active mobiliser and anti-corruption. In that parliament, we have been having corruption and Nabbanja told me long ago after smelling a rat. She is very straight forward. When we were having a by-election in Bunyoro, some people’s eyes were not looking straight. She was very straightforward,” Museveni said at the time.

In fact, Museveni went on to say that Nabbanja is one of the biggest export from Bunyoro after the great Omukama Kabalega.

“Bunyoro has been mishandled for a long time by the British and some of the political actors. Some of us are people of this area. When I restored cultural institutions I thought they would understand the chain link of this area. I am happy that Nabbanja is now the biggest Munyoro since Kabalega,” Museveni said.

Yet at the Office of the Prime Minister, some of her colleagues such as the Minister for Relief and Disaster Preparedness, Eng Hillary Onek Obaloker, who is also the Palebek County MP (NRM), have no kind word for Museveni’s latest ‘yellow girl’.

For instance, Onek has publicly accused the Premier of micromanagement and taking over his roles as the minister.

The recent iron sheets scandal where ministers allegedly misappropriated relief items meant for the vulnerable communities of Karamoja region, also remains a dent on Nabbanja, who is at the helm of the Office of the Prime Minister, a place that is riddled with ghosts of corruption.

Yet for the old girl of St. Edward's Secondary School Bukuumi, the trust that Museveni bestowed upon her remains alive and kicking.

And with the blessings from Pope Francis recently, she said, nothing can stand in the political way of a person who rose from the humble cradles of a mere Resident District Commissioner (RDC) to a Prime Minister.