Barnabas Tumusingyize — A friend, a brother, and a lawyer

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OPINION

By Barnabas Taremwa Bwaniaga

Last Friday, November 21, 2025, I attended the retirement celebration for Barnabas Tumusingyize.

It was a wonderful evening, warm, joyful, and full of memories. Old friends reunited, and new acquaintances joined in honouring Barnabas’s achievements and legacy.

The atmosphere was festive, the conversations heartfelt, and the appreciation for his service deeply felt by everyone present.

Our story begins in the 1990s, when I returned to Uganda from Sydney-Australia, after many years away. I reconnected with family and friends. One man stood out as a kindred spirit in business: Norman Kayonga Rwakanengyere, friend, brother-in-law and confidant.

Early on, Norman worked to revive a Pepsi-Cola plant and desperately needed a steady supply of raw materials, chiefly EC Grade 2 sugar. Having stayed in Kenya, I already knew the regional importers of industrial sugar. I contacted them; they responded positively. We retained Sebalu & Lule for legal work, and the deal was sealed.

In 1992, Norman and I returned to S&L. That day, he introduced me to Barnabas Tumusingyize, who had just joined the firm and would soon become our trusted counsel. We met at the bar near Buganda Road (Press Club). Over drinks and a long conversation, I learned he was the son of Oweishemwe Muzeyi Rwebyambu, highly respected in our society. From that moment, Barnabas became not only my lawyer, but my brother and my friend.

For more than thirty years, I have never undertaken a business matter requiring legal guidance without Barnabas’s counsel. He has represented me in court countless times, and we have never lost. There were no bribes, no shady deals, only straight, principled lawyering.

Once, I sold shares in a company to HSBC, and the proceeds were held by my lawyers. I wasn’t in a hurry to spend the money while considering new investments. During lunch with another lawyer, who later died unexpectedly, Barnabas appeared at our table and, in his characteristically blunt voice, demanded, “Don’t be silly. Why is your money still in our account? Give us your account so that we can send it to you this afternoon.” My friend joked that if it were him, he’d be on a plane for a holiday. I smiled and said, “That’s why you’re my friend, but you can’t be my lawyer.”

On another occasion, we sued the Government of Uganda and won. The compensation was paid in full. Three years later, I received a baffling call: a woman claiming to be the Director of Civil Litigation told a friend’s wife that my company’s compensation would be paid again in a week. I was stunned and alarmed.

I told Barnabas, who dropped everything and said, “Can we go see her right away? This is robbery.” We rushed to her office. She was surprised to see us.

When I told her about the call, she said it was what she had told my lawyers. Barnabas interrupted: “I am his lawyer, and we are here to inform you that the government already compensated him years ago. We have no claim whatsoever.” He then asked for all relevant documents to put the matter on the record. The director was aghast. By that afternoon, a formal letter had been delivered to her office. The attempted fraud stopped there.

Another friend wanted me to arrange a meeting with Barnabas during a dispute with a bank. When I asked about the matter, I advised him not to proceed. He insisted that money could solve everything.

He later tried to buy his way in, arriving at Barnabas’s office with sacks of cash. The next day, he told me that Barnabas had nearly thrown the money out the window and kicked him out. When I asked Barnabas what had happened, he said simply: “Tell your friend there is no amount of money in the world that can compromise my integrity.”

That is Barnabas: fierce, blunt, incorruptible, utterly loyal. He has stood by me through business deals, courtrooms and crises. He defends the law and the people he represents with an unshakable moral compass.

Barnabas Tumusingyize, thank you for being a loyal friend, a brother, and a lawyer. Welcome to my world of retirement.

The writer is a senior global citizen