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Even after five years since he went to be with the Lord, Peter Nyombi, who during his lifetime served as Uganda’s Attorney General, is still remembered with great admiration. 

People acknowledge him as a seasoned legal guru who exercised high ethical standards during his political career. 

He is also remembered for his deep assimilation of Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness (Matthew 18: 22-35), which he practised with conviction.

Nyombi’s assimilation of the joy and power of forgiveness was best highlighted by his son, Solomon Ignatius Kyeyune, during his funeral service at St Paul’s Cathedral Namirembe. 

“When he served as Attorney General and it seemed like the entire world was against him, when the Uganda Law Society thought it fit to expel him, when all manner of characters; learned and unlearned, insulted him, he stood his ground.

I recall that time when one famous opposition MP referred to him as a chicken thief lawyer. I also recall a time when I sat in class and one of the lawyers, whom he had worked closely with, called him a fraudulent man.

Peter Nyombi was born on April 21, 1954 and died on October 7, 2018.

I wished the entire world would swallow me up. Another lecturer compared him to a dog. When I informed him about the goings-on from some of the lecturers, he just said, ‘You keep quiet, work hard, be strong because God is with you.’ He didn’t believe in exacting any kind of revenge.” 

“Many times, I would hear nasty things on social media, television and even in newspapers and it felt like people had no regard for the fact that this individual had a family that loved and cared for him; that there were people who called him daddy and a woman who knew him as her husband and best friend. 

And that their words were like pincers in our flesh. I clearly remember that bright Sunday when he was dropped. No phone call or text message from the appointing authority. 

He got to know about this from social media. He said: ‘All is well, the Lord is with us.’ He didn’t rush to the newspapers to abuse or insult anyone,” Kyeyune said. He added: “In his letter accepting being dropped, he signed off with the words, ‘It is well with my soul.’ 

For the three years during which he was out of government service, my father kept his head down, buried himself in one of his passions, his law firm, because he didn’t believe that he should be dependent on the Government for his livelihood and his family. 

Indeed, he was relieved by the reprieve from all the pressures of the Attorney General’s chambers. The Monday after he was dropped, he woke up the next day, handed over the government vehicle and went to his private law firm and buried himself in his work; business as usual.” 

“Watching television and reading the newspapers over the course of the next few weeks, with all the insults levelled at him and the jubilation even from colleagues who he knew, was a prolonged bad dream, but still he forged ahead and never sank into self-pity.”’’’

Teaching men to fish  

“The same year, he lost his seat to a previously unknown candidate in the NRM primaries. The people whom he had diligently served for two terms had withdrawn their support from him. 

He declined the advice to stand as an independent candidate.

He wasn’t an armchair MP. 

“He travelled to Nakasongola twice a week to listen to his people and offer practical and legal help when he could and yet, he would come home every day and have time for us. He never believed in simply dishing out money. 

He believed in teaching people how to fish as opposed to giving them the fish so that they could make a living for themselves,” Kyeyune said. 

Amb. Mayega (L) and the Rev. Can. Dr. John Senyonyi (both siblings of Peter Nyombi) graced the wedding of their nephew Andrew Makanga Nyombi at the Commonwealth Resort Munyonyo recently.

Giving hope, new life  

“One of my father’s passions was helping children with little or no chance at a good life be adopted by families in the US. Recently, there were allegations even by some of my lecturers that he was involved in child trafficking and the selling of body organs. 

“I would flip open a newspaper and find the news and without proof, he was guilty as charged. I could never quite understand why even lawyers, who love to call themselves ‘learned fellows’, made these claims without proof. 

The presumption of innocence, one of the key tenets of constitutional law, had conveniently been forgotten by these supposedly ‘learned fellows’.  

“I know my father. He loved children and he believed that helping them get better lives abroad was in their best interest and he viewed this as service to God,” Kyeyune said. 

He added: “Dad was a fighter. In 2010, he got a heart problem that added to his pre-existing diabetes and hypertension, which he had had for years. 

When he was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2014, he declared that he was going to fight it because the Jesus in him had overcome the world. 

An operation was done and he was declared cancer-free. In 2017, he developed a cataract problem and was almost going blind, yet he wouldn’t yield. Daddy never ceased to impress me.”

More praise 

These and many other attributes of Nyombi were invoked with even greater reverence during the wedding reception of his son, Andrew Makanga Nyombi, at the Commonwealth Resort Munyonyo, in Kampala on July 22, 2023. 

Various speakers rhymed in their acknowledgement of Nyombi’s virtues of love, integrity, faithfulness, hard work and Christian commitment. 

They said the afore-mentioned values were clearly reflected in the character of his newlywed, Makanga, who they said was intensely committed to his new wife, Milly Aine Nyombi. 

One of the youthful speakers (a friend of the couple) made guests laugh their heads off as she testified about Makanga’s commitment to Milly. 

She said Makanga used to drive his car daily to Busaabala, pick Milly and drop her off at her workplace. 

He would then take her back in the evening, without minding about the much-dreaded dust on the infamous dusty road. Makanga could not help but talk about his beloved father as he gave his Thanksgiving speech. 

The bearded guru and acapella gospel music maestro broke down as he talked about Nyombi, whom he said always put it to him to be truthful, hardworking and God-fearing. 

Needless to say, Makanga’s wedding brought unprecedented consolation and joy to the relatives and friends of the late Nyombi as observed by one guest, Lawrence Mondo. 

“I have never seen Can. Dr. Senyonyi and Ambassador Henry Mayega in such a happy mood. The wedding of their beloved nephew must have consoled them and restored their soul,” Mondo said.

The fighter 

In 2010, he got a heart problem that added to his pre-existing diabetes and hypertension, which he had had for years. 

When he was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2014, he declared that he was going to fight it because the Jesus in him had overcome the world. 

An operation was done and he was declared cancer-free. In 2017, he developed a cataract problem and was almost going blind, yet he wouldn’t yield.