Former PM Amama Mbabazi speaks out on his health

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Former Prime Minister, John Patrick Amama Mbabazi, on Monday, thanked all those who had reached out to him with get well soon messages and denied reports that he had developed a stroke. 

In a tweet on Monday, and in response to some news outlets that claimed he had suffered a stroke, Mbabazi said, “To all those that have sent me get well soon messages, I thank you for your encouragement, sympathy and love. It is not true that I got a stroke. I had a back ailment, which was fixed and I have actually in the last week or so been involved in fairly heavy diplomatic work. Thanks.” 

On Monday, June 12, a short clip of Mbabazi exiting a London hotel with the support of unidentified individuals, sparked speculation about the former premier’s stroke. 

In October 2021, President Yoweri Museveni appointed Mbabazi as a special envoy to South Sudan and Ethiopia. 

In February 2022, Mbabazi was appointed chairperson of the African Global Security Foundation. 

The Foundation was set up as a continental security think tank tasked with disseminating information and views about Africa’s security plight. The founding member states are Congo Brazzaville, DRC, Mauritius, Senegal, Togo, and Uganda. 

Mbabazi in a press release said the foundation had been created due to the changing global political environment, adding that it is not a governmental body or a state organ and will not be working for anyone or any group but the good of Africa. 

When asked if President Museveni proposed his name to chair the Foundation, Mbabazi replied that he did not know but was sure that the leaders of the member states, including President Museveni, had confidence in him. 

Mbabazi served as the ninth Prime Minister of Uganda from May 24, 2011, to September 19, 2014.  

He also served as the Member of Parliament for Kinkiizi West in Kanungu district, a position held from 1996 until 2016, when he ran unsuccessfully for the presidency after a falling out within the National Resistance Movement (NRM) where he is one of the founders. 

At the NRM, Mbabazi is credited with helping the party during its protracted liberation struggles against presidents Idi Amin and Apollo Milton Obote from 1972-79 and later from 1981-86 where he served in the external wing.