Jinja City road renamed in Kyemba’s honour
Oct 25, 2023
Kadama told mourners that Kyemba’s legacy was worth a road being renamed, and the resolution’s approval was met with excitement from the public in the gallery.
Janet Kyemba paying tribute to her late husband during a council sesssion in Jinja on Wednesday. (Photos by Jackie Nambogga)
Jackie Nambogga
Journalist @New Vision
_________________________ Georgina Tumusime (with blue scaff) and other rotarians layinb a wreath on Kyemba's casket on Wednesday
The Jinja City Council has renamed one of its roads in honour of former health minister Henry Kyemba.
Kyemba who was a minister during the Iddi Amin Dada regime was accorded the honour during a special council meeting in honour of his tremendous contribution to Jinja District, Busoga, and Uganda as a whole.
The session on Wednesday, October 25, presided over by Speaker Bernard Mbayo, saw deputy mayor Fazira Kawuma (PWDs) move a motion to rename Radio Road, and Agnes Kadama of Jinja West (FDC) seconded it, which the entire council unanimously backed.
Kawuma said Kyemba sacrificed a lot to work with all the regimes since post-independence in promoting the social, economic, and political transformation of Uganda.
“We feel the loss of Kyemba but we are thankful to God for the immense games he played which are seen in our time. He is a man who inspired and selflessly sacrificed to work with all regimes since independence,” Kawuma said.
She asked the council to recognise the immense contributions which Kyemba had toward the social, economic, and political transformation of Uganda.
Kadama told mourners that Kyemba’s legacy was worth a road being renamed, and the resolution’s approval was met with excitement from the public in the gallery.
Govt greenlight
Although property owners would be experiencing some minor challenges with their addresses and on previous documents, Mbayo explained that they had extensively consulted with the local government ministry which okayed them.
He said what was required of the council was to extract the council minutes of the session and embark on its actualisation.
Mbayo said the deceased set standards for generations to come as he proclaimed the Henry Kyemba Road from Radio Road.
Meanwhile, Col. (rtd) Tony Otto, who succeeded Kyemba in the Jinja West Constituency seat, said the late exercised politics of tolerance.
Otto said the deceased set standards which they rode on as they used to get elected to Parliament on merit.
“Kyemba set standards which we rode on and for generations to come,” he said.
He hailed the Basoga for promoting nationalism saying much as he hails from Lango, they voted for him on top of hosting many of them.
“I used to live on Wilson Road and Kyemba would surprise me with milk from his farm. He knew my children by their names and age, he mentored them differently and his legacy is felt by all he interacted with,” Otto said.
He said his stay also culminated in fathering a son, now in Senior Three with a Musoga woman.
Jim Kabeho, who represented the Madhvani Group of Companies, said the deceased served the firm in many capacities.
Kabeho said Kyemba knew and read a lot, a reason they tapped his wisdom which contributed to the company’s growth.
Call for unity
The Jinja Resident City Commissioner, Darius Nandinda, said Busoga boosts many elites, and due to a lack of unity, they were not impacting the region.
Nandinda said the First Deputy Prime Minister also the Kamuli Woman MP, Rebecca Kadaga, laboured to unite politicians and elites which others should take on since she was not getting any younger. 
“How can we fail to get sh70m at fundraising with all the elites we have in Busoga? This is due to a lack of unity but we have it all. Let Kyemba’s death be our turning point,” he urged.
He hailed former lands minister Daudi Migereko and Harry Kasigwa for investing in the area other than elsewhere, saying this is how unemployment, which is NRM’s challenge, would be addressed.
Much as Jinja City Mayor Peter Kasolo belongs to the opposition National Unity Platform, Nandinda said he had not antagonised his services.
He added that even during the visit of NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi in Jinja City recently, he didn’t antagonise his stay.
“We have not heard teargas since I came, some leaders wanted us to disperse Kyagulanyi with teargas but I refused because even some locals didn’t know that he was around,” said Nandinda as mourners cheered.
Whereas some people don’t consider smartness as key, Meddie Mbentyo, a former councillor for the then Jinja Central Division in the Jinja District Council, said he was a product of Kyemba’s mentorship.
The FDC party leader said he used to envy his smartness and elegance.
David Wakudumira, the former Jinja mayor, said Kyemba was a corruption-free, cancer which is slowly eating up Uganda.
Amin's nemesis
Meanwhile, Kasolo said Kyemba remains a hero for standing tall and criticising Amin despite being very fearful.
He said this should be emulated in the current NRM government instead of looking on as things go bad.
“We hear Amin was a dictator but Kyemba who was an insider managed to expose the atrocities he committed. This should be the same with our colleagues in government but who can dare?” he asked.
Janet Kyemba, one of the two widows, lauded President Yoweri Museveni for according to her husband an official send-off.
Much as everyone knew her husband differently, Janet said she knew him in all aspects because she supported him in all his endeavors to serve Uganda and Rotary as he promoted humanity.
“I knew Kyemba in all aspects and that is why he was able to deliver. I learned him and was able to be with him till death,” she said.
Janet sent the gathering into brief murmurs when she revealed that the deceased had a family at the time they fell in love.
The 66-year-old Janet later introduced all the deceased’s five children as one family.
“You needed to see and know our children, they all studied in Jinja and some lived here, but I am only aware of five,” she said.
New Vision has learned the mother of two of the children is reportedly bedridden.
Georgina Tumusime, the president of the Source of the Nile Rotary Club, where the deceased was the initial president, appealed to the government to establish a museum and library in memory of Kyemba.
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