Who is Dr Kiyingi?
Jul 20, 2005
HIS close friends describe him as a shy, polite but very intelligent man. His former classmates recall him as a boy who was sharp academically.
By Denis Ocwichi
HIS close friends describe him as a shy, polite but very intelligent man. His former classmates recall him as a boy who was sharp academically.
As a member of the Budo family, where he was from Junior up to A’Level, in the mid 60s up to 1971, Dr Aggrey Kiyingi loved music, and was a member of the Nightingales, an elite choir group which used to perform nationally and internationally.
“At school he was a serious character who would not joke. He was also a very religious person, who became a mulokole,†recalls Dr Edward Kayondo, consultant of the Old Budonians Club.
According to Kayondo, who was two years behind Kiyingi at Budo, the latter was a resident of Nigeria House.
“Because of his brilliance, he was chosen to join an elite class of people who did O’Level in three years instead of four,†says Kayondo.
Chris Mwesigye, a teacher of Ntare School in Mbarara, who studied with Kiyingi both in O and A’Level (1967-71), says he was among the youngest boys but he always emerged among the best five students in examinations. “He was a good Christian but eccentric. And he was not outgoing,†recalls Mwesigye. “He was also a debater.â€
After completing A’Level in 1971, Kiyingi joined Makerere University where he developed an intimate relationship with Robinah, and went on to marry her shortly after university. But even before joining Makerere, where he pursued a five-year Bachelor of Medicine, Kiyingi and Robinah already knew each other. It is believed they met in one of the exchange visits between Budo and Gayaza High School, where Robinah studied.
Although Kiyingi was based at the Medical School in Mulago, and Robinah at the Faculty of Law, he did not hide his jealousy for people who would be friends with her girlfriend.
“He was rather possessive of Robinah. Apparently he did not want her to associate with people (especially men) at the faculty of law,†recounts Prof. David Bakibinga, the deputy vice-chancellor of Makerere University. Bakibinga was in the same class with Kiyingi at Budo. “He was very hardworking and one of those people called ambitious. He also liked music and going to church, but I would not call him a mulokole.â€
Kiyingi is son to Azalia Ssebowa, a peasant in Busukuma, Namulonge in Wakiso district. The father, who was shot dead in the mid 1980s, was a staunch supporter of the Uganda People’s Congress. His mother is also dead. Their family was a fairly big one.
Among the Old Budonians Club, Kiyingi is on the list of the most successful OBs working outside Uganda, and he was always willing to support the Budo alumni. “Whenever he was here, he would always participate in our functions,†says Kayondo, who is surprised that Kiyingi is facing murder charges. “To me, it’s a bit unlike him.â€
In Kampala, Kiyingi hit the limelight as a philanthropist in 2001, when he started dishing out millions of money to churches and local NGOs. At one time he gave sh20m to Katuso Church of Uganda, a local church where he prays whenever he is in Kampala. The church is near his residence in Buziga, and he had a special seat reserved for him inside the church. He donated a piano to the church.
“He was a respected parishioner. And he was a very generous man who gave a lot of computers to many institutions in Buganda,†says Kayondo. Kiyingi was also in the good books of the Buganda Kingdom and the clergy at Namirembe, the seat of the Anglican Church. It is not clear whether he was still a committed mulokole at the time of his arrest.
In May 2002, he promised to set up a sh10b fund to promote computer awareness in the country. Together with his wife Robinah, he founded Dehezi International, a Kampala-based computer and Internet service provider, which has helped to sell computers to schools and other organisations at subsidised rates.
It was Dehezi International that designed the CBS FM radio website, ww.cbsfmbuganda.com, which was launched in 2002 and became an interactive medium through which listeners can tune-in to the radio over the Internet.
Kiyingi is also one of the city socialites. He loves to attend social events whenever he is in town. The last event he attended was the launch of Nandujja’s album at the National Theatre on July 1, after which he flew back to Australia where he is a private consultant specialising in cardiology (treatment of heart diseases).
He returned to Uganda last week to attend the funeral of his wife Robinah, who was shot dead on Monday night at her home in Buziga, a city suburb. Kiyingi, alongside other suspects, is accused of having a hand in Robinah’s murder.
The marriage between Robinah and Kiyingi, both balokole, hit the rocks in 2003 when the husband filed for divorce in Mengo Chief Magistrate’s Court. He accused the wife of adultery. But some people instead accused the man of being responsible for the marriage wreck because he was seeing other women.
After the husband petitioned the Ugandan courts, Robinah objected to any ruling in Uganda. She instead petitioned the Australian Family Court. Through her lawyers, Watts McCray, Robinah was reportedly seeking “spousal maintenanceâ€, appropriate sharing of their property, and support for their children under 18 years of age. The ruling was due soon.
The couple has four children aged between 15 and 27, the youngest, a girl in Senior Two at Gayaza High School.
“He loves his children very much,†says one of his friends.
Two of their children, Dr Kibuuka Kiyingi (based in Australia) and Kirabo Ssebowa Kiyingi (now a student in New Zealand), have passed through King’s College, Budo. Kirabo was one of the best students in the country in O’level in 2002 and completed his A’Level at Budo last year.
The relationship between Kiyingi and Robinah, which is said to have been concrete for 20 years, reportedly started crumbling about five years ago, forcing Robinah to return to Uganda and join the legal practice.
The family left Uganda in 1980 and stayed briefly in Kenya, where Dr Kiyingi worked part-time at a village hospital in Kitui, Machakos and later at Kalolemi in Mombasa.
While in Nairobi, the family stayed at the home of Robinah’s sister, Dr Eve Kasirye Alemu, who was then living in Nairobi.
“They were young and didn’t have money, and yet they had children. My husband Dr Patrick Alemu and I had to help them,†recalls Dr Kasirye.
Dr Kiyingi’s first attempt to apply for entrance into Australia was rejected by the Australian government. But he was eventually given permit in late 1981 when Dr David Kakaire (husband to Dr Samalie, Robinah’s sister) helped write a convincing letter for him to the Australian prime minister
“Maybe if we had not helped the family to go to Australia, they would have stayed here (Uganda); and would not have had those marital problems, and our sister would still be alive,†Dr Kasirye laments.
Ends
HIS close friends describe him as a shy, polite but very intelligent man. His former classmates recall him as a boy who was sharp academically.
As a member of the Budo family, where he was from Junior up to A’Level, in the mid 60s up to 1971, Dr Aggrey Kiyingi loved music, and was a member of the Nightingales, an elite choir group which used to perform nationally and internationally.
“At school he was a serious character who would not joke. He was also a very religious person, who became a mulokole,†recalls Dr Edward Kayondo, consultant of the Old Budonians Club.
According to Kayondo, who was two years behind Kiyingi at Budo, the latter was a resident of Nigeria House.
“Because of his brilliance, he was chosen to join an elite class of people who did O’Level in three years instead of four,†says Kayondo.
Chris Mwesigye, a teacher of Ntare School in Mbarara, who studied with Kiyingi both in O and A’Level (1967-71), says he was among the youngest boys but he always emerged among the best five students in examinations. “He was a good Christian but eccentric. And he was not outgoing,†recalls Mwesigye. “He was also a debater.â€
After completing A’Level in 1971, Kiyingi joined Makerere University where he developed an intimate relationship with Robinah, and went on to marry her shortly after university. But even before joining Makerere, where he pursued a five-year Bachelor of Medicine, Kiyingi and Robinah already knew each other. It is believed they met in one of the exchange visits between Budo and Gayaza High School, where Robinah studied.
Although Kiyingi was based at the Medical School in Mulago, and Robinah at the Faculty of Law, he did not hide his jealousy for people who would be friends with her girlfriend.
“He was rather possessive of Robinah. Apparently he did not want her to associate with people (especially men) at the faculty of law,†recounts Prof. David Bakibinga, the deputy vice-chancellor of Makerere University. Bakibinga was in the same class with Kiyingi at Budo. “He was very hardworking and one of those people called ambitious. He also liked music and going to church, but I would not call him a mulokole.â€
Kiyingi is son to Azalia Ssebowa, a peasant in Busukuma, Namulonge in Wakiso district. The father, who was shot dead in the mid 1980s, was a staunch supporter of the Uganda People’s Congress. His mother is also dead. Their family was a fairly big one.
Among the Old Budonians Club, Kiyingi is on the list of the most successful OBs working outside Uganda, and he was always willing to support the Budo alumni. “Whenever he was here, he would always participate in our functions,†says Kayondo, who is surprised that Kiyingi is facing murder charges. “To me, it’s a bit unlike him.â€
In Kampala, Kiyingi hit the limelight as a philanthropist in 2001, when he started dishing out millions of money to churches and local NGOs. At one time he gave sh20m to Katuso Church of Uganda, a local church where he prays whenever he is in Kampala. The church is near his residence in Buziga, and he had a special seat reserved for him inside the church. He donated a piano to the church.
“He was a respected parishioner. And he was a very generous man who gave a lot of computers to many institutions in Buganda,†says Kayondo. Kiyingi was also in the good books of the Buganda Kingdom and the clergy at Namirembe, the seat of the Anglican Church. It is not clear whether he was still a committed mulokole at the time of his arrest.
In May 2002, he promised to set up a sh10b fund to promote computer awareness in the country. Together with his wife Robinah, he founded Dehezi International, a Kampala-based computer and Internet service provider, which has helped to sell computers to schools and other organisations at subsidised rates.
It was Dehezi International that designed the CBS FM radio website, ww.cbsfmbuganda.com, which was launched in 2002 and became an interactive medium through which listeners can tune-in to the radio over the Internet.
Kiyingi is also one of the city socialites. He loves to attend social events whenever he is in town. The last event he attended was the launch of Nandujja’s album at the National Theatre on July 1, after which he flew back to Australia where he is a private consultant specialising in cardiology (treatment of heart diseases).
He returned to Uganda last week to attend the funeral of his wife Robinah, who was shot dead on Monday night at her home in Buziga, a city suburb. Kiyingi, alongside other suspects, is accused of having a hand in Robinah’s murder.
The marriage between Robinah and Kiyingi, both balokole, hit the rocks in 2003 when the husband filed for divorce in Mengo Chief Magistrate’s Court. He accused the wife of adultery. But some people instead accused the man of being responsible for the marriage wreck because he was seeing other women.
After the husband petitioned the Ugandan courts, Robinah objected to any ruling in Uganda. She instead petitioned the Australian Family Court. Through her lawyers, Watts McCray, Robinah was reportedly seeking “spousal maintenanceâ€, appropriate sharing of their property, and support for their children under 18 years of age. The ruling was due soon.
The couple has four children aged between 15 and 27, the youngest, a girl in Senior Two at Gayaza High School.
“He loves his children very much,†says one of his friends.
Two of their children, Dr Kibuuka Kiyingi (based in Australia) and Kirabo Ssebowa Kiyingi (now a student in New Zealand), have passed through King’s College, Budo. Kirabo was one of the best students in the country in O’level in 2002 and completed his A’Level at Budo last year.
The relationship between Kiyingi and Robinah, which is said to have been concrete for 20 years, reportedly started crumbling about five years ago, forcing Robinah to return to Uganda and join the legal practice.
The family left Uganda in 1980 and stayed briefly in Kenya, where Dr Kiyingi worked part-time at a village hospital in Kitui, Machakos and later at Kalolemi in Mombasa.
While in Nairobi, the family stayed at the home of Robinah’s sister, Dr Eve Kasirye Alemu, who was then living in Nairobi.
“They were young and didn’t have money, and yet they had children. My husband Dr Patrick Alemu and I had to help them,†recalls Dr Kasirye.
Dr Kiyingi’s first attempt to apply for entrance into Australia was rejected by the Australian government. But he was eventually given permit in late 1981 when Dr David Kakaire (husband to Dr Samalie, Robinah’s sister) helped write a convincing letter for him to the Australian prime minister
“Maybe if we had not helped the family to go to Australia, they would have stayed here (Uganda); and would not have had those marital problems, and our sister would still be alive,†Dr Kasirye laments.
Ends