Minister Kibirige succumbs to cancer
Oct 08, 2008
THE STATE Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Israel Kibirige Ssebunya, is dead. Kibirige, who had been battling tongue cancer for months, died yesterday at 7:15am at Mulago Hospital. Ssebunya held a doctorate in plant breeding and cytogenetics. He became a state minister for agriculture in 1999.
By Conan Businge
and Josephine Maseruka
THE STATE Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Israel Kibirige Ssebunya, is dead.
Kibirige, who had been battling tongue cancer for months, died yesterday at 7:15am at Mulago Hospital.
The popular minister got critically ill four months ago and was admitted to hospitals in South Africa and Germany.
Ssebunya’s relatives yesterday said his tongue started swelling on Tuesday evening and his throat got blocked. He could no longer eat and was being fed through tubes.
Tongue cancer affects the mouth and oropharynx, the part of the throat behind the mouth. The death of the humourous minister, at the age of 62, has robbed Uganda of a great scientist, a plant breeder renowned for his research on crops like Clonal coffee, banana and palm oil.
Ssebunya, who was the MP for Kyadondo North in Wakiso, is survived by six children, aged between 18 and 40. The last born, Abraham Kibirige, is expected to start his UNEB exams tomorrow at Kings College Budo. His wife, Theresa Namatovu Kibirige, is a lecturer in Botswana.
“Doctor (Kibirige) was so weak before his death,†said his niece, Agatha Nakanwagi. “He told me that he was losing the battle. It was so sad to lose him because he looked committed to fight for his life.â€
Ssebunya held a doctorate in plant breeding and cytogenetics. He became a state minister for agriculture in 1999.
Prior to that, he was a professor of agriculture at Makerere University and headed the Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute, a position that won him an accolade from the National Agriculture Research Organisation. In the late 1980s, he served as the head of the Namulonge Agricultural Research Institute.
Ssebunya was widely credited for the introduction of the Clonal coffee breed which President Museveni aggressively championed in the 1990s.
Kawanda’s senior principal research officer, Dr. Matthias Magunda, said Ssebunya will also be remembered for his contribution to palm oil growing in Kituuza.
Magunda called Ssebunya one of the best and first well-trained breeders in the country.
“He supported several scientists and was very social,†he said.
The people The New Vision talked to described the deceased as intelligent, simple, a comedian with brains and a friend of the farmers.
“Though a comic person, he was very clever and he often scoffed at lazy people as a way to entice them into engaging in development ventures,†commented Buganda Katikkiro (premier) JB Walusimbi.
He added that Ssebunya was a true Muganda, a friend of the Kabaka and one of the founding board members of the Buganda Cultural and Development Foundation.
Chebet Maikut, the vice-president of the Eastern Africa Farmers’ Federation, said Ssebunya was a great friend of farmers, whom he encouraged to adopt modern technologies.
“He went an extra mile to support development programmes aimed at enhancing income generation, especially among the rural people.â€
The opposition parties, too, hailed the fallen minister. “The country has lost a great scientist. He was one of the rare people we had,†said FDC publicist Wafula Oguttu.
“His passing away means the loss of a great brain, a simple politician and a true Muganda,†said DP chief John Ssebaana Kizito.
See Dr. Ssebunya's tribute under PEOPLE category on the left menu
and Josephine Maseruka
THE STATE Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Israel Kibirige Ssebunya, is dead.
Kibirige, who had been battling tongue cancer for months, died yesterday at 7:15am at Mulago Hospital.
The popular minister got critically ill four months ago and was admitted to hospitals in South Africa and Germany.
Ssebunya’s relatives yesterday said his tongue started swelling on Tuesday evening and his throat got blocked. He could no longer eat and was being fed through tubes.
Tongue cancer affects the mouth and oropharynx, the part of the throat behind the mouth. The death of the humourous minister, at the age of 62, has robbed Uganda of a great scientist, a plant breeder renowned for his research on crops like Clonal coffee, banana and palm oil.
Ssebunya, who was the MP for Kyadondo North in Wakiso, is survived by six children, aged between 18 and 40. The last born, Abraham Kibirige, is expected to start his UNEB exams tomorrow at Kings College Budo. His wife, Theresa Namatovu Kibirige, is a lecturer in Botswana.
“Doctor (Kibirige) was so weak before his death,†said his niece, Agatha Nakanwagi. “He told me that he was losing the battle. It was so sad to lose him because he looked committed to fight for his life.â€
Ssebunya held a doctorate in plant breeding and cytogenetics. He became a state minister for agriculture in 1999.
Prior to that, he was a professor of agriculture at Makerere University and headed the Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute, a position that won him an accolade from the National Agriculture Research Organisation. In the late 1980s, he served as the head of the Namulonge Agricultural Research Institute.
Ssebunya was widely credited for the introduction of the Clonal coffee breed which President Museveni aggressively championed in the 1990s.
Kawanda’s senior principal research officer, Dr. Matthias Magunda, said Ssebunya will also be remembered for his contribution to palm oil growing in Kituuza.
Magunda called Ssebunya one of the best and first well-trained breeders in the country.
“He supported several scientists and was very social,†he said.
The people The New Vision talked to described the deceased as intelligent, simple, a comedian with brains and a friend of the farmers.
“Though a comic person, he was very clever and he often scoffed at lazy people as a way to entice them into engaging in development ventures,†commented Buganda Katikkiro (premier) JB Walusimbi.
He added that Ssebunya was a true Muganda, a friend of the Kabaka and one of the founding board members of the Buganda Cultural and Development Foundation.
Chebet Maikut, the vice-president of the Eastern Africa Farmers’ Federation, said Ssebunya was a great friend of farmers, whom he encouraged to adopt modern technologies.
“He went an extra mile to support development programmes aimed at enhancing income generation, especially among the rural people.â€
The opposition parties, too, hailed the fallen minister. “The country has lost a great scientist. He was one of the rare people we had,†said FDC publicist Wafula Oguttu.
“His passing away means the loss of a great brain, a simple politician and a true Muganda,†said DP chief John Ssebaana Kizito.
See Dr. Ssebunya's tribute under PEOPLE category on the left menu