From Nyakisoroza, Nyakishenyi sub county Rukungiri district below the famous hills where the Nyabingi rebellion against the Colonialists led by a female anti colonial leader survived to the end, lives a great family that brought to life strong spirit that nursed the great Uganda’s revolution.
Ms Jackline Susan Ruhindi Mbabazi, is putting up her last energy to legislate on behalf or elders in Western Uganda at a time elders care, health, basic insurance, finances, trust and general moral guidance is needed.
Her parents the Late Rev Can Ruhindi (died at 105)and his wife has lived for over 95 years. Like the Bagowabos where Ms Jackline is married, Jackline and her siblings are the elders in the home where they looked out from the elders.
The breed of three women from one family (The Ruhindi family) Jackie, Hope and Alice plus the many males and other females was a great fruit from the tree of salvation.
Before the late Ruhindi became a reverend, he served the Anglican church as a catechist together with the late Bagwowabo (Amama Mbabazi’s Father) and when the two families bonded, the outcome became a marriage. The two elders would later die as Priests in the church.
While Ms Jackline has not served in mainstream political offices in the country since the NRM government took over power, she remained a power inside the house, the wood that cooked the food to serve or even the chef that will never be seen serving on the table.
She emerged from being a top civil servant first as a Chemistry teacher at Kitante Hill secondary school 1976- 1981 services she later transferred to Kenya teaching the same subject at Kianda High school between 1981- 1984 while in exile. When the National Enterprise Corporation (the army economic and business wing) was formed in 1988, Ms Mbabazi became the first deputy Director general, serving up to 1992. In 1992, she was to be appointed to the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) as Commissioner Customs and Exercise serving from 1992 to 2000. She was returned to NEC as general Manager Luwero industries in 2001 serving to 2011. She retired from public service then opting to run Arma farm Ltd a private organization owned by her family.
As a retired teacher and retired civil and public servant, a care taker for the old, Ms Mbabazi’s journey to politics was rather accidental finding herself in exile after the 1980 elections won by the UPC. His husband Mr Amama Mbabazi was a close ally of the UPM presidential candidate whom he campaigned alongside. Mbabazi, a young and elusive lawyer whose antics and underground mobilization in and outside Uganda brought the fall of President Idi Amin became a great target of the UPC government escaping with his family to Nairobi Kenya.
During the time of political struggles from 1972 to 1985, Ms Mbabazi and the late Yona Kanyomozi’s wife became to be known as mothers to the struggle. However Ms Kanyomozi returned to Uganda in 1980 while Ms Mbabazi became a full time refugee in Kenya and later in Sweden.
In her Book, My Life’s Journey, Ms Janet Kataaha Museveni remembers being joined at Moheda town in Sweden by the Mbabazi family and the Dr Ruhakana Rugunda family. While Ms Museveni later moved to Gothenburg Rugunda and Mbabazi’s families settled in Uppsala until after the fall of Dr Obote Government.
While in Sweden, she learnt Swedish but also enrolled at Uppsala University for Master of Science in Biotechnology and institute of management Sigtuna for a Diploma in International relations. These qualifications added on Bachelor of Science and Diploma in education from Makerere University to the Old student of Bweranyangi Girls School and Trinity College Nabbingo.
In his Book Sowing the mastered seed, President Yoweri Museveni remembers leaving his family to Ms Mbabazi in Kenya as him and Mbabazi moved across the world to look for support against the Amin and Obote regimes.
Married in Kanungu district, she fostered the NRM in the two districts of Rukungiri and Kanungu leading women of the district, elders there and later women at National level. As a founding member of the party NRM, Ms Mbabazi was a member of the delegates conference from 2005 to 2015 and member of the CEC from 2010 to 2015 where she was chairperson women’s league.
Among the few women who became members of the Front for National Sulvation (FRONASA) 1973- 1979 and UPM 1980 and joined the external wing of the NRM 1981-1986, Ms Mbabazi is the only remaining of the many who can direct the country to the rare needed political and scientific transformation.
As the many elders in the NRM get more confused on the votes cast in the September party primary elections, many need to be reminded on why they are elders. To guide the country to the right pass, to provide history and experience of building the country Uganda, to show the young the purity and morality that suits the parliamentary democracy and most important to lead a great discussion at policy level on how the country must be managed, and how the elders ought to be treated.
Ms Mbabazi stood with Mr Patrick Mutabwire (Former permanent secretary Ministry of Local government), for the Western Uganda NRM party elders MP flag, while she won the vote in the first count, the election has since been invalidated by the tribunal that earlier allowed the vote to stand. Uganda may miss seeing the character of Ms Jackie as many call her in the parliament of Uganda. The most decorated female in the NRM history and a scientist elder needed at policy level as the nation focuses on industrial development.
Many revolutionary elders have since abandoned the struggle over botched elections. Many choose to sit back as elections go commercial and many have fallen silent to either death or illness, I simply wish she was unopposed.
The courage from the hills of Nyakishenyi, the Christianity from the family, the education from the great secondary schools and the history of exile that she may never wish the grand children to be part of, the knowledge she has on the individuals occupying the office of the president and closeness thus can and should only be contested by a person belonging to the mainstream opposition parties other than inside NRM, only if that person contesting is selfish or is the opposition inside the ruling party.
