book, State of Blood
The final curtain fell on the life of Henry Kyemba, a veteran Ugandan politician, civil servant, and author. Family members said Kyemba passed on peacefully early morning on Thursday, at the age of 84.
Kyemba’s life story is illuminated by his years of service as the Private Secretary to Presidents Apollo Milton Obote and Idi Amin Dada, a minister in the Amin and Museveni governments, a member of the Constituent Assembly that made the 1995 constitution, and a Member of the Sixth Parliament of Uganda.
He served as one of the members of the Judicial Service Commission, the Chairperson of the Madhvani Foundation Scholarship Committee, and a Rotary District Governor, a testament to his commitment to duty and honor.
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament through his X handle formerly Twitter described Henry Kyemba as a very distinguished statesman and one of the most senior leaders in this country, who served several regimes including; serving as the first Presidential Private Secretary of Milton Obote, Minister for Health under Idi Amin and Minister for Presidency under President Museveni.
Professor Derek Peterson, who has documented and archived part of Uganda’s historical events especially those related to Id Amin’s rule said Kyemba was a fixture in Uganda’s public life: advisor to presidents Obote and Amin; dedicated civil servant; courageous critic of Amin’s brutality; and custodian of memory”
With the passing of Rotarian Henry Kyemba, the curtain has fallen on yet another crop of young educated Ugandans who took up positions in the country’s civil service immediately before or after attained its independence in 1962.
He was in the league of the Late Kirunda Kievejinja, Wanume Kibedi, Agrey Awori, Mayanja Nkanji, Abu Kakyama Mayanja, Adoko Nekyon, Akena Adoko, Mathias Ngobi, David Lumu and many others in that league. He went to Makerere University between 1957 and 1962. Joining the Civil Service
Fallout with Amin
For many years, Kyemba was faced with questions about why he kept serving under Idi Amin even with the alleged atrocities and killings. Some of his relatives like relatives like Shaban Kirunda Nkutu. He at one moment said he did not know whether he should take credit for going to exile or be punished for having stayed.
Kyemba indicated that he had the opportunity to go into exile in 1972 when he traveled to Lagos. At the time, Benedicto Kiwanuka, the then Chief Justice had just been murdered.
“I thought if I went, my own brother Nabeta who was CEO of National Insurance Corporation, my other brother who was a magistrate, and my mother above all. I thought it was wrong for me to leave them. So I said I better go and come back”
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