Rhoda Nakibuuka Kalema, a pioneering Ugandan politician popularly known as “Mother of Parliament,” has passed away at the age of 96 on Sunday.
Kalema reportedly succumbed to age-related illnesses.
She was last seen publicly at a Scripture Union conference in Kiboga District last weekend.
Born on May 10, 1929, she was the daughter of Buganda Katikkiro Martin Luther Nsibirwa and Veronica Namuddu, and grew up in the official residence of the Katikkiro, the Butikkiro, at Mengo.
Rhoda Kalema forged a path for women in Ugandan politics during a period when female participation was rare.
She was among the first women to serve in Uganda’s post-Amin National Consultative Council (NCC) following the 1979 liberation war.
Her political career included a tenure as Deputy Minister of Public Service under President Yoweri Museveni from 1989 to 1991.
She was elected to Uganda’s Constituent Assembly in 1994, where she notably defeated eight male opponents in Kiboga District, securing two-thirds of the vote.
This victory cemented her legacy as a national icon for women’s political empowerment. Ms. Kalema’s life was also marked by personal adversity; her husband, William Wilberforce Kalema, a former minister, was abducted and presumed killed during Idi Amin’s regime in 1972, an event that deeply influenced her later advocacy for justice and peace.In 1980, Ms. Kalema co-founded the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM), enduring repeated arrests during the political unrest of the early 1980s.
She actively mentored a new generation of female leaders, including Minister of Energy Ruth Nankabirwa.
Her contributions to the women’s movement and public service received wide recognition.
She was honoured by the Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE), and in 2018, Pepperdine University presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2021, she published her memoir, My Life Is But a Weaving, offering reflections on her life from a royal childhood to public service, providing insights into Uganda’s colonial and post-independence history.
