Uganda’s champion of Universal Primary Education (UPE) that increased primary school enrollment to 9million, Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire passed on.
Commonly known as “Maama UPE”Bitamazire’s decades-long service transformed Uganda’s education landscape, ensuring that children from poor and marginalised communities could access schooling.
The former minister passed away on January 14th 2026 at the age of 84. Born on July 17, 1941, in Butambala District Bitamazire rose from humble beginnings. She pursued education with determination, earning a Diploma in Education, a Bachelor of Arts, and a Master of Arts from Makerere University.
Her professional journey began in the classroom, teaching at renowned institutions including Mt. St. Mary’s Namagunga and Tororo Girls School, where she made history as the first African headteacher.
She later rose through key administrative roles, serving as Director at the East African Harbours Corporation (1971–1973), Senior Education Officer in the Ministry of Education (1974–1979), Deputy Chairperson of the Teaching Service Commission (1981–1996), and a member of the Kajubi Education Policy Review Commission.
Her political career was equally distinguished
Bitamazire served as Minister of Education between 1979 to 1980, then State Minister for Primary Education from 1999 to 2005, and later as full Cabinet Minister from 2005 to 2011. She was also a Woman Member of Parliament for Mpigi District from 2001 to 2011 on the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ticket.
Testimonies
Prof. Mary Okwako the Executive Director of National Council for Higher Edcuation says Bitamizire influence extended beyond primary education.
“ l noted that Bitamazire’s leadership in higher education was equally transformative. She was a fierce advocate for girl-child education, pushing for girls’ participation in science and technology fields and dismantling long-held gender stereotypes,”she stated.
She further noted that Bitamazire co-founded the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), served on the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women from 1998 to 2001, and was a founding member of the Uganda Catholic Women’s Guild.
Uganda Management Institute Director General Prof. James Nkata affirmed her legacy as the pioneering advocate for Universal Primary Education
“We worked together to bring UMI where it is today.As a parent figure,Bitamazire was known for her signature afro hairstyle and aversion to makeup or painted nails — even on her wedding day in the 1970s,” Nkata said
“she served as Chancellor of the Uganda Management Institute (UMI) from 2013 to 2021, mentoring young leaders and shaping institutional reforms,”he added.
Nkata described her as “a leader of vision,” crediting her with steering UMI into one of Uganda’s leading public management institutions.
Her son Prof. Patrick Kyamanywa, Vice Chancellor of Uganda Martyrs University, said late Bitamazire was more than intimate to him.
“Many called her Maama UPE, Honourable but to us she was Mummy Honourable: gentle, disciplined, a listener, a counsellor, a person of integrity who always lifted others,” he said.
Prof. Kyamanywa also reflected on her resilience — surviving cancer for over 13 years, living with diabetes for two decades, and remaining optimistic about reaching her 100th birthday, before her life was cut short by a sudden heart attack.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni accorded Bitamazire an official state burial, recognising her “distinguished service to the nation.”
Education Minister Dr. John Chrysostom Muyingo thanked “Maama UPE” for shaping generations of Ugandans
.“She has left an indelible legacy that we will all strive to emulate in advancing human capital development in Uganda,” Muyingo said.
The Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Kedrace Turyagyenda, described Bitamazire as “a pillar of the education sector whose leadership left a lasting policy and institutional footprint.