A descendant of royalty, born in a family of outstanding public servants, politicians, and businessmen, Henry Kyemba was the son of Suleman Kisadha, a descendant of Chief Luba.

His father was a prince of Bunya chiefdom and his mother, Susana Babirizangawo, a princess from the famous Daudi Mutekanga family. He was the last born of seven brothers and four sisters, and was not afraid to tell anybody that he was the naughtiest of the lot!

He held an Honours degree in History from the London University, a Master’s degree in History from Northwestern University, Evanston, USA and a Certificate in African studies of the same university.

Henry Kyemba is the author of the acclaimed book, State of Blood (1977) - his account of the atrocities of the Idi Amin regime, which he wrote during his period of exile in Britain and the United States.

He was a husband and father to 4 children. He was a beloved uncle, grandfather, in-law, friend, mentor and confidant to so many.

PUBLIC SERVICE

Hon. Henry Kyemba’s distinguished career in public service spanned nearly 60 years (57 years to be exact). Since he entered the civil service on the eve of Uganda’s independence from Britain in 1962, he served as Principal Private Secretary to the President of Uganda, Permanent Secretary Office of the President, Secretary to Cabinet, and Head of the Uganda Civil Service.

He served as a Cabinet Minister in a variety of ministries, including Health under General Idi Amin Dada and Minister of state for Agriculture and Animal Industry (1989 - 1994) and in charge of the Office of the President(1994 -1996).

He was first elected as Member of Parliament for Jinja Municipality West (Source of the Nile) in 1989 - a constituency he continued to represent until 2001. During that time Henry Kyemba also served as a Member of the 1994-1996 Constituent Assembly that drafted the current Ugandan Constitution.

Since 2001, he has served on a variety of Government Commissions, most notably the Commission on the Creation of New Administrative Districts and the Judicial Service Commission to which he was reappointed for a second 4-year term in 2012 to 2016.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Henry Kyemba was involved in charitable and voluntary work throughout his working life. He first joined Rotary as a Charter Member of the Rotary Club of the Source of the Nile in 1988, subsequently rising through the ranks to the post of District Governor (1995-1996) of District 9200, then consisting of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, French Réunion, Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles and Uganda.

He was a member of various Rotary International committees, and Chairman of the Polio Plus Committee for Uganda; and represented the R.I. President at several District Conferences. He also served as Rotary International’s Primary Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme, whose headquarters are at Gigiri, Nairobi, Kenya until 2015.

Simultaneously, he also served as a Director of the Madhvani Foundation and Chairman of the Muljibhai Madhvani Foundation Scholarship Committee at different times until his death.

He was also a Member of the Management Board of Jinja Referral Hospital till 2015. He was a Member of the Ugandan Institute of Good Governance until his death.

Henry Kyemba was a member of the Elders Forum of Uganda (TEFU) working closely with the Inter- Religious council of Uganda(IRCU) on the Uganda National Dialogue Process as an Eminent Person.