President Yoweri Museveni has appointed Dr. Crispus Kiyonga the new Chancellor of Makerere University.
“His Excellency the President of Uganda has appointed Dr. Crispus Kiyonga as the new Chancellor of Makerere University. On behalf of the Makerere University Council, I extend our warm congratulations to Dr. Kiyonga on this prestigious appointment and warmly welcome him to the service of Makerere University,” said Barnabas Nawangwe, Vice Chancellor of Makerere University.
The former Member of Parliament for Bukonzo County West, Kasese, and Uganda’s former Ambassador to China replaces Professor Ezra Suruma, who has served two terms since 2016 as the Makerere University Chancellor.
Born on January 1952 in the border district of Kasese according to his official profile , Kiyongaattended Bwera Primary School, Nyakasura School and King’s College Budo from 1971 to 1972.
From 1973 through 1978, he attended Makerere University School of Medicine, where he obtained his first medical degree, the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB), in 1978.
In 2004, he obtained a Master of Health Science (MHS) in Population Dynamics from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
During the first post-Idi Amin national elections in Uganda in 1980, Kiyonga participated as a candidate on the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM) platform. He won in his constituency, making him the only UPM candidate who won during those elections.
He joined the National Resistance Movement (NRM) during its struggle against the second Milton Obote regime from 1981 until 1986.
From 1986, when the NRM assumed power in Uganda, until 2006, when he was appointed as Minister of Defense, Crispus Kiyonga held several cabinet and non-cabinet posts in the Ugandan government:
After the bush war in 1986 – 1986 he was appointed Minister for Cooperatives & Marketing;1986 – 1992: Minister of Finance – Credited with the establishment of the Uganda Revenue Authority;1994 – 1996: Minister of Internal Affairs [1996 – 2001: Minister of Health – Credited with efficient handling of the Ebola outbreak in Gulu in 2000 and Chairman of the Global Fund ;2001 – 2006: Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the President and National Political Commissar and 2006 – 2016: Minister of Defense
Between 1992 and 1994, Kiyonga left the government temporarily to serve as a consultant with the World Bank and the African Development Bank. He returned to active politics in 1994 when he was elected to the Constituent Assembly that drew up the 1995 Uganda Constitution. He continuously represented Bukonzo County West in Parliament from 1980 until 2016. In 2016, he was appointed Uganda’s Ambassador to China.
