Former Agriculture Minister Matyansi Ngobi Dead

The former Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Matyansi Ngobi has died.

Ngobi 97 passed away on Tuesday night from his home in Namulesa cell, Northern division, Jinja City.

His death was announced by the family’s close friend who doubles as the Uganda Tourism Board chairman, Daudi Migereko.

Migereko says that Ngobi was an exemplary leader, whose legacy stretches out to future generations.

“We have lost a brilliant, hardworking and admirable leader, whose legacy of selfless and dependable leadership will be cherished forever,” he says. 

While eulogizing the deceased, Benon Kigenyi, a close friend of the family says that Ngobi was a humble leader in society.

“Ngobi was known for his love for class, his house overlooking the Jinja golf course remains a signature piece of art. He was a deeply religious person and was head of the laity in the catholic diocese of Jinja, yet his humility never let many know that he was the captain of the Gregorian Knight order in the church,” Kigenyi said.

Ngobi was born to the late, Luliana Naisanga and Michael Isabirye in Bulogo village, in Namwendwa sub county, in Kamuli district on August 17 1924.

He went to Kamuli Lubaga for his primary education, before joining Namilyango college where he studied from S.1-S.4. He later joined Makerere College (present-day Makerere University), where he graduated with a diploma in cooperatives. 

 In 1954, Ngobi participated in the formation of Busoga Growers’ Cooperative Union, an entity believed to have boosted household incomes within the Busoga sub-region between the 1960s and the early 1990s, before its’ eventual collapse in the early 2000s.

Ngobi also participated in the Lancaster conference of 1958 which negotiated the ushering in of Uganda’s independence. He served in the country’s maiden cabinet as the first agriculture and cooperatives minister in the mid-1960s.

He was, however, arrested over the infamous gold scandal in the 1960s, only to be released after the 1971 coup.



Ngobi later assumed a humble life and served as the general manager of the then, Madhivani corporation between 1972-1977, before fleeing into exile. He later returned to serve as a minister in both the late Yusuf Lule and Godfrey Binaisa governments.

Ngobi again rose to prominence after the fall of the Obote II government when he joined the constituency assembly as a representative for the Busoga North constituency.  Ngobi who has died three years shy of a century has for long suffered from several ailments.