Local leaders, both present and former all heaped praises on the deceased describing him as a pillar of unity who supported the health and education sector in the district.
Kasese
District leaders have paid tribute to the late Deputy Minister of Culture and
Community Development in Obote I regime Bwambale Ezron Mbethe.
Mbethe died
on January 5 at Kagando hospital in Kasese after spending a couple of years bedridden.
During a
special council sitting held on Friday, Jolly Kateba, the Lake Katwe, and Katwe
female district councilor moved a motion to pay tribute to Bwamable who was the
first Mukhonzo Minister.
Local leaders,
both present and former all heaped praises on the deceased describing him as a
pillar of unity who supported the health and education sector in the district.
The Kasese LCV Chairperson Eliphazi Muhindi Bukombi says that they resolved to
name a proposed market in Kinyamaseka town council after Mbethe. He also said that one of the roads in the
district will be named after the deceased Bwambale in recognition of his works
in Bukonzo.
Muhindi hailed Bwambale as a dedicated man that focused greatly on
extending services to his people while he served in government.
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Grevasious Bwambale representing workers in Kasese District Council described
the former leader as a selfless and visionary leader. He asked the leaders in
the region to emulate his attributes.
Bwamable
also called leaders in the district to compel the government to revamp Mubuku
Irrigation Scheme in memory of Mbethe.
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The Busongora South MP, Gideon Mujungu Thembo describes the late as a visionary
leader who supported the development of many ventures including Kagando Hospital
that remains significant to the community.
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Barnabus Bamusede Bwambale, the Chairperson Kasese District Council of Elder
Persons described the late Bwambale as a hero who sacrificed a lot to attain
education and later to became an inspiration to many Bakhonzo families who had
neglected educating their children.
He described
him as a great statesman who always stood up against colonial oppression and
sacrificed a lot to become who he was.
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Mbethe was born
December 29, 1929 in Kasesa village Ihandiro Sub County, Busongora County in
the then Tooro Kingdom, the late Bwambale grew to become the first Mukhonzo
minister in Government.
After his
primary, junior, secondary, and college studies that he completed from Kasese,
Kabarole, and Mukono districts respectively, he then became an active member of
the cooperative movement in the 1950s.
Later in
1961, he was an interim Member of Parliament for Tooro South on the Democratic
party-DP ticket, a party led by then the late Benedicto Kiwanuka.
In 1961
Bwambale was among the 110 Ugandans who participated in the September 16
constitutional conference at the Lancaster House in London, that ushered in
Uganda’s independence.
Disagreeing
with the principle of having the Kabaka as the head of state and Mengo the
electoral college for the entire country proposed by the Kabaka Yekka-YK
representatives, Bwambale and a group of other DP members joined UPC. He
was subsequently appointed a deputy minister of culture and community
development in the Obote 1 government.
His life was nearly cut short when attacked by Rwenzururu freedom fighters in
the Rwenzori mountains of Katanda accusing him of opposing minority groups from
fighting for autonomy from Tooro.
Bwambale was
beaten to near death and was picked up by the police air force and taken to
Kampala for treatment.
His
political journey however ran down after Idi Amin, ousted Obote’s government on
25th January 1971. In one incident Bwambale
is reported to have survived Amin’s men after falling into their ambush in
Katunguru.
At gunpoint
with a colleague, Bwamabale a re-known swimmer in his childhood jumped into the
Kanzinga channel and escaped.
He was later hidden by Basongora pastoralists in Nyakatonzi and later ran
to DRC and later returned home to advocate for community development.
While Uganda
celebrated its 54th Independence journey, Bwambale was recognized by President
Museveni and decorated with a medal in recognition for his contribution to the
Country.
He has since
been bedridden and living a simple life in Kinyamaseke Town Council under the
care of his wife and children most of whom are living abroad.
Late Bwambale is recognized for pioneering the creation of Kagando Hospital and
inviting Dr. Carl Baker to come and serve in the hospital.
He was also the brain behind the establishment of the National Union of Youth
Organization a training centre in Maliba Sub County. The deceased is also recalled for lobbying
for the establishment of the Mubuku settlement Irrigation scheme in 1964 and the
creation of Kasese’s oldest surviving cooperative-Nyakayonzi Cooperative Society
among others.
