Balaam Barugahara minister children and youth affairs

Mateke, who is the current Woman Member of Parliament of Kisoro District, had been in the position since 2021 and is the wife of Philemon Mateke, a former MP and minister.

Though he has never run for office, Balaam Barugahara, a shrewd businessman, has been heavily involved in political mobilisation, especially for President Yoweri Museveni and recently his son, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba who has also shown presidential ambitions.

Gen. Kainerugaba, who is now the chief of defence forces, is the chairman of the Patriotic League of Uganda where Barugahara is the vice chairperson for Western Uganda.

Who is Balaam Barugahara?

According to publicly available information, Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi was born on July 28, 1979, to the late Eng. David Balaam Byenkya Akiiki and Gladesi Byenkya Abwooli.

Reports indicate that he has four kids though he rarely appears with them in public. Barugahara is said to have attended Namasagali College, St. John Bosco Senior Secondary School, and Original Progressive Senior Secondary School before joining Makerere University for a Bachelor of Commerce (majoring in Marketing) and later a Master of Business Administration at Cavendish University.

On February 21, 2023, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in humanity from Zoe Life Theological College, USA for changing and impacting the lives of Ugandans.

Balaam Barugahara is said to be the owner of several companies, including Original Best Water company (South Sudan), Radio One in South Sudan (the first privately owned media house in South Sudan, started in 2009), Balaam Marketing Agency, Radio 4 (Kampala), Radio 7 (Masindi), Radio 8 (Masaka) and Radio 8 (Elgon Region).

Joel Isabirye, a media consultant and friend of Balaam once revealed that Balaam started organising events when he was in high school.

Isabirye also revealed that he was a distributor for Coca-Cola and also sold spirits from Uganda Breweries and MTN products in South Sudan. His first big concert was that he organised for Juliana Kanyomozi.

Balaam Barugahara is involved in real estate, farming, manufacturing, tourism, and car rentals. In the Facebook post talking about Balaam, Isabirye said he got involved with NRM large in 2015 ahead of the 2016 elections to coordinate musicians and promotional campaigns. Before this, he had been friends with NRM leaders Dan Kidega, Richard Todwong, and Nuru Byamukama whom he helped with events in their constituencies.