President Yoweri Museveni has lauded the recently departed Bank of Uganda (BOU) Governor

“I am deeply saddened by the passing of the Bank of Uganda Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile. Mutebile was an exceptional economist; a humble servant whose acumen and perspectives on economic matters were singular,” he said in his condolence message posted on Twitter Monday afternoon.

Museveni added that Mutebile, the ninth central bank governor since Uganda got her independence and also the longest serving governor, will forever be appreciated for stewarding the economy across the high seas of financial challenges continually besetting the nation.

“My heartfelt condolences to the family and all his relations. May God grant his soul eternal rest,” Museveni said.

A provisional programme for the burial of the late Governor of Bank of Uganda, Prof. Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, has been released.

Museveni's tweets a condolence message for the late governor Pulse Live Uganda

The programme says the remains of the late Mutebile will be flown back into the country tomorrow, the governor having passed away at 5:30am on Sunday morning at Nairobi Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.

After the remains are in the country, there shall be a vigil at the deceased’s home in Kololo on Wednesday evening and thereafter there shall be a special session memorialising the deceased in Parliament on Thursday starting at 10:00 am.

After that, there will be an official funeral at Kololo Independence Grounds beginning at 10:00 am on Friday and then the body will be flown to Kabale on Sunday.

After which, there will then be a funeral service and burial in Kabale on Monday, 31st, 2022.

Tributes have been pouring in across the country as Ugandans mourn the fallen governor.

The Commissioner General of Prisons, Dr.Johnson Byabashaija, said, “Mutebile was very astute…May his soul rest in peace.”

The leader of the National Unity Platform (NUP) Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine, has said the life of Prof. Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile was a shining example to the rest of Ugandans. However, Kyagulanyi added, he was let down by an inefficient and corrupt government.

“We for example recall Prof. Mutebile publicly speaking of how he was misled by the regime to fund the 2011 elections! We also recall the scandals that rocked the Bank of Uganda in recent years, leading to loss of billions of taxpayers’ money,” said Kyagulanyi in a statement.

Anita Among, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, eulogised Mutebile as a remarkable leader.

“We shall hold onto his legacy of dedication to the service of his country,” she said.

Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile attended Kigezi College Butobere for his O-Level studies. He then attended Makerere College School in Kampala for his A-Level studies.

In 1970, he attended Makerere University, where he was elected guild president.

He was forced to flee Uganda in 1972 after he gave a speech publicly criticizing the expulsion of Asians from the country by Idi Amin.

Travelling to England through Tanzania, he completed his studies at Durham University, graduating with an upper-second in Economics and Politics.

In October 1974, he began his post-graduate studies at Balliol College, Oxford university. After completing that course, he enrolled at the University of Dar es Salaam to lecture and conduct research while pursuing his doctorate in economics.

Museveni remembers Mutebile Pulse Live Uganda

Between the years 1979 and 1984, Tumusiime-Mutebile was appointed to several government positions in Uganda ranging from deputy principal secretary to the president at State House in 1979, to undersecretary in the ministry of planning in 1981 where he rose to senior economist and then chief economist in 1984.

In 1992, he was appointed permanent secretary to the newly combined ministry of finance planning & economic development, a merger that he had advocated while working under Minister of Finance,

He is the longest serving chief executive in the Bank of Uganda's history. He is credited with many of the sound economic policies adopted by the Uganda government at the urging of the central bank during the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s.