Women’s Day: Here is a list of seven most powerful Ugandan women leaders who broke the gender ‘fence’ and became the first in their fields

There is no doubt Rebecca Kadaga, who was appointed speaker of parliament on May 19, 2011, making history as the first ever female Speaker, is one pf the most influential women in Uganda and Africa at large.

Before taking up this role, she had been the deputy Speaker since 2001, serving under Edward Ssekandi.

Kadaga was also honored with the prestigious African Influential Amazon Award 2012.

First Female vice president: Speciosa Wandira Kazibwe;

First female professor: Prof Victoria Nakiboneka Mwaka
After 12 years of heading the Geography Department at Makerere University where she first served as a teaching assistant, she made history by becoming the first ever woman professor in the country in 1991.

In 1969, Nakiboneka started out as a teacher at Luweero Secondary School, before joining  Makerere University. As a professor, she became the pioneer head of the department of Women and Gender Studies at Makerere University between 1991 and 1995 and participated in developing the curriculum at the department. She was also elected  woman MP for Luweero District 2006 – 2011.

Uganda’s first female legislator: Florence Alice Lubega ;

Florence Alice Lubega, who will make 102 years on November 5th this year, joined the Legislative Council (Legco) ,in 1957, which was formed by the colonial government in 1920, and all its five members were European.

The first Ugandan members were admitted in 1945 and by the time Lubega joined, 50 per cent of the members were Ugandan.

First Ugandan female physician: Prof Josephine Nambooze;
When she was admitted to Makerere University School of Medicine to study human medicine in the mid-1950s, she was the first female to be admitted into the school.

She finished her undergraduate degree in 1959 and went for postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom.
She returned to Uganda in 1962 to teach at Makerere University. She headed a teaching facility of Makerere University School of Public Health at Kasangati Health Centre for years.

After years of rising through the ranks and finally becoming full professor in the fields of public health and maternal and child health, she went on to serve as the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s representative to Botswana and also worked at the WHO regional office in Brazaville, Congo.

Miria Kalule Obote – First woman presidential candidate in Uganda

Miria Kalule Obote is the former first lady of Uganda, and widow of former President Milton Obote. After the ouster of Obote II in 1985, the couple went to exile in Zambia with their family.

Twenty years later, after the death of Obote, Miria Obote returned to Uganda in October, 2005.
Two months after the burial of her husband, who was the founder and leader of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC), she was elected new leader of UPC and its presidential candidate for the 2006 General Election.

She was 70 years old at the time she became the first ever female presidential candidate.
Prior to becoming the UPC flag bearer in 2005, she criticised President Museveni’s government for causing the collapse of co-operative movement that had financially liberated many people during Obote’s reign.

She also asked Ugandans to forgive her late husband’s mistakes. She made efforts to pacify UPC which had been experiencing internal wars.
Such is the way she inadvertently stole the hearts of UPC supporters who hoisted her to the helm of the party.

Dr Lydia Mungherera – First female president of Uganda Medical Association and first black woman to hold the position

Many thought her journey had come to an end in 1997,when she was brought back to Uganda from a South African hospital to die given that her CD4 count was at five. In the medical world, a CD4 count of 200 among HIV patients is dangerous

Surprisingly, she was started on ARV treatment and made a recovery and in 1998, she started working in communities struck heavily by HIV/Aids, where she fought for women, since most of the existing programs targeted men,leaving the women to suffer silently.

In 2000, when Dr Lydia Mungherera was elected the president of Uganda Medical Association, she was the first woman to hold that position in the 65-year history of the body. In 2013, when she becme the president of the World Medical Association, she was the first black woman to hold that position.

When asked who she represented, Mungherera had a consistent response, “I represent women all over the world. I represent women in Africa. I especially represent women in my home country, Uganda.”

With the resources and knowledge available to her as a medical doctor, Dr Mungherera did not not just represent women, but also pulled her own weight in this multi-billion dollar fight. She co-founded Uganda Cares in Masaka, a district that Uganda AIDS Commission has once referred to as “the epicenter of the epidemic in Uganda.” Uganda Cares offers free anti-retroviral drugs to people living with HIV, in addition to medical support.

The Mungherera name had become a household name in the medical profession. They were  four doctors in the family,but behind their success was Dr Lydia Mungherera, a mother of six who passed on in 2017 at the age of 59.

Having recently been promoted to Lt Gen ,Proscovia Nalweyiso , can be referred to as the highest ranking female army officer in the history of Uganda, East Africa and likely the whole of Africa.

She joined the rebel outfit National Resistance Army (NRA) in 1982 when she was only 28. In 1983, soon after joining the NRA Bush War, Nalweyiso became the first commandant of the female wing.  In 2011, she was promoted to the rank of Brigadier and in 2017, she was promoted to Major General.