Hon Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire the former Minister of Education and Sports has on Saturday, September 14, passed on according to information reaching our news desk.
Mrs Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire 78, was born on July 17, 1941.
The former long-serving minister of education and sports Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire is hospitalized at Nairobi hospital in neighbouring Kenya and remains in a critical condition, a source says.
Bitamaziire, who served as education minister from 1979 until 1980 and later from 2005 until 2011, was rushed to Nairobi hospital on Tuesday after developing serious stomach aches and hysteria.
She was first admitted at Kadic hospital in Kampala two months ago but her condition kept on deteriorating.
The former woman MP of Mpigi district remained ill until she was flown to Nairobi hospital this week for further treatment.
She is the current Chancellor of Uganda Management Institute (UMI).
Bitamazire attended Trinity College Nabbingo for her high school education. She went on to obtain a Diploma in education from Makerere University in 1964. She followed that with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967 and a Master of Arts degree in 1987, both from Makerere University.
From 1971 to 1973, she served as a director of the East African Harbors Corporation, part of the first East African Community. She also served as the headteacher of the Tororo Girls School from 1971 to 1974.
From 1974 to 1979, she served as a senior education officer in Uganda’s Ministry of Education and Sports. In 1979, she was appointed minister of education, serving in that capacity until 1980.
From 1981 until 1996, Bitamazire was the deputy chairperson of the Teaching Service Commission. She was appointed as minister of state for education in 1999, serving in that capacity until 2005, when she was appointed minister of education and sports. In 2010, Mpigi District was split into three parts; Butambala District, Gomba District, and the smaller Mpigi District of today.
During the 2011 national elections, Bitamazire was defeated in the primaries by Mariam Nalubega, also of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) political party, in Butambala District. In the cabinet reshuffle of 27 May 2011, Bitamazire was dropped from the cabinet and was replaced by Jessica Alupo.
Bitamazire currently serves as the chancellor of the Uganda Management Institute, a public, degree-awarding, tertiary institution of higher education, with accreditation equivalent to a university.
