Who is Raphael Magyezi? Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, wife, family, tribe, Igara County West, Bushenyi district, Age Limit Bill, early life and education of the current cabinet minister for Local government in Uganda.
Raphael Magyezi is a politician in Uganda. He is the current cabinet minister for Local government. He was designated by the president in 2020 after the Presidential age limit bill was successfully approved.
He is the former Igara County West’s representative in parliament for two terms where he ran as the National Resistance Movement (NRM) flag bearer.
Early Life and Education
Raphael Magyezi Masanza was born in Kyamuhunga, Bushenyi district, Western Uganda on July 27, 1960.
Magyezi is a Munyakole by tribe as both his parents Raphael and Regina were born and raised in Ankole. His mother Regina Tibaingana passed on in May 2008. Magyezi is married to Maureen Magyezi and they have three daughters.
He spent his early years in Bushenyi growing up with his parents and siblings. He also started his academic career here.
Magyezi went to Kyamuhunga Primary School for his primary education.
In 1983, he enrolled in Diploma Katigondo Seminary for Religious Studies. He graduated with a BSc in Philosophy from the Urban University of Rome in 1984 and a BS in Business from the National College of Business Studies in Nakawa in 1990.
In 1992, he enrolled at Makerere University to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in statistics, and in 1996, he received a Certificate in Human Resource Management. He also received his M.A. in Economics and Management in 1998 from the same institution.
He enrolled in a diploma programme in local government management studies in 2004 at Diploma Kristiansand College in Norway.
Career and Professional Work Experience
From 1991 until 1996, Raphael Magyezi was employed by the Mukono District Local Government as a statistics planner.
Between 1997 and 1998, he served as Senior Economist in the Ministry of Local Government, and between 1998 and 2010, he served as Secretary General of the Uganda Local Governments Association.
Magyezi ran in the general elections of 2011 and won the seat of Member of Parliament for Igara West, where he served for two terms from 2011 – 2016 and then 2016 – 2021.
In 2019, President Yoweri Museveni selected him as the Minister for Local Government in the Ugandan Cabinet.
After serving in politics for ten years as a Member of Parliament, Magyezi refused to run in the 2021 elections. He announced to the Uganda Radio Network that he could do so in the future. Magyezi did not specify why he was taking a sabbatical.
Achievements and Awards
Raphael Magyezi submitted a mission that recommitted a motion made by the legislature to permit press freedom and enable the media access to the chambers.
He advocated for the construction of the Uganda Local Government Association (ULGA) House in Najjanankumbi along Entebbe road.
Having sponsored the Private Members Bill in 2017, he introduced a Private Member Bill to modify the Ugandan constitution to remove the presidential age limit of seventy-five years in Uganda.
The bill was authorised by the Legal Committee for discussion, and the amendment was affirmed by the Constitutional Court. In recognition of the constitutional amendment, the President appointed him as the Local Government Minister in 2019.
Controversies
Raphael Magyezi is the inventor of the unpopular constitutional Amendment Bill No. 2, often known as the Age Limit Bill.
The law was approved on December 20 and received the president’s approval on January 2; as a result, the presidential age limits were essentially removed.
Magyezi who filed the motion on September 27, 2017, received both praise and criticism for doing so as he was appointed as the Minister for Local Government and was referred to as a traitor by the opposers of the bill.
Editor’s Note: Please contact flashugnews@gmail.com if you find any of the content to be inaccurate or outdated.
