Who is Badru Kiggundu? Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, wife, family, tribe, achievements, and relationship with the late Hajji Yonus Luswa, the late Hajati Kabugo Namatovu, Hajat Noor Kibirige, Justice Simon Byabakama, and the early life and education of the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of Uganda’s National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC).
Prof. Eng Badru Malimbo Kiggundu, also known as Badru Kiggundu, is a Ugandan civil engineer, academician, and consultant.
Kiggundu is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Uganda’s National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC).
He is also the former chairman of Uganda’s Electoral Commission, having served for 14 years in a row.
Early Life and Education
Badru Kiggundu was born in Butambala, Uganda in 1945 to the late Hajji Yonus Luswa, who died in 1997, and the late Hajati Kabugo Namatovu, who died in 2006.
Kiggundu is one of Hajji Luswa’s 23 children, three of whom have died. He is a Muslim by faith.
He studied his primary education at Kabasanda Primary School.
He then transferred to Kibuli Secondary School to complete his O-Level studies.
Kiggundu received a full scholarship from the government of Buganda in late 1964 to pursue his A-Level studies at Nabumali High School in Mbale District, where he finished in 1965.
Another scholarship enabled him to attend the University of New Mexico, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering.
He completed his studies at Carnegie Mellon University, where he earned a Master of Science in civil engineering in 1971.
He then earned a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of New Mexico in 1981.
Career and Professional Work Experience
From 1971 to 1977, Badru Kiggundu worked as an engineer and executive with the National Housing and Construction Company, a government parastatal, where he was in charge of the construction of roads.
After finishing his doctoral studies in 1981, he was hired as a research scientist by the University of New Mexico, where he worked for six years.
In 1987, he was employed as a research programme manager and Assistant Professor in civil engineering at Auburn University in Alabama, USA. He held that position until 1988 when he returned to Uganda.
Kiggundu returned to Uganda in 1988 and worked in the private construction industry for two and a half years. Makerere University hired him as an academic staff member in the Department of civil engineering in 1991. In 1993, he was then promoted to the position of department head.
He was Dean of the Faculty of Technology from 1999 to 2002. He left Makerere in 2002 as an Associate Professor and was named Chairman of the Electoral Commission that same year.
Kiggundu presided over the Uganda Electoral Commission for fourteen years, overseeing three general elections in 2006, 2011 and 2016.
He was succeeded as Chairman of the Electoral Commission by Simon Byabakama following his contract expiry in November 2016.
Engineer Kiggundu was appointed by Uganda’s president to chair a seven-member committee in August 2016 to oversee the completion of two hydroelectric power projects that were under construction at the time: the 600-megawatt Karuma Hydroelectric Power Station and the 183-megawatt Isimba Hydroelectric Power Station.
Achievements and Awards
Kiggundu is the chairman of the presidential select committee in charge of overseeing the successful completion of both the Isimba and Karuma hydroelectric power stations.
Family Life
Badru Kiggundu is married to three consorts and the father of eleven children.
Kiggundu married Hajat Noor Kibirige in 1973, whom he met in Kampala but travelled with to the United States while pursuing his PhD.
Kibirige never returned to Kampala. She stayed in the United States with her four children, two of whom were born in the country making them American citizens.
After his divorce from Kibirige, Kiggundu married another Ugandan lady in 1983, who is his current first wife.
Many of Kiggundu’s offspring have graduated from various disciplines including law, information technology, and banking.
Controversies
Many opposition politicians and civil society groups accused Kiggundu of being biased in favour of President Museveni during his 14 years as Chairman of the Electoral Commission.
The presidential election results of Uganda were challenged in the Supreme Court in 2006 and 2016, but in both cases, the Court ruled in favour of the incumbent president, Yoweri Museveni.
As Kiggundu stepped down from the Electoral Commission on November 17, 2016, he left a mixed legacy, with some thinking he did a fantastic job amidst gruelling challenges and others considering him the worst Electoral Commission chairperson to have presided over some of Uganda’s most flawed elections.
As a result, he challenged his successor, Justice Simon Byabakama, to fix the mistakes he made in prior elections. That was Byabakama’s vow to Uganda when he took government, according to Kiggundu.
The death rumour concerning Eng. Badru quickly propagated on social media in 2021, causing popular outrage.
According to a local news source, Kiggundu died at Case Clinic in Kampala, where he had been hospitalised for a couple of days due to Covid-19.
When reached subsequently, Eng Kiggundu informed the country that he was still alive and well. As a result, he urged the public not to act on information provided by malicious individuals with the objective of causing panic.
Editor’s Note: Please contact flashugnews@gmail.com if you find any of the content to be inaccurate or outdated.
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