Who is Martin Andi Drito? Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, wife, family, tribe, achievements, and relationship with Joseph Kyazze, Adila Ali Ghazi, Igara East County MP Michael Mawanda, Drito Motors, Drito Construction, Drito Oil, and Drito Logistics, Drito Global Corporation Limited, and the early life and education of the founder and CEO of the Drito Group of Companies.
Martin Andi Drito sometimes referred to as Martin Andrew Drito is a Ugandan economist, businessman, entrepreneur, and politician.
He was a former Member of Parliament for Madi-Okollo County, Arua District representing the National Resistance Movement party.
Martin Drito is also the Managing Director and CEO of Drito Global Corporation Limited, which he established and owns.
Early Life and Education
Martin Andi Drito was born on June 15, 1957, in Arua, Uganda’s West Nile region.
From 1963 until 1969, he attended Ezuku Primary School for his primary studies.
From 1970 to 1973, he went to Old Kampala Secondary School where he completed his O-Level studies.
He then enrolled at St. Joseph’s College in Namilyango in 1974 and completed his A-Level studies there in 1975.
He earned a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Applied Economics degree from the University of East London in 1987.
He also obtained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Conakry in Guinea, West Africa, in 2010.
Drito is married to Rosemary Drito, and together they have four children.
Career and Professional Work Experience
Martin Andi Drito founded two companies in 1992: Drito Global Corporation and Nile Trading Corporation. Both companies are involved in mining, mineral processing, wood development, and logging.
He is the managing director and managing director of both enterprises, which have offices in Kampala’s central business centre at Workers House on Pilkington Road.
Martin Drito worked as an advisor to the President of Guinea on mining policy and execution from 1998 to 2004.
In 2011, he was elected to the parliamentary seat of Madi-Okollo County in Arua District. He succeeded John Arimadri, a sober and reliable debater in the Seventh and Eighth Parliaments.
Drito was elected to the Ugandan Parliament for the first time in 1996. He also formerly worked as the National Resistance Movement’s Secretary for Political Affairs.
Between 2011 and 2016, he was a member of Uganda’s Parliament, serving on the Natural Resources and Budget Committees.
In the 2016 parliamentary elections, he lost his parliamentary seat.
Drito Martin Andi ran as an independent candidate for Constituency Representative (MP) – Upper Madi in the 2021 General Elections. He was however defeated in the elections by Etuka Isaac Joakino of the National Resistance Movement.
Achievements and Awards
Martin Drito is the founder and CEO of the Drito Group of Companies, which includes Drito Motors, Drito Construction, Drito Oil, and Drito Logistics.
He is also the founder and chairman of the Drito Foundation, a non-profit organisation that provides educational and health services to Arua’s residents.
He is a life member of several international gold groups. He also frequently contributes significantly to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
He was believed to be one of Uganda’s wealthiest people in 2007. Drito drives a Jaguar, a Mercedes S-Class, and a Lexus, all of which have personalised licence plates.
Controversies
Martin Drito was beaten up by a mob in Arua town in 2004 when his Lexus-LX crashed into six kiosks, knocked down a bodaboda rider, and hit a mango tree.
The driver of the car, which had a personalised registration number plate, allegedly ran off, leaving the tycoon in the hands of the mob.
The mobile Police unit retrieved Drito. The mob broke the car windscreen with hammers, axes, and stones while the police protected Drito. Nine individuals were admitted to Arua Hospital.
In July 2020, the Constitutional Court denied Kenneth Adrapi’s request to dismiss an election petition he filed roughly eight years ago against former Madi-Okollo County Member of Parliament Martin Andrew Drito on the grounds that it had been overtaken by events.
Natukunda, who was presenting a brief for Joseph Kyazze, informed the Judges that she was told to abandon the case since their law firm had lost contact with their client and Drito was no longer a legislator.
The judges, however, objected to the proposal, claiming that the petition presents major constitutional interpretation issues notwithstanding the fact that it was brought against an individual.
Adrapi, who filed the lawsuit against the Electoral Commission and the Attorney General in 2013, requested the court to remove Drito from Parliament for failing to meet the required academic requirements prior to his candidature ahead of the 2011 elections.
Adrapi had contended that there was a potential that Drito had faked academic papers because there were differences in the order of the names in his paperwork.
He further said that because Drito was born in 1965, he was able to complete Primary, Secondary, and Advanced level studies by the end of 1973. Adrapi based his case on the documents Drito gave to the Electoral Commission for his nominations.
According to court documents, on September 5, 2012, the then-Executive Director of the National Council for Higher Education, Prof A.B.K Kasozi, wrote that the certificate designed to approve Drito’s academic qualifications had been provided in error.
Kasozi stated that because Drito owned an East African Advanced level certificate received in Uganda, he was exempt from obtaining a certificate of formal education of advanced level grade or its equivalent under the Parliamentary Elections Act.
As a result, Adrapi petitioned the court to establish that Drito lacked the basic academic qualifications to continue serving as a legislator because the certificate he used for nomination was revoked.
Martin Drito Andi was sued in September 2020 by Adila Ali Ghazi for allegedly failing to pay USD 14,390 (53.2 million shillings) in rent arrears. Drito allegedly neglected to pay rent for a flat in Munyonyo, a Kampala neighbourhood, between November 2019 and August 2020.
This wasn’t the first time Drito was sued for allegedly failing to pay the money owed to others.
Centenary Bank sued him and Igara East County MP Michael Mawanda in 2016 for failing to repay a loan of 102.8 million and 50.8 million shillings, respectively.
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