Who is Specioza Wandira Kazibwe? Flash Uganda Media looks at her biography, age, husband, family, tribe, relationship with Engineer Charles Kazibwe, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, President Idi Amin Dada, Makerere University, early life and education of the first female vice president of Africa and former Vice President of Uganda.
Specioza Naigaga Wandira Kazibwe is the first female vice president of Africa. She was the first woman in Africa to serve as vice-president of a sovereign state while serving as Uganda’s sixth vice president from 1994 to 2003.
Dr Specioza Kazibwe is also a Ugandan surgeon.
Early Life and Education
Specioza Naigaga Wandira Kazibwe was born on July 1, 1954, in Iganga District, Eastern Uganda.
Kazibwe filed for divorce from her spouse in April 2002, claiming that she would no longer tolerate domestic abuse. Although divorce is uncommon in Uganda, polygamy and wife bashing are rather frequent.
Her husband opposed the divorce, arguing that his wife had united with some other politicians he did not like and had returned home late without providing a sufficient explanation. He also cited his Catholic faith in support of his position.
On May 21, 2003, Kazibwe requested permission to resign from her role in government because she found it difficult to fulfil her political obligations while managing the complicated divorce case.
Her ex-husband Engineer Charles Kazibwe passed on in 2013.
From her first marriage, she has had four children in total, including twins, and she has also adopted a number of others.
She attended Mount Saint Mary’s College Namagunga, a prominent all-girls residential high school connected to the Catholic Church, which is situated close to the town of Lugazi on the Kampala-Jinja Highway.
In 1974, she enrolled in Makerere University School of Medicine and completed her studies, earning a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree in 1979.
Later, she graduated with a Master of Medicine degree from the Makerere University Medical School with a focus in General Surgery.
In 2009, she received her Doctor of Science (SD) degree from the Department of Population and International Health at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Career and Professional Work Experience
From 1975 to 1976, at Makerere University in Kampala, Specioza Wandira Kazibwe started her political career as the Chairperson of Chairpersons of Halls of Residence which was the equivalent of the University Guild President before it was disbanded by then President Idi Amin Dada.
She later joined the Ugandan Democratic Party’s youth and women’s wings. In 1987, while running for the National Resistance Movement (NRM), she won her first election as a village official.
Later, she was chosen to serve as the district’s women’s representative for Kampala, and she was appointed chair of the committee that advised Museveni’s election campaign.
In 1989, she was named Deputy Minister for Industry, a position she held until 1991 when she first started working for President Yoweri Museveni’s administration.
From 1991 to 1994, she held the position of Minister for Community Development and Gender Equality. She participated in the Constitution Assembly which wrote the new constitution for Uganda in 1994.
She was chosen as a member of parliament in 1996 representing the Kigulu South district of Iganga. From 1994 to 2003, Specioza Wandira Kazibwe held the positions of vice president and minister of agriculture, zoo technology, and fisheries for Uganda.
Achievements and Awards
For women in their situation in Africa, Kazibwe has acted as an advocate. In 1998, she co-founded the African Women’s Committee on Peace and Development (AWCPD), which she has led, along with the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
AWCPD’s goal is to make it easier for women to participate in the continent’s peace and development initiatives.
Additionally, Dr Kazibwe has served as the chairman or a member of several national interest groups, such as:
- The Senior Women’s Environmental Advisory Group
- Women Entrepreneurs Association of Uganda Limited
- The Association of Women Doctors in Uganda
- Uganda’s Agri-Energy Roundtable (AER/U)
On November 25, 1991, at the Kampala Sheraton, Kazibwe presided over the AER/inaugural Uganda meetings. She also had a prominent position on the AER’s Committee of Honor for a number of years.
She received the “Ceres Medal” from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1998 for her “contribution to food security and poverty eradication.”
On April 13, 2015, Dr Specioza Wandira Kazibwe challenged Africa’s ministries of health to become true stewards of the health sector instead of ministries of disease when she attended the Champions’ re-launch in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Controversies
Due to her “outrageous” background, it should go without saying that Ugandans on Twitter will not support the former vice president in her bid to succeed Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as head of the African Union Commission.
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