Bank of Uganda Governor, Prof. Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, has died this Sunday morning at Nairobi Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. He was 72 years of age.
Mutebile has been in and out of hospital in recent years. A fortnight ago, Mutebile was rushed to Nakasero Hospital in Kampala in critical condition. He was later evacuated to Nairobi hospital for emergency attention.
Family members confirmed Mutebile’s death which occurred at 5:30am. BoU is yet to issue a statement on the matter. Mutebile has served as Governor and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Uganda since 2001 to date.
A seasoned professional economist and reformer, he spearheaded the design and implementation of the Economic Reform Program that restored Uganda from the economic crises of the 1970s and 1980s to sound economic performance during his service as the Permanent Secretary/Secretary to the Treasury in the ministry responsible for finance, planning, and economic development.
He is credited with many of the sound economic policies adopted by the Uganda government at the urging of the central bank during the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s.
In 1970, he entered Makerere University, where he was elected president of the university Students’ Guild.
He was forced to flee Uganda in 1972 after he gave a speech publicly criticizing the expulsion of Asians from the country by Idi Amin.
He worked as a consultant for multilateral and regional organizations including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of East and Central Africa, UK Department for International Development, the North South Institute in Canada, and for the governments of Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Eritrea, and Nepal.
He was a member of the High Level Panel of the UNDP for the production of the Human Development Report of the UNDP; the Management Group for overseeing the evaluation of the implementation of the Comprehensive Development Framework of the World Bank in 2001; and the High Level Panel of Eminent Persons to advise the President of the African Development Bank on the strategic future of the African Development Bank in 2006.
He holds Fellowships of the World Bank Institute, and Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.
He was educated at Makerere University, Durham University, and Oxford University.
He is an Honorary Professor of Makerere University, an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy of Nkumba University, a Companion of the Commonwealth Partnership for Technology Management (CPTM), and a Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) of Bishop Stuart University.
Makerere University honoured him with the establishment of the Prof. Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile Chair of Monetary Policy, Banking and Finance.
