Specioza Kazibwe

Specioza Naigaga Wandira Kazibwe (maiden name Specioza Naigaga) (born 1 July 1955) was the elected Vice President of Uganda, serving from 1994 until 2003, being the first woman in Africa to hold that position. She first began serving the administration of Yoweri Museveni in 1989, when she was appointed Deputy Minister for Industry. In from 1991 to 1994, she was Minister for Gender and Community Development. Dr. Kazibwe was born 1 July 1995 in the Iganga District of Eastern Uganda. She studied medicine at Makerere University in Kampala. She has four children from her first husband and has adopted several other children.

Dr. Kazibwe began her political career as a member of the youth and women's wings of the Ugandan Democratic Party, and won her first election as a village leader as a member of the Museveni led National Resistance Movement (NRM) in th early 1980s. She was later elected Women's Representative for the Kampala District and became Chairperson of the Advisory Committee for Museveni's election campaign in 1986. In the NRM government, Kazibwe served as Deputy Minister for Industry from 1989 to 1991, as Minister for Gender and Community Development and as Vice-President and Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries from 1994 until 2003. She was a member of the Constitution Assembly which drafted Uganda's new constitution in 1994, and in 1996, she was elected Member of Parliament for the constituency of Kigulu South in the Iganga District.

Dr. Kazibwe has been an advocate for women in their position in Africa. In collaboration with the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, she founded the African Women Committee on Peace and Development (AWCDP) in 1998 to help enable women's participation in peace and development processes on the continent, an organization which she has chaired. Dr. Kazibwe has also been chair or a member of various national interest groups, including the Senior Women's Advisory Group on the Environment, the Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited, and the Uganda Women Doctors Association. In 1998, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) awarded her the "Ceres Medal" for her "contribution to food security and poverty eradication".

Divorce and resignation

In April 2002, Dr. Kazibwe filed for divorce from her husband, saying that she refused to be the victim of continued domestic violence. Wife beating is relatively common in Uganda, as well as polygamy, but divorce is relatively rare. Mr. Kazibwe opposed the divorce, citing his Catholic faith, and saying that his wife had come home late without giving a proper explanation, and had joined with some other politicians he did not like [http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1226/p01s04-woaf.html] . Finding it difficult to perform her political duties and deal with the increasingly messy divorce case, on Wednesday, May 21, 2003, Dr. Kazibwe stepped down from her positions in government, asking to be allowed to continue her studies. She is currently pursuing a doctorate at Harvard in the Department of Population and International Health. In March 2007, Dr. Kazibwe married prominent Ugandan businessman and long term boyfriend Habib Kagimu.

References

* [http://www.kituochakatiba.co.ug/specioza.htm Profile at the website of Kituo Cha Katiba: East African Centre for Constitutional Development as a part of the Makerere University Faculty of Law]
* [http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1226/p01s04-woaf.html "In Uganda, a woman can be VP but have few rights] by Rachel Sheier in the December 26, 2003 of the Christian Science Monitor