Draft:Joseph Mary Mubiru

Joseph Mary Mubiru (1929–1972) was a prominent Ugandan economist and banker. He served as the first Governor of Bank of Uganda, the country's central bank, and played a key role in developing the banking sector in Uganda and beyond following independence from British colonial rule.

Childhood and education

Mubiru was born on January 29, 1929, in Bweeyo village, Villa Maria Parish, in Kalungu sub-county, which was then part of the Masaka district (now part of the Kalungu district). After completing his primary school studies at Villa Maria Primary School (1938-43), before joining St. Thomas Major Seminary Bukalasa from 1951 to 1952. Among his contemporaries at the seminary were Emmanuel Wamala (former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kampala from 1990 to 2006), Paul Kalanda (former Roman Catholic Bishop of Moroto Diocese from 1980 to 1991 and of Fort Portal from 1991 to 2003) and Charles Kimbowa (a Monsignor and one of the longest serving Ugandan priests at the time of his death), and others.

After leaving Katigondo, he received a scholarship to study economics from 1954 to 1959 at the University of Kerala, Trivandrum, India, where he received a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree in Economics. It was there that he met Adoko Nekyon (Uganda's first minister of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism), and other Ugandan students most of whom later became important people.

Upon completion of his studies in India, he was awarded a US-government scholarship administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE) to pursue graduate studies at New York University from 1959 to 1962, earning a Master of Arts degree in Economics.

Work and Experience

After returning to Africa in 1963, Mubiru joined the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he briefly served as an Economic Affairs Officer before taking up a position as Assistant Secretary to the Committee of Nine for the establishment of the African Development Bank between 1963 and 1964.

He returned to Uganda in 1964, after which he joined the National and Pilot Displays Bank in Masaka. He then moved to the Uganda Savings and Credit institution in Kampala, where he soon became the head. Later, he was tasked with transforming the institution into the Uganda Commercial Bank, for which he served as its first Managing Director in 1965.

After Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania became independent from the British Empire, the East African Currency Board was replaced by the Bank of Uganda, Central Bank of Kenya and Bank of Tanzania. Mubiru was Chairman of the Committee for the Establishment of Uganda's Central Bank, and became the bank's first governor in 1966. He oversaw the bank's first issuance of the country's own national currency. Prior to this, monetary policy had been handled by the East African Currency Board, headquartered in Kenya.

Mubiru, who was also a founding member of the Uganda Institute of Bankers and a fellow of both the Institute of Bankers and the International Bankers Association, oversaw the construction of the current Bank of Uganda building on Kampala Road.

Mubiru's contract with Bank of Uganda ended in 1971, following which he began working with the Madhvani Group, the largest conglomerate in Uganda at the time. He was appointed Advisor to the African Department of the International Monetary Fund, but before he could take up the job, he was abducted by armed men and disappeared under unclear circumstances.

Legacy

The Bank of Uganda organizes the Annual Joseph Mary Mubiru Memorial Lecture. The lecture series features leading personalities who discuss topical issues related to economics and finance. The lectures are open to the public and are an opportunity for attendees to learn from experts in the field and engage in discussions on current economic and financial issues.