All UgandaChange location

Uganda Hall of Fame

The people who shaped Uganda — what they did, and why they are remembered here. Every entry carries the sources it was written from.

Everyone here earned a place. The four levels say how far the reach went — from a contribution worth recording, up to a life without which the country’s story does not hold together. It is an editorial judgement, not an official ranking, and it is not fixed: people move up as achievements accumulate, and a placement can be reconsidered. Tell us who is missing.

We list people for what they did, not for whether they were good. Some of the figures here did great harm as well as great things — leaders who won their countries freedom and then turned on their own people, artists and champions with serious findings against them. Leaving them out would not undo any of it; it would only leave the country’s story with a hole in it. So they are here, and what is held against them is stated plainly at the top of their page, marked ⚠ Noted wherever they appear. A place in this hall is a record of significance. It is not a character reference, and it is not forgiveness.

Arrange by Level Profession

Statecraft & Independence

Yoweri Museveni born 1944

President of Uganda since 1986

Distinguished ⚠ Noted

Milton Obote 1925 – 2005

Took Uganda to independence, and presided over the Luwero Triangle

Peerless ⚠ Noted

Mutesa II of Buganda 1924 – 1969

Kabaka of Buganda and Uganda's first president

Apollo Kaggwa 1864 – 1927

Katikkiro of Buganda for thirty-six years, and its first historian

Specioza Kazibwe born 1955

The first woman vice-president in Africa

Rebecca Kadaga born 1956

Uganda's first woman Speaker of Parliament

Sarah Nyendwoha Ntiro 1926 – 2018

The first woman university graduate in East and Central Africa

Joyce Mpanga born 1934

Got affirmative action for women into Ugandan universities

Pumla Kisosonkole

The first woman in Uganda's Legislative Council

Mwanga II of Buganda 1868 – 1903

Resisted the British and died in exile; executed the Uganda Martyrs

Landmark ⚠ Noted

Benedicto Kiwanuka 1922 – 1972

Uganda's first prime minister, and a chief justice murdered for a ruling

Kabalega 1853 – 1923

Fought the British for nine years as Omukama of Bunyoro

Idi Amin c. 1925 – 2003

Ruled Uganda for eight years and became the world's image of an African dictator

Household Name ⚠ Noted

Diplomacy & Public Service

Winnie Byanyima born 1959

Executive Director of UNAIDS, and founder of FOWODE

Olara Otunnu born 1950

Built the UN system that monitors crimes against children in war

Literature & Ideas

Goretti Kyomuhendo born 1965

Novelist, and founder of the African Writers Trust

Timothy Wangusa born 1942

Upon This Mountain, and the founding of PEN Uganda

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

Kintu, and a Windham-Campbell Prize

Moses Isegawa born 1963

Abyssinian Chronicles

Okot p'Bitek 1931 – 1982

Song of Lawino

Art, Design & Fashion

Francis Nnaggenda born 1936

East Africa's foremost modern sculptor

Theresa Musoke born 1945

The first woman to take a fine art degree at Makerere

Music

Philly Lutaaya 1951 – 1989

The first Ugandan to say publicly that he had HIV

Jose Chameleone born 1979

One of the biggest names in Ugandan popular music

Eddy Kenzo born 1989

Multi-award-winning musician with an international reach

Bebe Cool born 1977

One of Uganda's Big Three musicians

Paulo Kafeero 1970 – 2007

Walumbe Zaaya, and the mastery of kadongo kamu

The biggest woman in Ugandan pop

Elly Wamala 1937 – 2004

A founder of kadongo kamu, and a voice at independence

Afrigo Band founded 1975

Uganda's longest-running and most popular live band

Moses Matovu born 1949

The face of Ugandan band music

Juliana Kanyomozi born 1980

Twenty years at the top of Ugandan music

Rema Namakula born 1991

Oli Wange, and Uganda at Coke Studio Africa

Geoffrey Oryema 1953 – 2018

Exile — smuggled out of Uganda in a car boot, and the album that followed

Philly Bongoley Lutaaya 1951 – 1989

The first prominent African to say publicly that he had Aids

Bobi Wine born 1982

Ghetto President: from the Kamwokya slums to the biggest challenge Museveni has faced

Film & Stage

Anne Kansiime

East Africa's best-known comedian

Nabwana I.G.G.

Founder of Wakaliwood, and Uganda's first action film

Media & Journalism

Zari Hassan

The Boss Lady

Sport

Joshua Cheptegei born 1996

Olympic champion and world record holder on the track

Stephen Kiprotich born 1989

Olympic marathon champion, London 2012

Dorcus Inzikuru born 1982

Uganda's first woman world champion in athletics

Ayub Kalule born 1954

The only Ugandan to win both amateur and professional world titles

John Mugabi born 1960

The Beast — Olympic silver, then a world title

John Akii-Bua 1949 – 1997

Uganda's first Olympic champion, and a world record from lane one

Business & Enterprise

Sudhir Ruparelia born 1956

Uganda's largest business empire, built twice from nothing

Patrick Bitature born 1960

Founder of the Simba Group

Charles Mbire born 1959

Chairman of MTN Uganda and the country's wealthiest indigenous businessman

Science, Medicine & Engineering

Phionah Atuhebwe

Vaccinology and the introduction of new vaccines across Africa

Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka born 1970

Uganda's first wildlife vet, and the link between gorilla health and human health

Catherine Nakalembe

Uses satellites to see hunger coming

Josephine Nambooze born 1935

The first woman doctor in East and Central Africa

Margaret Mungherera 1958 – 2017

The first woman, and first African, to lead the World Medical Association

Juliet Sekabunga Nalwanga

Uganda's first woman neurosurgeon

Faith & Community

Charles Lwanga and the Uganda Martyrs executed 1885 – 1887

Forty-five converts executed for their faith

Emmanuel Wamala born 1926

Uganda's cardinal, and Archbishop of Kampala

Semei Kakungulu 1869 – 1928

Sent to convert Uganda to Christianity, he read the Hebrew Bible and founded a Jewish community instead

Janani Luwum 1922 – 1977

Archbishop of Uganda, murdered for confronting Idi Amin

Know someone who belongs here?

This is an editorial selection, and it is certainly incomplete. Tell us who is missing from Uganda and why — an editor reads every suggestion.

This is an editorial selection, not an official register. If you think someone is missing or something is wrong, let us know.