Crispus Kiyonga

{{Infobox person

| name = Crispus Kiyonga

| image = Hon. Dr. Cryspus Kiyonga, minister of Defence speaking during the AMISOM Retreat in Kampala- Uganda (16220704751).jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Kiyonga in 2015

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|9|19|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Uganda

| death_date =

| death_place =

| education = Makerere University
{{small|(Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery)}}
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
{{small|(Master of Health Science in Population Dynamics)}}

| occupation = Physician, politician

| years_active = 1980 — present

| nationality = Ugandan

| citizenship = Uganda

| known_for = Politics

| networth =

| title = Uganda's Ambassador to China

}}

File:Ugandan Defence Minister Dr Crispin Kiyonga arrives in Mogadishu (6165594704).jpg

Crispus Walter Kiyonga (born 19 September 1952) is a Ugandan medical doctor, politician and career diplomat. He is the current Chancellor of the Makerere University,{{Cite web |title=Professor Barnabas Nawangwe {{!}} Makerere University- Governance |url=http://governance.mak.ac.ug/node/24/biography |access-date=2023-05-29 |website=governance.mak.ac.ug}} the largest public university of Uganda. He served as Uganda's Ambassador to China.{{cite web|date=19 September 2017 |url=https://www.independent.co.ug/kiyonga-presents-credentials-china-president-xi-jinping/ |title=Kiyonga presents credentials to China President Xi Jinping |access-date=18 April 2019 |newspaper=The Independent (Uganda) |location=Kampala}} He previously served as the Minister of Defence in the Cabinet of Uganda from 2006 to 2016.{{cite web|title=Ministries Allocated |url=http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/501695 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211112501/http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/501695 |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 December 2014 |newspaper=New Vision |date=2 June 2006 |access-date=18 April 2019 |format=Archived from the original on 11 December 2014 |first=Henry |last=Mukasa | location=Kampala}}

Prior to that, he was Minister Without Portfolio in the Office of the President from 2005 to 2006. During the cabinet reshuffles of 16 February 2009,{{cite web| url=http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/671730 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213214754/http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/671730 | url-status=dead | archive-date=13 February 2015 |title=Full Cabinet List As At 18 February 2009 |newspaper=New Vision |date=18 February 2009 |access-date=18 April 2019 |format=Archived from the original on 15 February 2015 |location=Kampala}} 27 May 2011,{{cite web|title=Comprehensive List of New Cabinet Appointments & Dropped Ministers |date=27 May 2011 |url=https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150208384704078&comments |access-date=3 April 2015 |

publisher=Facebook.com}} and 1 March 2015,{{cite web |title=Full Cabinet List As At 1 March 2015 |date=1 March 2015 |access-date=3 April 2015 |newspaper=Daily Monitor |url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/blob/view/-/2639388/data/956667/-/oq6gpdz/-/cabinet.pdf |location=Kampala |archive-date=9 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709092825/http://www.monitor.co.ug/blob/view/-/2639388/data/956667/-/oq6gpdz/-/cabinet.pdf |url-status=dead }} he retained his cabinet post. In 2016, he lost the Member of Parliament (MP) seat for Bukonjo County West to Robert Katusabe, Kasese District, in the Ugandan Parliament.{{cite web |newspaper=New Vision |url=http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/638828-defence-minister-kiyonga-tells-mps-to-behave.html |title=Defence Minister Kiyonga Tells MPs to 'Behave' |access-date=3 April 2015 |date=11 January 2013 |first1=Moses|last1=Walubiri |first2=Mary|last2= Karugaba |location=Kampala |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409002929/http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/638828-defence-minister-kiyonga-tells-mps-to-behave.html |archive-date=9 April 2015 |url-status=dead }}

Background and education

Kiyonga was born in Kasese District in the Western Region of Uganda on 19 September 1952. Between 1959 and 1966, he attended Bwera Primary School, in Bwera, a few kilometres from the Ugandan border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. During 1967 through 1970, he attended Nyakasura School from S1 to S4. He studied for his S5 and S6 at Kings College Budo from 1971 to 1972.{{cite web |url=http://specialforcescommand.go.ug/the-ugandan-minister-of-defense-hon-dr-crispus-walter-kiyonga/ |title=The Ugandan Former Minister of Defense, Hon. Dr. Crispus Walter Kiyonga: 2006 – 2016 |publisher=UPDF Special Forces Command |access-date=18 April 2019 |date=2018 |location=Entebbe |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418164056/http://specialforcescommand.go.ug/the-ugandan-minister-of-defense-hon-dr-crispus-walter-kiyonga/ |archive-date=18 April 2019 |url-status=dead }}

File:Ugandan Defence Minister Dr Crispin Kiyonga arrives in Mogadishu (6165595076).jpg

From 1973 through 1978, he attended Makerere University School of Medicine where he obtained his first medical degree, the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) in 1978. Later, in 2004, he obtained a Master of Health Science (MHS) with specialisation in Population Dynamics from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. His studies at Johns Hopkins were funded through a [http://www.fic.nih.gov/ Fogarty International Center Scholarship] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912032926/http://www.fic.nih.gov/ |date=2007-09-12 }}.{{cite web|accessdate=3 April 2015|url=http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-fogarty-AIDS-international-training-and-research-program/People/trainees/1-20_lt_degree_trainees|title=Hopkins Fogarty AIDS International Training & Research Program: Long Term Degree Trainees - Years 1-20|publisher=Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health|date=26 April 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150406075008/http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-fogarty-AIDS-international-training-and-research-program/People/trainees/1-20_lt_degree_trainees|archive-date=6 April 2015|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Kiyonga: A Loyal Movement Cadre|url=http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/25/464991|date=9 November 2005|accessdate=3 April 2015|newspaper=New Vision (Kampala)|last=Etukuri|first=Charles|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409005139/http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/25/464991|archive-date=9 April 2015|url-status=dead}}

Career

During the first post-Idi Amin national elections in Uganda in 1980, Kiyonga participated as a candidate on the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM) platform. He won in his constituency, making him the only UPM candidate who won during those elections. He joined the National Resistance Movement (NRM) during its struggle against the second Milton Obote regime from 1981 until 1986.

From 1986, when the NRM assumed power in Uganda, until 2006 when he was appointed as Minister of Defense, Crispus Kiyonga held several cabinet and non-cabinet posts in the Ugandan Government:

1986 - 1986: Minister for Cooperatives & Marketing
1986 - 1992: Minister of Finance - Credited with the establishment of Uganda Revenue Authority.{{Cite web|url=https://visiongroup.co.ug/supplements/2020/01/29/why-uganda-ranks-highly-in-tax-administration/|title=Why Uganda ranks highly in tax administration | supplements|first=Emma|last=Buufu}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
1994 - 1996: Minister of Internal Affairs
1996 - 2001: Minister of Health - Credited with efficient handling of Ebola outbreak in Gulu in 2000. Chairman Global Fund.
2001 - 2006: Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the President and National Political Commissar.
2006 - 2016: Minister of Defense

Between 1992 and 1994, Kiyonga left the government temporarily to serve as a consultant with the World Bank and the African Development Bank. He returned to active politics in 1994 when he was elected to the Constituent Assembly that drew up the 1995 Uganda Constitution. He continuously represented Bukonjo County West, in the Ugandan Parliament, from 1980 until 2016. In 2016, he was appointed Uganda's Ambassador to China.{{cite web|newspaper=New Vision | url=https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1452845/china-envoy-wagidoso-paves-kiyonga |title=China Envoy Wagidoso Paves Way For Kiyonga |date=8 May 2017 |access-date=18 April 2019 | first=David |last=Lumu |location=Kampala}}