Lawrence Sebalu
{{Short description|Ugandan politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Lawrence Sebalu, Dr. Anthony Tang, and Ab delmone in E. Fareed.jpg
| caption = Sebalu (left) meeting with an Egyptian student at Vanderbilt University, 1961
| office = Minister of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development
| president = Paulo Muwanga
| predecessor = Jack Sentongo
| successor = Milton Obote
| term = May 1980
| president1 = Benedicto Kiwanuka
| predecessor1 = Office established
| successor1 = Christopher George Frederick Frampton Melmoth
| termstart1 = 1961
| termend1 = 1962
| party = Democratic Party
| birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|30|1961|9|20|noage=1}}
| death_date = before 31 January 2019 (aged at most 89)
}}
Lawrence Sebalu (1930 or 1931 – before 31 January 2019) was a Ugandan lawyer and politician who served as minister of finance, planning, and economic development from 1961 until 1962 and in May 1980. During his first tenure, he was an advocate for independence from the United Kingdom and argued for the diversification of Uganda's agriculture-based economy.
Biography
Lawrence Sebalu was born in 1930 or 1931. The son of a tribal chief in Uganda, he attended universities in India where he received degrees in law and economics.{{Cite news |last=Dietz |first=Eugene |date=1961-09-22 |title=Uganda Independence Nearing, Says Official |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tennessean-uganda-independence-neari/149294114/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |work=The Nashville Tennessean |pages=4}}{{Cite news |date=1961-09-20 |title=Uganda Economist in VU Seminar |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tennessean-uganda-economist-in-vu-se/149294075/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |work=The Nashville Tennessean |pages=20}} Sebalu worked as a lawyer.{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=David |date=1972-12-04 |title=Slaughter of Amin Enemies is Continuing, Reports Say |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald-slaughter-of-amin-enemi/149293959/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |work=Miami Herald |pages=42}} He was a member of the Democratic Party.{{Cite book |last=Kanyeihamba |first=George |author-link=George Kanyeihamba |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0_pWEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Lawrence+Sebalu%22&pg=PA161 |title=Constitutional and Political History of Uganda: From 1894 to Present |publisher=LawAfrica Publishing |year=2010 |isbn=978-9966-031-50-1 |edition=2nd |location=Kampala |pages=161 |language=en}}
From 1961 until 1962, Sebalu served as the first minister of finance, planning, and economic development for the British-controlled Protectorate of Uganda in the government of President Benedicto Kiwanuka.{{Cite news |date=1961-04-14 |title=Uganda's Council of Ministers: Posts for 9 Africans |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-ugandas-council-of-ministe/149293995/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |work=The Guardian |pages=11}}{{Cite web |last=Kizza |first=Joseph |date=June 8, 2011 |title=Uganda's Finance Ministers Since Independence |url=https://www.newvision.co.ug/articledetails/undefined |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=New Vision |language=en}} An advocate for full independence through peaceful methods, he argued that an independent Uganda should focus on developing hydroelectric power and public education. He also argued the country's agricultural sector should move away from coffee and cotton production{{snd}}which accounted for 80% of Uganda's exports – and towards smaller plants. In September 1961, the American International Cooperation Administration sponsored a visit by Sebalu to speak at universities in the United States. On 1 March 1962, Sebalu announced that he had discovered an alleged plot by the Uganda People's Congress (UPC) to overthrow the constitution within three years of independence.{{Cite web |last=Mulira |first=Peter |date=January 8, 2007 |title=Unrest Within UPC was Cause of Obote's Action |url=https://www.newvision.co.ug/articledetails/undefined |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=New Vision |language=en}}
In late 1972, during the rule of Idi Amin, Sebalu disappeared after being arrested by the military police, but was not killed.{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=David |date=1972-12-04 |title=Ugandan ex-Ministers 'killed in with-hunt' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph-ugandan-ex-ministers/149293864/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |work=The Daily Telegraph |pages=4}} In May 1980, after the fall of Amin's government, Sebalu briefly served again as Uganda's finance minister in the interim government of Paulo Muwanga, but was ousted from the position by Milton Obote. During this period, he was the only high-ranking member of the Democratic Party to support the UPC in a joint statement against that year's elections, which they argued would turn Uganda into a one-party state under the control of the Uganda National Liberation Front.{{Cite book |last=Kasozi |first=A. B. K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YSa7Wxuw50YC&dq=%22Lawrence+Sebalu%22&pg=PA135 |title=Social Origins of Violence in Uganda, 1964-1985 |date=1994 |publisher=McGill–Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-1218-4 |location=Montreal |pages=135 |language=en}}
Sebalu died at some point before 31 January 2019.{{Cite web |last1=Joshua |first1=Walakira |last2=Sseraniko |first2=John V. |date=2019-01-31 |title=I'm Too Rich to Grab Kabaka' Mutungo Land, Tycoon Tells Land Commission of Inquiry |url=https://mulengeranews.com/im-too-rich-to-grab-kabaka-mutungo-land-tycoon-tells-land-commission-of-inquiry/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=Mulengera News |language=en}}
References
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{{Ugandan Finance Ministers}}
{{Authority control}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebalu, Lawrence}}
Category:20th-century Ugandan politicians
Category:21st-century Ugandan politicians
Category:Year of birth missing