The reshuffle of Ruth Nankabirwa from the cabinet yesterday, as the minister of Energy, has brought to an end one of the longest uninterrupted ministerial careers of any individual in Uganda’s modern political history.
She was appointed senior presidential advisor.
Nankabirwa had served continuously as a minister since 1998, making her the longest-serving minister in Museveni’s cabinet without interruption.
Gen Moses Ali, who was also dropped from the cabinet, is the only other person who rivals Nankabirwa’s long tenure. Yet while Moses Ali has served in the cabinet since 1986, his tenure has been broken twice.
Once in 1989, after he was arrested on charges of treason, only to return in 1994 and between 2006 and 2011, when he lost his East Moyo seat to Piros Santos. He returned to the cabinet in 2011 after he reclaimed his seat.
Even NRA historicals like Gen Kahinda Otafiire have been in and out of the cabinet.
Nankabirwa’s exit marks the end of a political run that survived multiple reshuffles, electoral cycles, and changes in government priorities, while several of her contemporaries either lost parliamentary seats, fell out with the establishment, or were temporarily dropped from government.
Nankabirwa first entered the cabinet in 1998 when she was appointed Minister of State for the Luweero Triangle.
In 2001, she was moved to the Ministry of Defence as State Minister, a position she held for eight years.
In 2009, she was appointed Minister of State for Microfinance, where she became involved in government campaigns aimed at expanding access to credit and promoting savings groups among low-income Ugandans.
In the 2011 reshuffle, Nankabirwa was made Minister of State for Fisheries. The period coincided with growing concerns over illegal fishing on Uganda’s major water bodies and renewed government attempts to regulate the sector.
In 2016, Museveni appointed her Chief Government Whip, a politically influential role that placed her at the centre of mobilising support for the NRM in Parliament.
As Chief Whip, Nankabirwa frequently led efforts to rally MPs behind controversial government positions and legislation.
Her most visible assignment came in 2021 when she was appointed minister of Energy and Mineral Development at a critical moment for Uganda’s oil and gas sector.
She became one of the key political faces of Uganda’s energy ambitions, overseeing government engagement on the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project, electricity expansion, and negotiations around oil production infrastructure.
During her tenure, the government accelerated work on the Tilenga and Kingfisher oil projects and pushed forward rural electrification programmes aimed at increasing national power connectivity.
Nankabirwa also built a reputation as one of NRM’s most resilient female politicians, maintaining her seat in Kiboga district from the Constituent Assembly days in 1994 until 2021.
