{"id":571,"date":"2025-08-11T21:34:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T18:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/?p=571"},"modified":"2025-08-15T10:40:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T07:40:10","slug":"ex-minister-mary-karooro-okurut-dies-at-70","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/?p=571","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Minister Mary Karooro Okurut Dies at 70"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Former Cabinet Minister, author, and women\u2019s rights champion Mary Karooro Okurut<\/strong> has died at the age of 70. Her passing, announced today by State Minister for Primary Health Care Margaret Muhanga<\/strong>, followed complications from injuries sustained in a recent road crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an emotional message on X (formerly Twitter), Muhanga described Karooro as her \u201cbosom buddy,\u201d mentor, and literature teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWith so much pain, grief and sorrow, I announce the death of my \u2018bosom buddy\u2019 Mary Karooro Okurut. My literature teacher, my mentor, my very close buddy, my world, my all. So painful to imagine. This is a sting I\u2019ll never forget. May the angels receive her in glory,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Muhanga and Karooro shared a close friendship and political bond spanning decades, working together in the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) and championing causes in education, women\u2019s empowerment, and community development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Circumstances of Death<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Karooro was involved in a road crash last month while returning from a consultative meeting in Nebbi, where she had declared her intention to contest for the parliamentary seat reserved for the elderly. The accident left her with a broken pelvic bone. She was initially treated at Nakasero Hospital in Kampala before being airlifted to Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi for specialized care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite medical efforts, her condition deteriorated, leading to her death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Official Burial Approved<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

President Yoweri Museveni has approved an official burial for Karooro, with the government set to cover funeral expenses and accord her a gun salute. Minister for the Presidency Milly Babalanda described her as \u201ca gifted and patriotic citizen who met her fate in the line of serving the motherland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life and Career<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Born on 8 December 1954 in Bushenyi District, Karooro attended Bweranyangi schools, Trinity College Nabbingo, and Makerere University, where she obtained BA and MA degrees in Literature, as well as a Diploma in Education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She began her career as a literature lecturer at Makerere University from 1981 to 1993 before joining public service as Press Secretary to the Vice President (1994\u20131996) and later Commissioner at the Education Service Commission (1996\u20131999). She went on to serve as Presidential Press Secretary from 1999 to 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karooro entered elective politics in 2004 as Bushenyi District Woman MP, a position she held until 2021. She served in several Cabinet roles, including Minister for Gender, Labour and Social Development (2012\u20132015), Minister for Security (March\u2013June 2015), and Minister in Charge of General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister (2016\u20132021). In 2021, she was appointed Senior Presidential Advisor on Public Relations, a role she held until her death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Literary and Advocacy Work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Beyond politics, Karooro was an accomplished author and a strong advocate for women in literature. She co-founded FEMRITE \u2014 the Uganda Women Writers Association \u2014 which nurtured female voices in the literary space. Her notable works include the novels The Invisible Weevil<\/em> and The Official Wife<\/em>, and the anthology A Woman\u2019s Voice<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tributes Pour In<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Her death has sparked an outpouring of tributes from political leaders, former colleagues, and the literary community, all praising her as a mentor, trailblazer, and tireless advocate for education and women\u2019s empowerment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funeral arrangements are expected to be announced soon, with the official burial to be conducted in collaboration with her family and the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Cabinet Minister, author, and women\u2019s rights champion Mary Karooro Okurut has died at the age of 70. Her passing, announced today by State Minister for Primary Health Care Margaret Muhanga, followed complications from injuries sustained in a recent road crash. In an emotional message on X (formerly Twitter), Muhanga described Karooro as her \u201cbosom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[41,71],"class_list":["post-571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-mary-karooro-okurut","tag-trinity-college-nabbingo"],"aioseo_notices":[],"blog_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GyF8gjSWQAAh8e1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"full":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GyF8gjSWQAAh8e1.jpg",1179,939,false]},"categories_names":{"27":{"name":"News","link":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/?cat=27"}},"tags_names":{"41":{"name":"Mary Karooro Okurut","link":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/?tag=mary-karooro-okurut"},"71":{"name":"Trinity College Nabbingo","link":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/?tag=trinity-college-nabbingo"}},"comments_number":"0","wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GyF8gjSWQAAh8e1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"cvmm-medium":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GyF8gjSWQAAh8e1-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"cvmm-medium-plus":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GyF8gjSWQAAh8e1-305x207.jpg",305,207,true],"cvmm-portrait":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GyF8gjSWQAAh8e1-400x600.jpg",400,600,true],"cvmm-medium-square":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GyF8gjSWQAAh8e1-600x600.jpg",600,600,true],"cvmm-large":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GyF8gjSWQAAh8e1-1024x939.jpg",1024,939,true],"cvmm-small":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GyF8gjSWQAAh8e1-130x95.jpg",130,95,true],"full":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GyF8gjSWQAAh8e1.jpg",1179,939,false]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=571"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":574,"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571\/revisions\/574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}