Residence Kampala, Uganda Years active 1988 - present Nationality Ugandan Name Beti Kamya-Turwomwe | Ethnicity Muganda Alma mater Makerere University Citizenship Uganda Home town Kampala | |
Born 30 November 1955 (age 68) ( 1955-11-30 ) Nakuru, Kenya Occupation Businesswoman & Politician | ||
Beti Olive Namisango Kamya-Turomwe, also known as Betty Kamya and Beti Kamya, is a businesswoman and politician in Uganda, the third-largest economy in the East African Community. She is the Minister for Kampala Capital City Authority in the Cabinet of Uganda. She was named to that position on 6 June 2016.
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She is the founder and president of the Uganda Federal Alliance (UFA), one of the registered political parties in the country. She was a candidate in the 2011 Ugandan presidential elections, coming in fifth with 52,782 votes. She previously served as the Member of Parliament representing Lubaga North Constituency on the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) ticket from 2006 until 2010.
Background and education
She was born in Nakuru, Kenya on 30 November 1955 to George Wilson Kamya, a Ugandan, and Margaret Wairimu Kamya, a Kenyan. Beti was the fourth born of nine children. In 1961, when Beti was six years old, the family relocated to Uganda.
She attended McKay Memorial School in Kampala and Saint Hellen's Primary School in Western Uganda for her elementary schooling. She then attended Wanyange Girls' School for her O-Level education and Kings College Budo for her A-Level education. She studied at Makerere University, the oldest and largest public university in the country, graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in marketing.
Work experience
In the mid 1980s, she joined Uganda Leather and Tanning Industries Limited in Jinja in the sales department, working there until 1988. She then joined Nyanza Textiles Industries Limited, working there as a sales executive until 1992. She then relocated to Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city with her husband.
From 1996 until 1999, she worked as the marketing manager at Uganda Breweries Limited in Port Bell, a Kampala suburb. From 1999 until 2004, she was the executive director of the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) in Entebbe, about 36 kilometres (22 mi), by road, south of Kampala on the northern shores of Lake Victoria.
Between 2001 and 2004, while still at UWEC, she became an official in the political pressure group Reform, Agenda, the precursor of the FDC political party. From 2005 until 2010, she served as the special envoy of the FDC president Kizza Besigye. She also served as the elected member of parliament for Lubaga North Constituency on the FDC ticket. In January 2010, she quit the FDC and formed the UFA, becoming its first president.
Appointment to cabinet
On 6 June 2016, she was named as the new Minister for Kampala Capital City Authority in the new Cabinet announced that day.
Other considerations
Kamya was married to Spencer Turwomwe, a soldier in the Ugandan military. He died in 2003. Together, they have six children.