About
Dani Wadada Nabudere (15 December 1932 – 9 November 2011) was a Ugandan academic, author, political scientist and development specialist. He was a professor at the Islamic University and Executive Director of the Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute, Mbale. He was a barrister and former member of the Uganda National Liberation Front government.
Nabudere obtained the degree of LLB (London) in 1963 and was admitted as a barrister at law, Lincolns Inn, London, in the same year. He was previously Associate Professor at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Visiting Professor at the University of Zimbabwe. Professor Nabudere was Minister of Justice in 1979 and Minister of Culture, Community Development and Rehabilitation in 1979–1980 in the UNLF Interim Government of Uganda. He was President of the African Association of Political Science from 1983 to 1985 and Vice-President of the International Science Association (IPSA) from 1985 to 1988. He was engaged in a collaboration arrangement with the University of South Africa in joint research projects under the umbrella theme of “Reclaiming the Future”. He was the executive director and principal of the Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute (MPAI), Mbale, Uganda. In his last ten years, Prof Nabudere had been working on setting up grassroots organisations to assist rural communities and raise their voices over issues that concern their lives.
The late Professor Nabudere was considered the father of the progressive left in Uganda. His nationalist, democratic and Pan-Africanist credentials were impeccable. His struggle was always that of the national democratic question. His passion for building democratic ideals from the grassroots to the top was exhibited in his role as the main architect of the UNLF grassroots governing system – Mayumba Kumi which was a forerunner of the current LC system.
As a great politician and activist, Professor Nabudere played an important role in Uganda’s independence movement and for a short time was involved in the Uganda Peoples’ Congress (UPC) politics from which he became estranged. His shining moment in post-independence politics in Uganda entailed his instrumental role in organizing the Moshi Unity Conference in Tanzania, in 1979 and his pivotal role as Secretary of Political and Diplomatic Affairs in the UNLF Government. The late Nabudere served in various ministerial portfolios including Justice, and Community Development and Culture. His prominence in Ugandan politics was a source of gratification and pride for him and the Bamasaba.
He was an academic giant. Though trained in London as a lawyer, Professor Nabudere specialized in political economy and chose an academic life; his scholarship became the ‘voice of the voiceless’ not only in Uganda but throughout Africa as a whole. He was, therefore, an intellectual with a big heart for humanity. And as a pragmatic revolutionary, he advocated for social justice through peaceful means. He was particularly passionate about the fate of the girl child and used his academic prowess to fight for a change in cultural practices that did not enhance the development of the female gender in our society.
Based on the totality of his scholarship of nearly fifty years, he was an irreplaceable intellectual giant. He will be remembered for his immense foresight and ability to predict the future fairly accurately. For example, he predicted the 2007-08 global economic crisis precipitated by the financial ‘melt-down’ of Wall Street in the United States.
Despite his immense academic and political accomplishments, the late Professor Nabudere remained simple, humble, and easily accessible to Ugandans from all walks of life. These qualities gave him the ability to be in tune with the experiences of the common people in Bugisu and Uganda. They may also have influenced the curriculum of the Marcus Garvey Pan Afrikan Institute that stressed community learning. Unlike many leftist intellectuals, he had enormous respect for culture and cultural institutions exemplified by his involvement in establishing INZU YA MASABA.
The life and achievements of the Late Professor Nabudere touched the lives of many Bamasaba in different ways; he was a mentor and role model to some; a voice of the voiceless; and an inspiration to others. The Bamasaba youth, in particular, need to heed his advice about hard work, dedication and leading fulfilled lives. As a result of the passing of Professor Nabudere, the family has lost a great father and family man; Bamasaba, Ugandans and all Africans have lost a great compatriot, nationalist and Pan Africanist.