Uganda’s Central Bank Governor, Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile passed away this morning at the Nairobi Hospital. He was 72. The Bank of Uganda issued a statement on Twitter but did not give any details.

Tumusiime-Mutebile was Africa’s longest-serving central bank governor, having led the BoU for more than 20 years as Governor and Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2001. As a seasoned professional economist and reformer, he spearheaded the design and implementation of the Economic Reform Program that restored Uganda from the economic crises of the 1970s and 1980s to sound economic performance during his service as the Permanent Secretary/Secretary to the Treasury in the ministry responsible for finance, planning, and economic development. Uganda had just embarked on a rebuilding program after dictator Idi Amin’s brutal nationalization policies battered the economy.

President Yoweri Museveni had reappointed Tumusiime-Mutebile to another five-year term, effective Jan. 13, 2021. Tumusiime-Mutebile worked as a consultant for multilateral and regional organizations including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of East and Central Africa, UK Department for International Development, the North-South Institute in Canada, and for the governments of Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Eritrea, and Nepal. He was educated at Makerere University, Durham University, and Oxford University.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, in his condolences message to the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, eulogized the departed Tumusiime-Mutebile as a reformer whose tenure at the helm of the Bank of Uganda ensured his country’s and the region’s economic stability and progress.