Sugra Visram (15 July 1923 – 29 October 2012), also known as Sugra Namubiru Visram, was a Ugandan politician, activist and businesswoman. She was one of the first female members of parliament co-opted into the Buganda Lukiiko by Kabaka Muteesa II. Affiliated to the Kabaka Yekka Party, she represented Kibuga Constituency (present day Mengo) in Uganda's First and Second Parliaments till she resigned as a member of parliament in 1966. Together with Florence Alice Lubega and Eseza Makumbi, she was one of the first three women to serve in this position in post-independence Uganda.
Sugra Namubiru Visram | |
|---|---|
| National Assembly Representative, Kibuga (1962–1963) | |
| Member of Parliament, Kibuga (1963–1966) | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sugra Jamal Haiderali Visram 15 July 1923 Nsambya Hospital, Kampala |
| Died | 29 October 2012 (aged 89) |
| Nationality | Ugandan |
| Political party | Kabaka Yekka |
| Alma mater | Old Kampala Senior Secondary School |
| Occupation | Politician Reproductive Rights activist Teacher |
In 2012, she was awarded the National Independence Medal[1]
Background and education
editShe was born Sugra Jamal in Nsambya Hospital to Mohamedali Jamal, of Pakistani origin and Kawkab Aha Mirza of Iranian descent.[2] She grew up in Mengo and Old Kampala and she studied at Old Kampala Senior Secondary School[2]
Career
editMuch as she worked with her husband, Visram also ran a clothing shop and started a driving school for women.[3] Between 1950 and 1951, she was the headmistress the Ithnasheri School, a nursery school.[3][4]
Visram joined politics in 1962 and in that year's pre-independence Buganda elections, Visram along with Florence Alice Lubega and Eseza Makumbi, were elected to the Lukiiko.[5] After the 1962 Ugandan general elections, she was nominated to the Independence National Assembly of 1962 to 1966 to serve as a representative from Buganda still with Florence Alice Lubega thus making them the first female members of this body.[5] She was affiliated to the Kabaka Yekka (KY) party and represented the constituency known as "Kibuga" (present day Mengo).[6][7]
Visram was one of five Kabaka Yekka legislators who resigned their parliamentary seats after she declined to subscribe to the provisions of a new constitution that was presented after the 1966 constitutional coup in Uganda.[8][9]
She was head of the Women's Wing of Kabaka Yekka (KY) in addition to being the Vice Chair of the Uganda Council for Women which she joined in 1944.[7] She was one of the founders of the Family Planning Association of Uganda (currently known as Reproductive Health Uganda) in 1957. She also helped found the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) in Uganda and was its treasurer.[5][3]
Post 1972 expulsion
editAfter the expulsion of Asians from Uganda in 1972, Visram worked in the Education department of the Commonwealth Institute.[4] She was also active in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the Red Cross.[4]
She came back to Uganda in 1993 and worked as a Special Presidential Assistant on Inward Investment[4]
Personal life
editIn 1941, Visram married Haider Visram, a grandson of Allidina Visram.[7] He died in 1998 and they had three children.[4]
She was adopted into the Buganda Mamba clan and given the name Namubiru.[10]
Visram left Uganda in 1972 after President Idi Amin's expulsion of Asians from Uganda.[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "The National Honours and Awards (Award of National Honours) Notice, 2018" (PDF). gazettes.africa. 27 April 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ a b "Sugra Visram, one of the first female MPs in Uganda is dead". Ismailimail. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ a b c d Wulira! (17 October 2017). "Episode notes: Sugra Visram and the start of family planning in Uganda". Medium. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ a b c d e http://awaazmagazine.com/previous/index.php/component/k2/item/275-ugandas-reluctant-hero-sugra-visram [permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c Tripp, Aili Mari (2000). Women & politics in Uganda. Madison. ISBN 978-0-299-16483-6. OCLC 841171389.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "CMIS Repository | Parliament of Uganda".
- ^ a b c "Sugra Visram, one of the first female MPs in Uganda is dead". Monitor. 23 January 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ Tamale, Sylvia (1999). When hens begin to crow : gender and parliamentary politics in Uganda. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-3462-4. OCLC 39307485.
- ^ "When Hens Begin To Crow: Gender And Parliamentary Politics In Uganda". silo.pub. 13 June 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ "When Hens begin to Crow – Gender and Parliamentary Politics in Uganda (Fountain Publishers, 1999, 254 p.): 1 Introduction: Notes". www.nzdl.org. Retrieved 26 March 2022.