NEWS EDITOR
THIS afternoon, the Katikkiro of Buganda Charles Peter Mayiga has announced the appointment of Simon Kabogoza as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Buganda Land Board, replacing Owek. David Kyewalabye Male who His Majesty Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II appointed Buganda Kingdom minister last year.
Premier Mayiga, who was accompanied by his deputy Owek. Twaha Kawaase and Information minister Owek. Noah Kiyimba expressed full confidence in Kabogoza whom he described as a diligent and hardworking person and has been following very closely.
He credited the outgoing BLB MD Kyewalabye Male for being unique, having steered the land management organization from a one office organization to a one stop centre that has become a centre of excellence for even government.
“BLB has become a professional body during Owek. Kyewalabye’s leadership whereby now even people from other countries visit for benchmarking reasons.”Said Premier Mayiga.
Just last week, officials from South Africa visited BLB to pick lessons on some innovative ways of land management geered towards fighting fraud in the land sector.
The outgoing MD, Owek. Kywewalabye thanked Kabaka for entrusting him with the organization for the past 12 years.
He saluted BLB staff for working tirelessly to build a professional organization and urged them to be cooperative with the new leader to drive on the organization.
WHO IS KABOGOZA
Simon Kabogoza Muwanga is a Social Scientist with a Masters’ Degree in Development Studies from Uganda Martyrs University Nkozi.
He takes over BLB with over 15 years’ experience in strategic communication & coordination of social change projects and 5 years’ experience in land management.
Since joining BLB in 2015, the 45-year-old has been a member of top management, most recently serving as the Head of Corporate Affairs and Deputy MD (Admin).
In his position, Simon has been responsible for upholding the Company’s image and overseeing the Legal, Community Mobilization, Client Management and the communications units of BLB.
Before joining BLB, he worked with Communication for Development Foundation Uganda (CDFU) on several USAID-funded programs.
He has experience in coordinating projects, developing communication strategies, field research and community mobilization. He has written and presented abstracts in international conferences.
Married with children, Simon serves on various boards and is an active leader in the Church of Uganda.
Owek. Kyewalabye will now concentrate on his ministerial duties, having served BLB for 12 years.
Some key achievements by Owek Kyewalabye
• He has built the organization from one branch to ten branches and eight service centres
• He has grown the human resource from less than 40 employees in 2007 to over 250
• He has professionalized the organization, registered in 2015. The organissation now has professional departments such as legal, physical planning, survey and land valuation.
• He led BLB to raise funds and single handedly built Muganzirwazza complex in Katwe.
• He spearheaded the biggest bibanja registration exercise in the country where over 130,000 people were registered and another 21000 surveyed.
• He spearheaded the famous Kyapa mu Ngalo campaign
• He oversaw the introduction of a land electronic card that is used in fighting fraud
