Who is Nyombi Thembo, the ex-minister of ICT, now UCC Executive Director

Kampala, (UG): The Minister of ICT and National Guidance, Dr Chris Baryomunsi confirmed the appointment of former minister Nyombi Thembo as the new and substantial Executive Director of Uganda’s Communications Regulator – UCC.

In a letter to the UCC Board, Dr Baryomunsi appointed Nyombi Thembo to lead the commission for a period of five years, taking over from Eng Irene Ssewankambo who has held the position for over three years since Mutabaazi’s departure in February 2020.

Nyombi, 59, famously served as State Minister for Information Technology in the Ugandan Cabinet until 2016 when he dropped out, after losing his parliamentary seat for Kassanda County South in Mubende District.

Below is Nyombi’s full profile and biography.

Background and Early Life: George William Nyombi Thembo was born on 31 July 1964 in Mubende District, in a family of thirteen siblings. His father was Erisa Zziwa Bosomungho, from the Ndomboli royal family in Zenzeka, Boma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo who migrated to Uganda in 1924, due to social and political upheavals in the region and finally settled in Kassanda, Singo County, in modern-day Mubende District.

Education: Nyombi attended Lubiri Secondary School in Kampala, for his A-Level education. Thembo Nyombi graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Makerere University, the oldest and largest of Uganda’s public universities.

He holds a diploma in project planning and management from Bradford University in the United Kingdom and a postgraduate diploma in financial management from Uganda Martyrs University (UMU) in Uganda. His degree of Master of Science in Development Economics was awarded by UMU.

Work and Politics: Between 1990 and 1996, Thembo Nyombi was a part-time economics teacher at Uphill College, a high school in Uganda. He worked as an analyst, planning officer and senior planning officer for the Uganda Railways Corporation during the 1990s.

Between 1995 and 2001, he worked at a Project Manager, the Transport Rehabilitation Project (Railway Component), at Kampala City Council.

Nyombi entered elective politics in early 2001 when he was elected to the Ugandan Parliament representing Kassanda County South in Mubende District. That same year, he was appointed Minister of State for Education and Sports (Primary Education).

In 2006, he was re-elected to parliament and was appointed to his present cabinet post until 2009 when a cabinet reshuffle saw him transferred to be state minister for Luwero Triangle in the Office of the Prime Minister (2009-2011) and then as State Minister for Information and Communications Technology (2011-16).

Following Nyombi’s appointment to head UCC, reports have emerged that he started lobbying the State House for the position even during his time as State Minister of ICT.

“He loves that position so much,” said a source who preferred anonymity to speak freely, adding, “That job has always been his dream,” said a who preferred anonymity to speak freely to this publication.

At the time of his appointment as the eventual UCC Executive Director, Nyombi was heading the Uganda Communications Universal Services Access Fund (UCUSAF), formerly known as Rural Communications Development Fund (RCDF) at the commission.