TILL DEATH DO THEM PART! 80-Year-Old Kamuntu Pass Vetting, Vows To Follow M7 Into 2031, 2036… And Perhaps Heaven’s Cabinet!
Panic, laughter and political hysteria swept through Kampala on Monday after Uganda’s most durable minister, Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, survived yet another vetting session and was cleared to return to Cabinet, prompting fresh fears that retirement itself may have finally retired from Ugandan politics.
At an age when many of his former classmates are discussing grandchildren, gardening and pension payments, Kamuntu will be still discussing immigration policy, internal security and what he plans to do after 2031.
The answer?
Come back again.
And again.
As long as President Yoweri Museveni is still around.
The veteran politician, economist, academic, former exile activist, former minister of almost everything and now incoming Minister of Internal Affairs, has made it clear that age is merely a number, retirement is a rumour and political service is a lifelong subscription.
Speaking after being approved by Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Monday, Kamuntu sent a clear message to anyone hoping the old guard was finally packing up.
Not so fast.
The political marathon runner indicated that if President Museveni returns in 2031, he too sees no reason why he shouldn’t report back for duty.
Sources close to the veteran say the relationship has now evolved beyond politics and entered what observers are calling a “till death do us part arrangement.”
Political analysts are still trying to determine whether the partnership is a friendship, a historical alliance, a revolutionary brotherhood or Uganda’s longest-running political marriage.
The two men first met as students at Ntare School in 1960s when Uganda still had only one television station and mobile phones existed only in science fiction.
Both studied economics and political science.
Both later joined liberation politics.
Both served in government.
Both survived coups, elections, political storms, opposition attacks, cabinet reshuffles and countless predictions of retirement.
Now nearly six decades later, they remain standing.
In fact, historians have discovered a startling statistic.
When President Yusuf Lule formed the UNLF government in 1979 after the fall of Idi Amin, Museveni became Minister of Defence while Kamuntu was appointed Minister of Planning and Economic Development.
Today, 47 years later, both men are still active in national politics.
Several members of that government are still alive.
But only Museveni and Kamuntu are still reporting for official duty.
Political observers are now joking that the pair may soon qualify for protection as national monuments.
The latest Cabinet reshuffle had initially appeared to signal the departure of the old political guard.
Veterans such as Moses Ali and Matia Kasaija exited ministerial positions.
Observers concluded that a generational transition had finally begun.
Then Museveni reached into the archives and pulled out Kamuntu.
Suddenly, the retirement narrative collapsed.
One analyst compared it to a football coach substituting a 20-year-old striker with an 80-year-old midfielder and still expecting him to score a hat-trick.
Yet anyone who knows Kamuntu knows writing him off is dangerous.
Five years ago, many believed his political career had ended when he lost the Sheema South parliamentary seat.
Commentators prepared retirement speeches.
Political rivals celebrated.
Furniture dealers reportedly anticipated orders for a comfortable retirement chair.
Then Kamuntu quietly regrouped.
In 2026, he stormed back, reclaimed the constituency and returned to Parliament.
Now he is back in Cabinet.
Again.
The comeback has left political bookmakers confused and retirement planners devastated.
Asked about concerns regarding age, Kamuntu delivered a response that has become legendary among his supporters.
“Longevity in life is a blessing.”
Translation?
If God keeps renewing your contract, why shouldn’t voters?
He insists leadership should be judged by service, not birthdays.
According to Kamuntu, people are elected because they can deliver results, not because they possess youthful knees.
His message to critics is simple.
If an older leader performs better than a younger one, let performance decide.
Not age.
Not wrinkles.
Not grey hair.
Not the number of candles on a birthday cake.
At one point he declared that age is simply a number and that leadership is about ideas.
Political comedians immediately concluded that Kamuntu may have discovered the secret formula for eternal youth.
Think young.
Stay young.
Get reappointed.
Repeat.
His supporters insist he remains one of government’s most experienced technocrats, having served in tourism, public service, water and environment, finance-related assignments and now internal affairs.
His critics insist Uganda should create space for younger leaders.
Kamuntu simply responds with scripture, experience and another election victory.
Meanwhile, social media has gone into overdrive.
Some users are proposing that the Ministry of Gender should establish a Department of Political Longevity and appoint Kamuntu as its lifetime patron.
Others are demanding scientific studies into what exactly the veteran politician eats for breakfast.
A few conspiracy theorists now believe State House possesses a secret anti-retirement vaccine.
Whatever the truth, one thing is becoming increasingly clear.
The old guard may be ageing.
But it is refusing to leave quietly.
As Parliament approved Kamuntu on Monday, many Ugandans were left asking the same question.
Will he return in 2031?
Kamuntu’s answer appears straightforward.
If Museveni is on the ballot, don’t be shocked if he is somewhere nearby carrying a ministerial briefcase.
And if political history continues moving at its current pace, some citizens are beginning to suspect that when the history books of Uganda are finally written, there may be a chapter titled:
“President Museveni, Minister Kamuntu and the Longest Shift in Government Service Ever Recorded.”
For now, the message from Uganda’s most enduring political survivor is simple:
Retirement can wait.
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