Former Justice and constitutional affairs minister Joash Mayanja Nkangi has died Monday morning at the age of 85.
As reported, the former Buganda Katikiro was in critical condition at one Hospital in Kampala where he was undergoing treatment, having difficulty in breathing.
He was on treatment for pneumonia, pending transfer to India for further aid, according to a statement received by the New Vision from the family spokesperson.
Nkangi was deeply spiritual often quoting scripture during media interviews to explain his stand with Christ.
“My inclination is that I really want to be what God wants me to be. God says in the book of Leviticus, Chapter 19, verse 2, ‘you shall be Holy because I the lord God your God I am Holy’.” He once told Journalists, adding, “Also Chapter 20, verse 8, the Lord says, ‘I the Lord sanctify you’. Meaning I make you holy. If the Lord wants you to be holy, why don’t you become holy”
When asked how he managed to age gracefully, he mentioned hereditary, however quick to give all honor to the Lord.
“I think part of it is hereditary, owing to one side of my parents. Some people age gracefully as you put it and others don’t. I happened to be in the middle. But it was also by . If I had been sick most of the time, I wouldn’t be ageing gracefully,” he explained.
As a brilliant student during his times, Mayanja Nkangi became a recipient of a scholarship to Oxford University, becoming one of the very few Uganda to attend school at this prestigious campus.
He served several leadership positions, retiring from public service in 2014 after a career spanning over 50 years both in the service of the government of Uganda and the kingdom of Buganda.
Before his death, the 85-year-old had revealed that their is something he was studying about Catholicism.
“Catholic means universal so in that sense I am Catholic but am I a Christian? Yes, I am. Christ in Chapter 17 in the gospel of John told the disciples, ‘I want you to be one as your father. You in me and I in you and you in them.’ Perfectly well, he said the world may know that you sent me,” he said, adding, “I am (a) born again (Christian) not under a church but under Christ.”
Retired Bishop David Zac Niringiye has on Monday shared his grief, praying that God will comfort Nkangi’s family during this hour of deep loss.
“I got to know him personally in the early 1990s through the Prayer Breakfast movement. We were both members of St Luke’s Church Ntinda. Joash loved God. He always encouraged me to continue to speak out in defence of the oppressed and marginalised, against the rampant theft and impunity by those entrusted with state power. We shall miss him.” Bishop David Zac said.
marvin@ugchristiannews.com
