Former Minister of Information and National Guidance Mary Karooro Okurut is dead.
Karooro, who has been serving as a Senior Presidential Advisor on Media. She was aged 71. She was born on December 8, 1954.
“With so much pain, grief, and sorrow, I announce the death of my ‘bosom buddy’ Mary Karooro Okurut. My literature teacher, my mentor, my close buddy, my world, my all. So painful to imagine. This is a sting I will never forget. May the angels receive her in glory.” Margaret Muhanga, the State Minister of Health in charge of Primary Health Care, posted on her X handle.
Ms Okurut further served in the cabinet dockets of Security, General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister, Public Service and Gender, Labour and Social Development.
From 1999 to 2004, she served as a Press Secretary to the president. Mary Karooro Okurut began lecturing at Makerere University in the Department of Literature in 1981, as soon as she completed her master’s degree. She maintained her status as Lecturer until 1993. In 2004, she was elected in the bye election as the Bushenyi District Woman Member of Parliament.
Before her political career, Okurut was perhaps best known for her contributions to Ugandan literature both as a writer and as the founder of the Uganda Women Writers Association
