Mupaghasi, Zipporah Muhindo (Mukirania) (1961–2022)

Zipporah Muhindo (Mukirania) Mupaghasi was a committed church worker and social worker. She served as school bursar, teacher, dean of women, accountant, business manager (Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Finance), lecturer, and chairperson of Bugema University workers’ Savings and Credits Cooperative Organization (SACCO).

Early Life

Zipporah Muhindo Mukirania was born March 26, 1961 at Mitandi, the Rwenzori Mission Station headquarters, in the current Katebwa sub-county of Bunyangabu district. She was the second-born child in a family of eight, including her twin brothers. She was the daughter of Yowasi Kalani Mukirania, son of Kalani Ithungu, and Yunia Kabugho Mukirania, daughter of Yakobo Mukundi and Yayeri Mumbere of Kibwa,¹ in Karangura Sub-county of Burahya County, Kabarole district. At the time of her birth, her father was the headmaster of Mitandi Junior School on the foothills of Mount Rwenzori, in western Uganda. Zipporah spent her early childhood in various places where her father was posted as a teacher and pastor. Those places included Mitandi in the north-eastern part of Mount Rwenzori; Ikoba Adventist Church in Bunyoro Kingdom; Bugema Missionary College in Buganda; and Mpondwe Adventist Church in the western part of the mountain.

School, Training, and Marriage

Zipporah Muhindo started primary education at Kitalikibi Primary School in Bwera town, when her father pastored at Mpondwe Adventist Church, in 1967.² She completed primary education at Mitandi in 1976. In 1977 she joined Mitandi Adventist Secondary School and sat for Uganda Certificate of Education Examinations in 1980. At this point she did not pass the examinations as she had expected and could not re-enroll for the government examination in the subsequent year because of the need to educate her siblings. She then joined Keroka Adventist College of Business Studies, in Kiisi, Kenya, where she earned a one-year certificate in accounting in 1981. She again sat for the Uganda National Certificate Examinations at Mitandi Adventist Secondary School in 1990 and passed in first division.

On May 11, 1982, Zipporah married Mr. George Bahangondi Mupaghasi, who was born on February 17, 1955. George was the son of Bahangondi, the son of Muthaghonya of Bughumba, Bunyangabu, in Katebwa Sub-county. The marriage was officiated by Pastor Zephaniah M. Mukirane, at Bunyangabu Adventist Church. Zipporah and George were blessed with two children, Gerald Kisalitha Mupaghasi, born April 1, 1983³ at Kilembe Mines Hospital, and Zerina Muhindo, born June 15, 1985 at Nyakasanga village, in Kasese Municipality. The day Zerina was born was of historical significance in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in that June 15, 1985 was the end of the “1000 days of reaping,” world-wide.⁴

In 1993 Muhindo enrolled for a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Finance at Spicer Memorial College, in Pune India. She also enrolled for DataPro in Pune City in 1994 and 1995, where she earned a Diploma in Computerized Financial Accounting.⁵ She returned to Uganda and joined Bugema College (now Bugema University) and completed a Bachelor of Business Administration with a major area of concentration in Accounting, and a minor in Finance, on June 15, 1997.⁶ She then pursued a Master of Business Administration at Solusi University in Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe, from 1997, and graduated in 2005.⁷

Besides her formal education, Zipporah earned several professional certificates from the Institute of Certified Accountants of Uganda.

Career

Zipporah Muhindo served Seventh-day Adventist educational institutions throughout her life. She serving as a secondary school teacher, bursar and accountant at Mitandi Secondary School from 1981⁸ to 1986.⁹ She taught accounting courses at Mitandi from 1987 to 1992,¹⁰ then accompanied her husband to Pune, India, where he pursed a Master of Arts degree in Education, under the Andrews University campus of the South Asia Division.

When George Mupaghasi completed her masters degree, he was posted to Bugema College in Uganda, to serve as Dean of Students (Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs and Services). Muhindo served as Dean of Women in 1996 and 1997. In January 1997 she was appointed to serve as an accountant in the Business office of Bugema University, a position she held up to November 2, 1998.

On November 2, 1998, Muhindo was appointed to serve as the Business Manager (Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Finance and Administration) of Bugema University.¹¹ She held this position until December 2003.¹² She was then appointed lecturer in the Department of Accounting and Finance of Bugema University, beginning January 1, 2004. She served as Head of the Department of Accounting and Finance in the School of Business from December 19, 2006¹³ to October 19, 2021.

Besides her regular assignments at the University, Muhindo served as the Chairperson of the University finance statement review committee from July 14, 2009¹⁴ to October 19, 2021.¹⁵ She also served as coordinator of the examination center for Certified Public Accountants of Uganda at Bugema University from 2018 to 2021.

Zipporah Muhindo Mukirania Mupaghasi was praised for her excellent management skills. During her five-year tenure of office as a business manager, workers at the university never missed a salary even for one month, despite the institution’s financial challenges. ¹⁶

Demise

Zipporah Muhindo Mukirania Mupaghasi died after a long illness on October 19, 2021, at her home in Lukyamu I, Kamira, Bugema, Bamunanika county of Luwero district. She was buried there on October 21, 2021.

Sources

Zipporah Muhindo Mukirania Mupaghasi's certificates, appointment letters, and diplomas. In her family's private collection.

Zipporah Muhindo Mukirania Mupaghasi's Curriculum Vitae.

Notes

1. Kalani Mordecai, interview by author, August 21, 2022.↩

2. Emmanuel Mberemu, email message to George Mupaghasi, August 10, 2022.↩

3. Nathaniel Mumbere Walemba, interview by author, August 19, 2022.↩

4. Kalani Mordecai, interview by author, August 19, 2022.↩

5. Zipporah Mupaghasi, Curriculum Vitae, retrieved August 10, 2022.↩

6. Family file, retrieved at Lukyamu, Bugema, on August 10, 2022.↩

7. Ibid.↩

8. George Mupaghasi, interview by author, August 10, 2022.↩

9. Ibid.↩

10. Zipporah Mupaghasi, Curriculum vitae, retrieved on August 14, 2022.↩

11. Professor Moses L. Golola, Letter of Appointment, dated November 2, 1998.↩

12. Zipporah Mupaghasi, Curriculum Vitae, retrieved on August 19, 2022.↩

13. Paul Katamba, Letter of appointment, dated January 12, 2007.↩

14. R. T. Mugerwa, Letter of appointment, dated September 9, 2009.↩

15. Eurology of Zipporah Muhindo Mupaghasi, October 21, 2021.↩

16. Womeli Annet, University Senior lecturer’s comment made at the funeral service, October 21, 2021.↩