Uganda-born Zimbabwe pioneer publisher and founder of the now defunct Business Express, which broke the record of becoming the only business community newspaper to be published in the Midlands provincial capital of Gweru, Margaret Marjorie Luwuliza-Kirunda, has died.
Luwuliza-Kirunda died after a short illness aged 70 last Saturday in Kampala. She had visited Uganda to see her family.
The late scribe-cum-publisher moved to Gweru in 1990 with her family.
Her late husband Dr John Luwuliza-Kirunda, was a prominent Ugandan politician and Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gyneacology at Makerere University. Dr Kirunda was also a Consultant Gynaecologist and worked as an obstetrician at the Gweru Provincial Hospital.
His now deceased wife Luwuliza-Kirunda trained as a teacher and journalist. Having realised that there was need to promote Gweru and the local business community, Luwuliza-Kirunda decided to establish her own newspaper at a time when media houses in the town were predominantly male-controlled.
With a typically lean staff compliment consisting of her daughter Jessica and three trainee journalists at the launch of Business Express in 1995, the late Luwuliza-Kirunda transformed her newspaper into a competitive brand that persisted and eventually bagged the Zimbabwe Community Newspaper of the Year gong in the year 2006.
She is widely adored in Zimbabwe’s debatably turbulent media industry for her role in empowering the young generation. Jessica said some of her late mother’s understudies who started off as mere journalists, have since gone entrepreneurial and have now established their own media houses across the globe.
Said Jessica:
“At least 50 young journalists made it through her hands. Ten of these now run their own newspapers worldwide.”
She said every year, Luwuliza-Kirunda had between six and eight young Zimbabweans on internship at Business Express.
“She had a beautiful smile. She was soft-spoken. She was very calm but also firm,” said Jessica.
State Media
Additional Reporting: Zwnews
