Uganda’s diplomatic fraternity is grieving the death of Ambassador Santa Mary Laker Kinyera, the country’s Deputy High Commissioner to Rwanda, who passed away on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, at Mulago Specialised National Referral Hospital in Kampala.
She had been undergoing treatment for an illness that was not publicly disclosed. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced her passing in an official statement, expressing profound sorrow at the loss of a senior and long-serving diplomat.
According to the ministry, Uganda has lost a devoted public servant whose career was marked by decades of commitment to advancing the nation’s foreign policy and strengthening diplomatic ties.
Ambassador Kinyera began her service with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1994 and steadily advanced through the ranks during a career spanning more than 30 years. Throughout that time, she worked in various departments at the ministry’s headquarters and represented Uganda in several missions abroad.
Between 1995 and 1999, she served in the Africa and Middle East Department, where she focused on bilateral relations and regional integration. She was also a member of Uganda’s delegation in negotiations that culminated in the signing of the East African Community Treaty, a landmark agreement that bolstered cooperation among East African nations.
In 2000, she was appointed to an inter-ministerial committee charged with facilitating the repatriation of Ugandan children abducted to Sudan by the Lord’s Resistance Army. She later contributed to regional peace efforts under the auspices of the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
Her overseas assignments included a posting to Uganda’s mission in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she served as Second Secretary and later First Secretary from 2002 to 2007. She also played a pivotal role in setting up Uganda’s embassy in Ankara, Turkey, becoming the mission’s first Chargé d’Affaires.
At the time of her death, Ambassador Kinyera was stationed in Kigali as Uganda’s Deputy High Commissioner to Rwanda, where she worked to enhance relations between the two neighbouring countries.
