On March 26, 2023, Lucy Kahubire Adyeeri celebrated what her grand children say is her 130th birthday. It was a colorful thanksgiving ceremony at Rwegoma Christian Fellowship Church, which sits in her compound in Rwegoma Village in Fort Portal City Central division.
Kahubire’s children say she was born during the reign of Omukama Kabalega and being 130 years old would make her the oldest known living Ugandan. The last known Ugandan said to be over 130 years was Yohana (John) Ahuruma who died at what many believe to be 134 years in 2019.
John Ahuruma, who Museveni built a house in 2016, just estimated his age like many Ugandans of the time.
“The missionaries estimated my age. When I went for baptism teaching, they looked at me and decided that I was 10 years. That was in 1895,” Ahuruma said before his death.
All these ages and dates are not verified.
The oldest known living person whose age is verified is Maria Branyas Morera, aged 116 years, 24 days born on March 4, 1907, in the US state of California and now living in Spain.
The oldest person ever whose age has been verified is Jeanne Calment (1875-1997) of France, who lived to the age of 122.
The Lucy Kahubire Adyeeri story
Kahubire is said to have been born on March 26, 1893, to the late Daudi Kabairu and Rebecca Tibareka in Kyaburungi Village in Bwanika parish, Burahya sub-county, which was part of Tooro County at the time. Nowadays, Bwanika parish is in Kichwamba sub-county, Kabarole district. She was the sixth of eight children in the family, all of whom have since passed away.
Kahubire is said to have been born during the reign of Omukama Kabalega, and she vividly remembers when Kabalega and Kabaka Mwanga were arrested in 1899. At the time, she was said to be six years old, and she recalls how the subjects were happy and jubilant at the arrest of the Omukama because they believed he was a dictator and that Europeans had saved them from his harsh rule.
In her youth, she got married to Yafesi Rujumba but could not conceive because she was barren. After the death of her husband, she left their matrimonial home and went back to her parents.
Violet Nyakairu, 72, a granddaughter of Kahubire, told URN that they were able to confirm her great-aunt’s age through a family book that contained documents like baptism cards, birth certificates, and other records.
However, after her aunt died, they were unable to locate the book.
Nyakairu narrated that during her childhood, Kahubire was a God-fearing person who never missed going to church on Sundays. Her passion for the church was instilled by the Christian missionaries who taught her how to read the Bible and write her name.
After learning how to read the Bible, Kahubire later became a catechist in the Anglican Church, a position she held until 1982 when she joined the born-again faith. Nyakairu described her grandmother’s long life as a miracle that never happens to anyone.
Rodgers Isingoma, a member at Kabarole Christian Fellowship Church where Kahubire is a member, said that she joined the born-again faith at the age of 90 after she was bitten by a snake.
“She was bitten by a snake and came to our lead Pastor KL Dickson who prayed for her and she got healed. After the healing she refused to go back to the Anglican Church where she was a catechist and became born again,” he added.
Isingoma described Kahubire as a strong believer who loves Jesus. Topista Kabagenyi, who takes care of the elderly woman, said that Kahubire is a kind person who is always cheerful.
Kabagenyi, who has been taking care of her for the past ten years, added that Kahubire is still strong at her age because she has no chronic diseases and can still see clearly, hear, and speak. Kahubiire’s favorite foods include Irish potatoes, bananas, groundnuts, millet bread, and beef. However, her food is always pounded and mixed with soup before being spoon-fed.
At the thanksgiving ceremony, Kahubire expressed gratitude to God for the gift of long life.
At her age, Kahubire has witnessed significant historical events like the signing of the 1900 Buganda Agreement, the construction of the Uganda Railway (1896), World War I (1914), World War II (1939), colonial rule, and Uganda’s attainment of independence (1962), among others.