Business Leader Samuel Owori to become first Ugandan head of Rotary International
NAN-ELS-5
Rotary
By Ebere Agozie
Abuja, Oct.6, 2016 (NAN) Samuel Owori of Kampala, Uganda has been confirmed president-nominee of Rotary International, a humanitarian service organisation that unites leaders committed to improving lives, bringing positive and lasting change to communities around the world.
This is contained in a statement issued by Rotary International and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday.
Owori, who had been a member of the Rotary Club for 38 years said that Rotary had become a way of life for him.
“I feel immense satisfaction knowing that through Rotary, I have helped someone live better
with the intrinsic value and core belief in mutual responsibility and concern for one another as a cornerstone.’’
During his one-year term as Rotary’s 108th president, Owori would focus on building membership worldwide, increasing visibility and understanding of Rotary.
He played an instrumental role in growing the number of clubs in Uganda from nine to 89 over the course of 29 years.
He said that through friendship and service, membership in Rotary offered countless ways to connect and create meaningful change in communities, as well as see the world through a more global lens.
“Today more than ever, the world needs to know and understand Rotary’s impact and values of advancing international understanding, goodwill and peace.
“Rotary members throughout the world take action to make communities better and they contribute their time, energy and passion to carry out impactful and sustainable projects.
“The projects are in the areas of peace and conflict resolution, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, and economic and community development.’’
As president, Owori would oversee Rotary’s top humanitarian goal of eradicating the paralysing disease `polio’.
Rotary launched polio immunisation programme PolioPlus in 1985, and in 1988 became a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative with the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and U.S Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Since the initiative was launched, the incidence of polio had plummeted by more than 99.9 percent, from about 350,000 cases a year to 26 confirmed to date in 2016.
Rotary has contributed more than 1.6 billion dollars and countless volunteer hours to immunise more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries.
Owori is presently the Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Corporate Governance of Uganda.
Before then, he was the executive director of the African Development Bank, managing director of Uganda Commercial Bank Ltd and director of Uganda Development Bank.
He studied law, employment relations, business management, corporate resources management, microfinance, and marketing at institutions in England, Japan, Switzerland, Tanzania, and the United States, including Harvard Business School. (NAN)
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Edited by Ese E. Ekama