Barbara Saben

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Barbara Saben
Nominated Member of the Legislative Council
In office
1954–1961
Mayor of Kampala
In office
1961–1962
Preceded byS. W. Kulubya
Succeeded byP.I. Patel
Personal details
Born1912
India
Died16 September 2014 (aged 102)
United Kingdom

Dorothy Barbara Saben CBE (1912 – 16 September 2014) was a Ugandan politician. She and Alice Boase were appointed to the Legislative Council in 1954, becoming its first female members. Saben later served as the first female mayor of Kampala.

Biography[edit]

Saben was born in India in 1912. After receiving a private education, she studied at St James College in London form 1931 to 1932.[1] She moved to Uganda in 1940 with her businessman husband.[2] She was a founder member of the Uganda Council of Women in 1946. In the 1951 New Year Honours she was awarded an MBE for her public service in Uganda. She was also a founder member of the National Council of Social Service, serving as its president.[1]

In 1954 Saben and Alice Boase were appointed to the Legislative Council, becoming its first female members.[3] Following the 1958 elections she became deputy chair of the Representative Members' Organisation, a grouping of the nominated members.[4] She remained on the Council until 1961.[5] Saben had also become a member of Kampala City Council when it was established.[6] After serving as deputy mayor from 1959 to 1960,[2] she became the first female mayor of the city in 1961, serving until 1962.[3] She was awarded a CBE in the 1963 New Year Honours; later in the same year she resigned from the City Council.[1]

She died in the United Kingdom in September 2014.[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Who's who in East Africa, 1965, p103
  2. ^ a b Mijail C. Mendoza Escalante & Joy C. Kwesiga (2002) The Women's Movement in Uganda: History, Challenges, and Prospects, p206
  3. ^ a b Aili Mari Tripp (2012) Women and Politics in Uganda p39
  4. ^ David Ernest Apter (1997) The Political Kingdom in Uganda: A Study of Bureaucratic Nationalism p409
  5. ^ Aili Mari Tripp (2001) Women's Mobilization in Uganda: Nonracial Ideologies in European-African-Asian Encounters, 1945-1962 The International Journal of African Historical Studies, volume 34, number 3, pp543–564
  6. ^ Official Report, Uganda. National Assembly, 1962, p192
  7. ^ Dorothy Barbara Saben C.B.E. Eastern Daily Press, 23 September 2014