Ugandan media and sports personality Cedric Babu Ndilima died at Aga Khan Hospital in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on May 31, 2025. His family described his last weeks as “a long and courageous fight.”
For weeks since he collapsed in Rwanda, he had been admitted in hospital in Nairobi, spending several days in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Ugandans have been paying tribute to Cedric Babu.
Let’s delve into Cedric Babu’s profile.
Cedric Babu was born on August 31, 1976 in Kenya. He was born to former housing minister and retired flight captain Francis Babu and Olive Kigongo (of Uganda National Chamber of Commerce – and formerly married to ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) national vice chairman.
He was the third born of the seven children in the Francis Babu family.
EDUCATION AND SPORTS
Because of his father’s job, Cedric Babu found himself travelling countries at a young age. In Kindergarten, he was in the UK, before joining Kenton College in Kenya.
Cedric Babu previously hailed Kenton College calling it “the foundation of my life” and “where I made lifelong friends.”
He joined boarding school at the age of seven.
Cedric Babu loved sports. He particularly excelled in tennis, winning U-12, U-14, and U-18 in Uganda’s junior tennis circuits.
Thanks to his tennis skills, Cedric Babu earned a scholarship to Bethune-Cookman University in Florida, USA, where he bagged a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He was also known for playing collegiate tennis.
He also got a postgraduate degree in Computing and Information Systems from the University of Ulster in UK.
Cedric Babu had a Master of Business Administration from the University of Miami, and a degree in International Business Administration from the University of Florida.
In 2011, Cedric Babu was elected President of the Uganda Tennis Association (UTA). He was reelected to the same position in 2018. He is remembered for helping Uganda Tennis Association regain full membership in the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
In 2016, Cedric Babu was the Uganda Olympic Team Manager at the Rio de Janeiro Games. From 2017 to 2021, he was chairperson of the Marketing Commission of the Uganda Olympic Committee.
MEDIA
He hosted The Cedric Live Show, a Sunday evening talk show on state broadcaster UBC TV where he hosted prominent politicians, sportspeople, business players and others.
At the same station, Cedric Babu was appointed Head of Corporate Communications, Sales, and Marketing in 2018.
POLITICS
Cedric Babu ran for Kampala Central MP seat in the 2021 parliamentary polls. Then a ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), Cedric Babu had the support of President Yoweri Museveni. Museveni’s son Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, now Uganda’s top military chief, also endorsed Cedric Babu. But he lost to Muhammad Nsereko.
Cedric Babu had a few years ago joined Gen Muhoozi’s Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), a political organization pushing for the first son’s political interest, including the idea of him succeeding his 80-year-old father as president.
He was the PLU vice chairman for Kampala.
He had been widely expected to run for the Kampala Central MP seat whose current occupant plans to run for president next year.
Cedric Babu is survived by three sons and their mother. The tennis skills of his son Cillian Asante Ndilima won him (Cillian Asante Ndilima) a four-year scholarship to the Evert Tennis Academy in Florida in 2024.
Meanwhile, you can see how much had been donated for Cedric Babu’s heart transplant in London by the time he died, Here.
Cedric Babu’s GoFundMe fundraiser showed how divided a nation Uganda is, with some people bringing up his friendship with first son Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, and former minister Sam Kuteesa’s mega church. (See Details Here and There).
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