Ssemujju Nganda: Only FDC MP-elect in central who resisted ‘red wave’

Fourteen years after Uganda re-introduced multiparty democracy, Mr Ssemujju’s party, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), went into a general election and had its presidential flag bearer Patrick Oboi Amuriat lagging a distant third in the ratings; with incumbent president Yoweri Museveni and National Unity Platform’s (NUP) Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, alias Bobi Wine, emerging the frontrunners.

In the previous three general elections, which were conducted under multiparty dispensation, FDC’s presidential candidate Kizza Besigye was the main challenger to Museveni’s decades hold onto power and most Opposition candidates at all levels, regardless of their political parties, wanted to associate with him, lest they faced the wrath of voters.

Being in the good books of Dr Besigye, for most of the Opposition candidates, was one way of ensuring victory. But this wasn’t the case this time around as Mr Kyagulanyi took over as Opposition torch bearer.

As the elections drew closer, Dr Besigye in several interviews warned that Mr Kyagulanyi was being egged on to stand for the presidency by Opposition politicians who aren’t interested in the ultimate goal of defeating Mr Museveni.
“They are telling him to stand because they want to take advantage of his popularity to win seats in Parliament or as councillors,” Dr Kizza Besigye said amid chuckles.

Mr Kyagulanyi’s popularity in Buganda region presented a headache for FDC candidates in this area. Their party had presented a candidate, but voters asked them to back the singer-turned-musician contending that he was the strongest among the Opposition lot.

The fear of Mr Kyagulanyi’s NUP in Buganda was manifested within FDC when Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago for the first time since 2001 decided not to openly campaign for any Opposition candidate.
From 2001 to 2016 Mr Lukwago openly backed FDC’s Besigye even when he was a Democratic Party member.

But having formally joined FDC last year,  Lukwago during the presidential race neither openly supported his party candidate Patrick Amuriat Oboi, nor did he openly support Mr Kyagulanyi.
“It’s not easy. We need unity within the Opposition,” Mr Lukwago kept on telling whoever asked him about who he was backing in the presidential race.  

This was in contrast to 2016 when Lukwago, who at the time was standing for Lord Mayor as an Independent, decided to support Dr Besigye, yet former prime minister John Patrick Amama Mbabazi who claimed before the campaigns could start that momentum, was with him to bring down his former boss, Mr Museveni.

When in December Mr Amuriat campaigned in some parts of Kampala such as Nakawa and Kawempe, Lukwago didn’t show up yet Dr Stella Nyanzi, who was running for Kampala Woman MP, Michael Kabaziguruka, who was trying to defend his Nakawa East seat, and Mr Ssemujju were there to back up their president.  
On January 20, Lukwago obtained 194,592 votes, easily shrugging off competition from NUP’s Nabilah Naggayi who got 60,082 votes yet she had counted on the red wave.

Another FDC candidate who managed to win in Buganda was Yusuf Nsibambi who won Mawokota South in Mpigi by openly supporting Mr Kyagulanyi.
When Mr Amuriat campaigned in Mpigi as the campaign period was coming to a close, Mr Nsibambi never showed up at his rallies as he was trying to fend off competition from NUP’s Joel Mirembe Nsubuga, NRM’s Susan Nakawuki and Independent John Bosco Lubyayi.

Even when Mr Amuriat was incarcerated in Mpigi and later produced at a Magistrate’s Court, Mr Nsibambi, a lawyer, never showed up as he never wanted to be at conflict with the NUP base which was asking voters to only tick the umbrella, their party’s symbol.
But in total defiance of this trend, Mr Ssemujju, a former journalist, sailed through despite openly supporting Mr Amuriat and he is not apologetic about.

“I didn’t support Kyagulanyi and I didn’t vote for him but I respect him,” Mr Ssemujju said in a recent interview.   
Mr Ssemujju, who made his debut in Parliament in 2011 when he was representing Kyadondo East before Kira Municipality was carved out of it, in this period has come to embody what FDC is all about with the party base now christening him “brand manager.”   
Though he admits that many people suggested to him that he should join NUP, Mr Ssemujju says it was never an option.

“The people who motivated me to join politics were Proscovia Salaam Musumba [former Bugabula South MP], John Kazoora [ former Kashari County MP] and Augustine Ruzindana [former Ruhama MP],” he says. “They have since all failed to make it back to Parliament because they opposed lifting of terms limits. I can’t just leave FDC because I want to secure a seat in Parliament.”

Option
Remaining in FDC while supporting Mr Kyagulanyi, just like Mr Nsibambi did, was also another option Ssemujju would have taken. But still, the MP didn’t consider it.

“I was involved in the process that brought POA as a presidential candidate,” Mr Ssemujju, 48, using the acronym that Mr Amuriat has adopted, says. “There was no way I was going to abandon him for Mr Kyagulanyi. That’s not how I work, but I respect Mr Kyagulanyi and I think he ran a good campaign.”
On the evening of January 14, it was apparent that NUP candidates in what has come to be known as the “red wave” had swept Kampala metropolitan, which constitutes Kampala proper, Wakiso and Mukono districts.  

Of the nine constituencies that comprise Wakiso District, including the Woman MP slot, it’s only Kira Municipality that defied the “red wave” by turning blue when Mr Ssemujju trounced NUP’s Jimmy Lukwago, alias Kira Young, having obtained 42,626 votes and winning all polling stations but one in the constituency.  

“I didn’t give my opponent a chance,” Ssemujju explains how he managed to brush off the umbrella onslaught. “I had to paint the whole skyline blue and for quite some time I knew that there weren’t going to have normal rallies because of Covid-19. So I rented many billboards a year before the elections,” Mr Ssemujju says.
 
Mr Ssemujju also talks about putting in place teams in all zones and villages in Kira that canvassed votes for him.
“In each zone, I had a team of about 30 to 40 people and they used even to compete on who was doing the best in terms of looking for votes for me,” he says. “On nomination day, I had about 170 taxis filled with my supporters.”

Another thing that worked in favour of Mr Ssemujju was his appearances on talk shows on both radio and television where he tears apart the regime, exciting his urban constituencies.
Late last November, Mr Ssemujju appeared on State-owned Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) political talk show called “Behind The Headlines” where he took on Gen Elly Tumwine,  the minister for Security.

The two were discussing the cause of the November 2020 riots in which more than 50 people were killed when security forces opened fire following the arrest of Mr Kyagulanyi in the eastern district of Luuka over claims of violating standard operating procedures (SOPs) in stopping the spread of Covid-19.
Having sparred with Gen Tumwine in which he accused him of impunity, consensus online was that Mr Ssemujju had “taken the Luweero Bush War hero to school”.

“There is a class of my constituents that live in Najjeera, Namugongo, part of Bweyogerere, Kyaliwajjala that follow such debates and they support me because of that,” Mr Ssemujju says. “I think I have done a good job of representing my people.”
Though 2026 when Uganda is scheduled to hold another general election is still far away, some believe that it’s about time that Mr Ssemujju presents himself for the topmost job in the country.

“By 2026 I would have spent 15 years in Parliament and I think that’s enough experience,” Mr Ssemujju explains his future ambitions.
“As a party, we shall sit down and discuss who will be the right candidate at that time but if we agree that I’m the one, then I will take it on, I have no doubts about that but five years is a lot of time in politics. A lot can change.”