At 58, MP Sematimba says it is never too late to follow one’s ambitions

Peter Sematimba, the Busiro South Member of Parliament (MP) has been a huge subject of interest to many Ugandans since the recent release of the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Examination (UACE) on February 27.

The interest in him stems from the fact that he is among last year’s senior six candidates who received their respective results upon the issued date.

The businessman and legislator sat for his final examinations at Kakoola High School, in Luweero District. Asked why he chose this particular school, Sematimba says it met his need for privacy while he studied. But Sematimba did not go to class every day like most students do when preparing for UACE. In fact, this period of studies was a grueling time for him.

The intense preparations

Preparing for the final UACE examinations often takes two years. But Sematimba says he did not have time to prepare for this long. Instead he studied for 10 months, from January, 2019 until the time he sat for his final papers in November, the same year.

His class arrangement was totally different from that of other students. And it came at a cost.

In fact, the legislator says he probably spent about Shs12 million throughout the 10 months of study.

During an afternoon interview held at Super FM offices, in Rubaga, a city suburb, Sematimba said, “Teachers would come to my offices at Super FM on Saturdays and Sunday and conduct lessons. They would teach me everything because I never had time to attend classes during weekdays at the school.”

The lessons went on from 8am to 6pm with breaks.

Then, during the weekdays, he had to find the time for doing homework and reading.

“It was such an intense time. I can honestly say that there was never a free moment. There just seemed to be never enough time in the day. I felt like I needed 36 hours in a day but then there were only 24. And so, everything came down to prioritising the most important things,” he says.

Sematimba utilised mostly night hours for reading. Sometimes, if he was on a long flight to another country, he would grab this chance too to read a few things.

“I think last year was one of the years I slept the least in a long time because I always needed to be awake for as long as I could, to get things done,” he says.

Besides being an MP, Sematimba owns and manages three companies and sits on boards of four other institutions including national ones.

Favourite subjects

Despite the demanding schedule, Sematimba did enjoy part of the studies. He says he enjoyed studying art as he reasons, “I am naturally very talented as an artist.”

The other subject he liked was CRE.

 “It’s probably because I have a personal relationship with God and also, I enjoyed going into depth studying historical figures like the Israelites,” he says, adding, “And for such reasons, I was truly shocked when I did not get an A in CRE. I was totally blown away.”

On the other hand, he did not enjoy studying literature that much because some books on the syllabus were written in old English with words like thou, thee, thine, whence, among others. So, it took a while to grasp the messages in these respective books.

The final exam

When the day finally came around, Sematimba did not wear a uniform for the final exams after reasoning that he was registered as a private student.

“But I still was very smart as I sat my papers. I dressed in casual trousers, shirts and closed shoes. It was only during the last day that I wore a suit and tie,” he says, adding, “I only found it a little weird sitting with very young students, whose age matches that of some of my colleagues’ grandchildren. But they were nice kids and I am wishing them the best in their next chapters of life.”

He is most grateful to his family members as well as Pastors Robert and Jessica Kayanja of Miracle Centre Cathedral. They continuously motivated and encouraged him to aim for the prize even when things got overwhelming. He did not tell so many people about his studies out of fear that the whole thing would be blown out of proportion especially on social media.

Going back to the results he got, Sematimba says these final points are not what he expected. He scored a credit six in General Paper, a D in Christian Religious Education (CRE), a D in literature in English, a B in Art and credit four in Computer studies. This added to 13 points out of the total 20.

“I expected a minimum of 16 points. But then again, 13 points are also good. I passed,” he says.

The inspiration for sitting the examinations

Sematimba says prior to sitting last year’s examinations, he already had academic documents that were equivalent of senior six or UACE.

“These documents were obtained after studying in America. However, every time I win an election here (in Uganda), people take me to court saying that I am not educated enough. That I don’t have what is required to be a viable and official candidate,” he says.

“As a matter of fact after winning the elections to become an MP for Busiiro South (in 2016), it was when the court battles began. Legal action was taken by Ssekigozi and company claiming the same thing that I don’t have the academic qualifications which of course I did have after the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) Council proved that.”

It cost him a staggering amount of Shs350 million to prove his case. Sematimba eventually retained the seat.

And since the 2021 elections are just around the corner, Sematimba says he wanted to save himself another round of expensive court battles.

 “People failed to understand the American version of my qualifications. For instance, every time I explained to people that I have an associate’s degree in computer technology from the Pacific Coast Technical Institute(PCTI), they got confused. At least now I have the Ugandan version of academic qualifications that these local politicians understand.”

It is now a chapter closed in his life.

What’s the next plan now?

Sematimba finds it interesting that a lot of people his age are retiring, yet, he personally feels like his life is just starting all over again.

“I feel like a real senior six “vacist”. I have got my whole life ahead of me, and boy, I am excited,” he says.

Sematimba will be making 58 years in April this year.

So what’s next? Sematimba highlights some of his projects in the pipeline.

“I preparing for next year’s elections as well as currently making more money and creating more businesses. By the way, I built a recording studio, so, I am back into music. I will be releasing a new single soon,” he concludes.

Sematimba’s words of wisdom

“In life, you will not be fulfilled if you don’t pursue your heart’s desires.  If you have a dream inside you or a need to get something done, go for it. What stops a lot of people from chasing their dreams is the fear of what their peers will say about them. A case in point, many people remain poor because they are scared of what their fellow poor people will say about them. But that does not make sense to me. If you don’t feed me or take care of my children, why would I even care what you think? Have the guts to care less what people think and say about you. Rather, chase after your dreams. You won’t regret it. The same people you left behind will eventually realise they need you. They will start seeking your help and advice before eventually moving forward themselves.”