David William Magezi. PHOTO/COURTESY
David William Magezi, 26, became a social media sensation on February 21, 2025, when he held a press conference at Makerere University Business School (Mubs) to announce his presidential bid. The internet was abuzz, not just with his ambitions, but with the unconventional English he used to articulate them. His videos went viral across platforms, sparking a mix of amusement, admiration, and bewilderment. He has since become a recurring feature on NTV’s Friday night segment Zungulu, which highlights bizarre and captivating moments from Ugandan life.
This prompted him to launch his own TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) accounts, where he continues to share videos in his signature “controversial English” style, often leaving viewers scrambling to decipher his vocabulary. Magezi, a graduate of Human resource Management from Mubs explains, “I realised it is a talent that few people have. It makes people love to hear me speak. It makes me unique. People are not looking for you; they are looking for what you carry. If you do not have anything, they will leave.” “It makes me look so different from everyone and gives me an audience. It has opened doors and brought opportunities.”
About the presidential bid...
“The dream, vision, and love I have for my country come from growing up as an orphaned child. Leadership is my calling. I want to hold people’s hands and be the reason someone believes in the goodness of others. I am interested in power that is good, moral, and that which changes lives,” he said with conviction. He intends to run for the presidency in the country’s 2026 elections, a goal he has harboured since childhood. “Whenever I told students about my dream of becoming a president, they laughed at me.
They would ask, ‘Who is an orphan, who will hear you? Who will give you a platform?’ But I have never changed my mind,” he says. His painful upbringing, he adds, has shaped his vision for a more equitable Uganda. “As I embark on this new challenge, I am reminded of the Aristotelian concept of eudaimonia. This, emphasises the pursuit of happiness and fulfilment through virtuous living,” Magezi says.
So, who is Magezi?
Born on October 15, 1998 in Namungoona, Kampala City, Magezi lost his father Disan Ssekiziyivu in infancy and later lost his mother, Alice when he was seven years old. “When my mother died, they sold the land where we used to stay. I had no one to take care of me. I started sleeping on streets at seven years old. I used to go to Kisenyi, Nakulabye, Kasubi, Kawaala, and Katwe to look for food,” Magezi recounts. He dropped out of school in Primary Four and spent three years on the streets, scavenging for scrap metal and plastic bottles to sell in exchange for food and a few shillings.
“I used to survive on the little money I had collected from selling scrap to get by the day. I would use the balance to watch movies in makeshift cinema halls (bibanda) to pass time. Each kilo of scrap by then cost Shs200, and I had to collect 10 to 20 kilos to afford a decent meal,” he recollects. He also joined informal dance competitions, played football, and even got involved in street fights. “My life was so hard. I had almost lost hope of returning to school,” he adds.
A turning point
Magezi’s fortunes changed when Hands of Love, a charity organisation based in the US, came to his aid. The organisation took him off the streets and enrolled him at Hands of Love Primary School in Wakiso, where he resumed his education from Primary Four and completed Primary Seven in 2014. However, the transition from street life to a structured school environment was turbulent. “I was expelled from school on several occasions because of my behaviour. I had 27 suspensions and four expulsions.
I remember being expelled by a principal who never liked me or appreciated any good thing I did. Talent-wise, I was not appreciated. But I worked hard even when I had nowhere else to go,” he explains. With no relatives to turn to, Magezi was later adopted by Ms Shalomy Mwebaza, then the sponsorship coordinator at Hands of Love, who took him into her home and became a key influence in his life. By 2018, Magezi had completed Senior Four, and in 2020, he sat A-Level exams under the sponsorship of Hands of Love.
Emerging leader
Throughout his education, Magezi was active in student leadership. He served as a sports prefect, timekeeper, and head monitor in primary school. In secondary school, he again held several leadership roles. “I contested for head prefect but was defeated. I was cheated by the son of the head teacher,” he claims. “They compensated me with the position of general prefect because students believed in me. They needed an aggressive and talented leader like me.” At Mubs, Magezi served as guild representative councillor and later chaired the university’s electoral commission.
He oversaw the highly contested 2024 student elections that saw social media favourite Juma Waswa Balunywa disqualified, paving the way for Moses Amanya’s victory. “My story is one of resilience, determination, and a passion for leadership, underscored by an unyielding commitment to the well-being of my fellow Ugandans.” From a boy who once fought for scrap to a man now fighting for change, Magezi’s journey is testament to perseverance, purpose, and the unrelenting belief in a better tomorrow.
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Ms Shalomy Mwebaza, the adoptive mother of Magezi, says she groomed Magezi from street life to a successful person, the task, she says, was not easy.
“Much as he was stubborn from the streets, he also listened to my counsel. I transformed his behaviour because he respected and listened to me; he would change whenever I advised him to,” Ms Mwebaza says.
She adds, “We used to receive street children asking them what they wanted to be in the future. When I asked him, he told me that he wanted to become a president. I asked him a president of where, and he answered, Uganda. He was still young, but he had a vision. I thought he was joking; when the boss of the organisation was interviewing him, he also disclosed the same.”
