Uganda-born Mpambara vies for US Senate position

Ugandan-born Anita Mpambara Cox is currently on the campaign trail in a bid to become the Republican Party’s state senate flag bearer for the Maryland Legislative District 19. If the July 19 primary election (two days from now) goes badly for her opponent, Mpambara will be ushered into a fully-fledged election campaign to become the Senate representative for her area, District 19 in Maryland, US.

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Going by the short correspondence that has taken place for this article, Mpambara is obviously one of those people that does whatever she does at 100 percent. Most impressive is her humility, her sweet personality that comes through in the conversations, and her ability to always be in the moment, giving you full undivided attention. All this while on the road, running a tough election campaign as a republican candidate in a heavily Democrat-leaning state. 

Mpambara comes from a long line of administrators in pre-independence Kigezi, western Uganda. Both sets of her grandparents headed their tribal clans and run local affairs. 

In 1962, her father, Sepi Mukombe Mpambara, was one of the people that worked to see Uganda gain her independence from the British and on October 9 that same year, he was one of the people standing on the president’s podium in Kololo as the Union Jack was pulled down and Uganda’s flag was raised for the very first time. So in that way, Mpambara is walking in the footsteps of her father. 

Her mother, known for her candour and boundless energy, was the proprietor of a well-known restaurant in Kampala, and run the family farm. 

Early life

Because of the political instability of the 70s and the 80s, Mpambara spent her childhood living in Kenya, Tanzania and later, the UK. 

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She did her primary school at Kabale Preparatory School and later joined Namasagali College for her O and A levels. 

Mpambara left Uganda as a teenager in the early 1980s when her parents fled the country due to political persecution in Milton Obote’s second presidency. The family stayed in Tanzania for a short time before Amnesty International worked to have them transferred him to London. 

In London, she attended school in North London and later the University of Wales earning her degrees in Economics and International Strategic Studies. 

It was while living in London that she met and married her American husband in 1993, and became a ‘trailing spouse’ within the US State Department’s diplomatic corps living and working overseas. 

Her love for people
Mpambara seems to be driven by strong urge to take care of people. Her love for people is something that comes through even in a casual interaction. 
In 2005, Mpambara left her embassy job to become a homemaker, to raise her children and volunteer in the community. 

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In 2008 she came over to visit her family in Kabale District with a plan to start a pen pal programme between children in the US and those in Kabale. 

“After visiting 21 primary schools I saw a disturbing pattern emerge of what seemed like a huge dropout rate. I knew about it, but had no idea it was as severe. Towards the end of my visit, I convened a meeting of all the 21 headmasters and went to the parents directly. It was in these one-on-one meetings with parents that I put together, in my mind, the school meals idea,” she says.

What started out as a pen pal programme fast became a feeding project. Her late mother would help her roll it out even before she landed back in the US, while her brother kept an eye on things. Today, the result of that effort is that her Mpambara Cox Foundation has provided almost 4m meals since 2009. 

“I grew up watching my father giving opportunity to others. Emulating that, I sought to give back to the community that nurtured me through a programme that was education-focused and connected children across countries on different continents.

The programme went from being a pen pal programme to one that has provided four million school meals to children in Kabale. I was also seeking a way to ground my own children and teach them practical empathy,” she says.

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The foundation’s programmes have grown to include women’s micro-finance, clean water in schools, school gardens, and opening the only public library in southwestern Uganda. 

“The interesting story [about the library] is that it was actually born out of a shipping mistake. We packed and shipped a full container of what we thought were children’s books for the primary schools I had visited the year before. But when we opened the boxes, we found that about a quarter of the books were adult books - the boxes had been mislabelled. Without a plan for distribution, I decided we should open a ‘Reader’s Corner’ in one part of the foundation’s offices so they could be available to anyone to borrow,” Mpambara narrates. 

During lockdown Mpambara’s ever-present love for people kicked in again. She started a news aggregation website, mothersdailyreport.com to help parents find quality home-school resources in direct response to the many calls she received from parents, especially those with limited English. 

The family podcast
Mpambara is the host and producer of family a podcast titled This Blue Kitchen that she says “seeks to discuss and find solutions to Maryland’s Kitchen Table issues bills, vacations, tuition, health care, and so on…” Her interviews are laced with her warm personality, her innate journalistic curiosity and her obvious desire to help people. 

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It is her personal initiatives like these and countless community leadership roles that have made Mpambara a darling to the people that she now hopes to represent in the state senate.

Election prospects
Mpambara is running against a businessman originally from El-Salvador whose policy positions and hers do not differ much. They are two Republicans contesting in a primary. So it is more a matter of voters choosing who they think is best to represent the party and to take on the entrenched Democrat opponent in November.

“There are no opinion polls that I have seen, but I feel good about my chances based on the hard work - like a true Mukiga - that I am putting into the effort,” she smiles. 

Her core policy focus
She says her core focus in the state senate will be to figure out how to shift things more to the centre. 
“Democrats came to power promising to ‘Build Back Better’ and that backfired. You don’t hear that anymore because the recovery from Covid has been botched. What they brought was policies that led to these problems that are adversely affecting families on a daily basis: the highest inflation in 58 years, uptick in crime, failing education systems, 38 per cent retirement of fed-up teachers in my area alone, etc.” she says.

Mpambara adds: “I will focus on legislation that boosts Maryland’s edge in business. I will focus on education policy that reduces violence in schools and allows parents to choose schools that their children attend, lowering the tax burden, and revamping disability services (especially for children).” 

Why she decided to run
Mpambara says she entered the political scene because her children are emerging adults now and the world they are stepping into needs to be righted. 

“I have been in the US State Department for many years, many countries and many portfolios. What is clear is that comparatively speaking, America is losing its competitive edge very fast. One can sit and complain and hope, or one can get practical and try to find solutions. I am more of a practical person.”

In two days, Mpambara may win the ticket to become the Republican Party’s flag bearer in Maryland’s District 19 and when that happens, her chances to unseat the incumbent, Benjamin F. Kramer, a member of the Democratic Party.