Ssegirinya: MP who spent more time in prison than Parliament

“With deep sorrow, Lubaga Hospital announces the passing of Hon. Muhammad Ssegirinya, the Honourable Member of Parliament for Kawempe North,” the hospital said in a statement.

“On behalf of the hospital, we extend our heartfelt condolences to the Parliament of Uganda, the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, Hon Members of Parliament, his family, and the people of Kawempe North, whom he represented with passion and commitment. We join the nation in mourning a dedicated servant of the people. May his soul rest in eternal peace,” the hospital statement read, hours after a raging debate on his health sparked by NUP party leader Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, who said he was alive but brain dead after medics said all his body organs had shut down.

Ssegirinya, whose election was part of the wave that swept through central and parts of eastern Uganda, where young people allied to Bobi swept the 2021 elections, spent more time between hospital and prison than in Parliament. His contribution to the House was minimal, as he was arrested weeks after his election in 2021.

A leader from a humble beginning, his rise to Parliament was as controversial as his stay. A former city councillor, Ssegirinya’s rise to prominence was largely due to his constant phone calls to live political radio shows and his participation in protests against President Yoweri Museveni’s government.

He always tagged along prominent opposition leaders such as Kizza Besigye, Erias Lukwago and Kyagulanyi in protests, which earned him a seat as a councillor for Kawempe in the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) on a Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) ticket. He would later join NUP.

The legislator’s run-ins with the law and government intensified after his election to the House. He was arrested for taking part in a protest demanding the release of detained NUP members arrested during the 2020 election campaign. He was taken to Kitalya prison, which had become a home for political prisoners.

Ssegirinya was released in April 2021. But his health was poor and he complained of ear and abdominal complications. He was flown to Nairobi for treatment and was diagnosed with liver complications. Owing to his health, he requested to take the parliamentary oath via the digital meeting app Zoom, but was later able to attend the ceremony on May 20, 2021.

Speaking to the media after taking the oath, the legislator promised to share the money allocated to him to buy a vehicle with his constituents instead of enriching himself while his electors suffer. Ugandan MPs are given Ush200 million ($56,000) at the start of their term of office to purchase vehicles for their travels to their constituencies.

“I have a system in Kawempe which is called Ssegibox. I will use it to reach and give every family Ush100,000 ($27). I will be able to do that by using the money meant for my car,’ he said. ‘I will not buy a new car -- that’s being extravagant.”

A few months after taking his oath, Ssegirinya was arrested again on charges of links to terrorism and returned to Kitalya prison, where he spent nearly two years with his fellow MP Allan Ssewanyana. His health deteriorated while in jail and he blamed it on the conditions in prison.

The two MPs were released on February 13, 2023, and in the months that followed, Ssegirinya was bogged down by the court case and his frequent visits to medical facilities for treatment.

In September 2023, after a month of treatment in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, he returned home but remained weak and relatively quiet, especially in Parliament and in his constituency.

His death brings the debate about the upcoming elections to the fore, as the opposition takes the opportunity to hit out at the government for his continued detention without trial, which could have led to a deterioration in his health.

The government has been accused of intimidating opposition members, sometimes detaining them for many months without trial or charging them before the military court, which they say is biased and serving the interests of the government.

On Thursday, dozens of opposition supporters camped at NUP offices on the outskirts of Kampala as they followed updates on the burial arrangements.

According to a tentative programme released by the family, Ssegirinya will be buried on Saturday, January 11, 2025, in Masaka, about 120km southwest of Kampala.

Kyagulanyi, who kept updating supporters on the legislator’s condition said in a post on X: “Our brother, our friend, our fellow leader Hon. Muhammad Ssegirinya has passed on. Such a dark morning. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.”

Speaker Anita Among announced the legislator’s death in a communication to the parliament and the country a few minutes to 1pm.

“Dear countrymen and countrywomen, It is with deep sadness that I inform you of the passing of our brother, Hon. Muhammad Ssegirinya. I extend my heartfelt condolences to his family, the people of Kawempe North, whom he served with great commitment, and to the country at large. I have instructed the Clerk of Parliament to coordinate with the family regarding the necessary arrangements.”