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Ssegirinya’s final update; the chaos in Buganda’s politics

What you need to know:
- Ssegirinya leaves behind a divided house just like his funeral which had different ceremonies
Many years ago, a voice on most political and social radio talk shows signed out as Ssegirinya ‘edoboozi lya Kyebando.’ Soon television stations, especially NTV too, started following him and his dramatic, comical approach to political protests. He went with the times and active on social media he became. Here he endeavoured to give his views and bring all to speed with information, especially on his political activities. It earned him the moniker, ‘Mr Update.’
He became a councillor and before we knew it in 2021 he was the duly elected, by a country mile, MP for Kawempe North Constituency. No sooner had he sat in the August House, where he promised to raise the level of debate with a touch of sophisticated English, than he was incarcerated. The reign of terror by panga-wielding assailant in Masaka between 2021 and 2022 was placed squarely at Ssegirinya and Makindye West MP Allan Ssewanyana’s feet. His health deteriorated while on the other side of the prison gate.
The courts did not entertain his plea for bail even when it was visibly obvious that he was on his way down. By the time he was dispatched to the Netherlands and later Nairobi, he was holding on to life with everything. The Message Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 12: 4-7 that “…Yes, you are well on your way to eternal rest, while your friends make plans for your funeral. Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over.
Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends. The body is put back in the same ground it came from. The spirit returns to God who breathed it. Muhammad Ssegirinya, 37, who was formerly Richard before he took shahada and converted to Islam, is now deeply and peacefully resting in his grave. The friends who made plans for his funeral, especially from his NUP party, which is the leading Opposition party by way of MPs, are at a crossroads.
Its success in the 2021 general election was mainly in the Buganda region where most of its 57 MPs hold seats. It also ended the dominance of the ruling NRM in the region. Naturally, the NRM is not sleeping because the Buganda area is not only populous but is also the seat of government. You can’t claim to be in charge when you sit among people who have rejected you.
Since 2021 there have been efforts by the NRM government to take back Buganda. They involve picking influencers from ghettos to musicians to counter NUP leader, Hon Robert Kyagulanyi’s charisma and following. Bobi Wine, as he is popularly known by his stage name, commands a great following in this area. Money has been put into the project as well. So have other government programmes like PDM, skilling of the youth plus outright buy-offs of individuals to denounce and paint NUP ugly. The hard method has been to arrest, disappear, and prosecute NUP members for lengthy periods in the military court martial.
Eventually, some have broken down into confessing serious crimes against the state. The worrisome is that NRM still has the security agencies, military court martial, the courts, and the money too. There are also many poor and not-so-poor people ready to do anything for money. For NUP MPs to consolidate their position in the area, they have engaged in incessant verbal criticism on social media and other channels. They have also pursued activities that bring them closer to the people. These include the provision of social services in the area of health, education, relief items, and even nutrition, by provision of foodstuffs to the hungry.
The late Ugandan president Godfrey Lukongwa Binaisa once said that Kampala is a city of seven rumours every day. The jostling between NRM and NUP has shaken the latter at its core with all manner of suspicions.
When Ssegirinya went out of his way to fulfil his promise to the people in his constituency, it was said he was given money by the government to outshine his masters. Others said no, it was funding from a foreign unfriendly government. On his incarceration, it was that a senior figure in NUP framed him so that he wins his seat in a by-election.
Others said no, it was Ssegirinya paying for receiving facilitation then failing to fulfil a promise to spy on his party. When it came to his release, the side that suggested negotiating with the state was accused of being moles and state operatives, holding out in the party to divide it. Others said those who did not tow this line were profiting from his suffering by using it as an alibi to justify their existence as freedom fighters, in their foreign fundraising travels.
When it came to his treatment abroad sponsored by the state, some claimed he was feigning illness to help the government appear magnanimous and put to shame his own party. It is all acrimony.Ssegirinya leaves behind a divided house just like his funeral which had different ceremonies. The party allegedly overruled the family by shunning the one sponsored by the Parliament instead opting to hold it at his ancestral home.
They are no longer one united front whose wave swept the political landscape not so long ago. We have two extremes. The mainstream behind Bobi Wine is steadfast in its opposition to the NRM, at least in public. Apparently, whoever wants to benefit from the popularity of Bobi Wine must show utmost intolerance to the NRM or anyone in the party who does not tow this line.
They even decampaign and ostracise them in public more than they do NRM leaders.They target those like Hon Mathias Nsamba Mpuuga, who call for restraint and negotiation with NRM. After his removal from the vice presidency of the party and the position of Leader of Opposition in Parliament for taking a Shs500 million service award, viewed by some as a ‘bribe’ to destabilise the party, most of Mpuuga’s actions and criticisms have been against NUP and not NRM.So the politics in Buganda is now characterised by Baganda fighting Baganda within the dominantly ‘Buganda’ party.
It is like they are content with consolidating their hold on Buganda and not crossing the river to the other side for a broader national leadership challenge. They make it appear like their pursuit of politics was more of personal elevation in social and pecuniary terms and thus have arrived. We can’t say with certainty that NRM is sponsoring this chaos. But it surely benefits from it. Should NUP have multiple candidates for seats in the area their vote will be split and NRM will seize the opportunity. Muhammed Ssegirinya, as you willed, keep fighting.
X: @nsengoba