Kampala, (UG): Hon Ssegirinya Muhammad, the Kawempe North Member of Parliament died Thursday at Lubaga Hospital at the age of 37, leaving his party, the opposition National Unity Party (NUP) and the entire nation in grief.
“With deep sorrow, Lubaga Hospital announces the passing of Hon. Muhammad Ssegirinya, the Honorable Member of Parliament for Kawempe North,” Lubaga Hospital announced in an official statement on Thursday afternoon.
“Hon. Ssegirinya has been under the dedicated care of our medical team at Lubaga Hospital. Despite all efforts to ensure his recovery, he passed away today, Thursday, 9th January 2025, at 12:10 pm,” the statement added.
Who was Ssegirinya Muhammad?
Elected to represent the people of Kawempe North in the 11th Parliament in the 2021 general election, Ssegirinya, who formerly represented the people of Kawempe Division as Lord Councillor had been in and out of the hospital both within and out of the country undergoing treatment ever since his health worsened upon release from Kigo prison.
Early life and education
Ssegirinya Muhammad was born in 1988 in Butale, Kadugala, Masaka District, Uganda. In a family of Catholics together with four other siblings, he was the firstborn. His birth name was Richard Ssegirinya but the future MP would later adopt the name Muhammad when he switched to Islam.
While at NTV’s ‘Tuwaye’ show a few years ago, Ssegirinya narrated his childhood as one that was full of poverty which even forced him to sell sugarcane from his peasant father who he described as a very poor peasant man.
He studied his primary at Kadugala P/S and scored 13 Aggregates He also attended Kaddugala Secondary School and Pimba Secondary School in Kyebando for secondary school education.
According to official documents that Ssegirinya used to contest for the parliamentary seat for Kawempe North, he holds a certificate in Urban food experience from Netherlands, an equivalent to a Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education which is the bare minimum qualification for the MP position in the East African country.
Politics and exposure
Ssegirinya started getting known among Ugandans in 2006 when he became a prominent caller on popular radio political talk shows and debating with prominent politicians and issues affecting the people around him.
Then a Senior Three student at Pimba Secondary in Kyebando, Kawempe North constituency, Ssegirinya would refer to himself as “eddoboozi lye Kyebando” or the voice of Kyebando.
He later transformed into a social media sensation under the name ‘Mr. Update’, and when his ambitions grew, he would sign in and sign off as “MP to be, Kawempe North.”
Political Journey
In 2011 Ssegirinya contested for Kawempe North parliamentary seat but lost the vote. He contested again in the 2016 FDC party primaries for the same position, but again lost. Resultantly, Ssegirinya switched gears and went for the position of councillor representing Kawempe Division at KCCA, and won the election.
He served in the position from 2016 to 2021 but would later announce intentions to become the area MP on the National Unity Platform ticket in the 2021 general elections. He defeated nine other contestants including then-incumbent Abdulatif Ssebagala Ssengendo and former Deputy Lord Mayor Sulaiman Kidandala.
His victory was challenged in court by one of his contenders (Sulaiman Kidandala) but the case was dismissed and the court declared him the winner.
Arrest, Torture and Treatment
Barely months after his dominant win at the ballot, Ssegirinya and Allan Ssewanyana, a fellow NUP member and lawmaker for Makindye West, were arrested after being connected to the machete killings in greater Masaka districts.
After their arrest in September, the two were granted bail on September 21, only to be rearrested shortly after at the outskirts of Kigo prison. Fresh murder charges were preferred against them, stemming from the Lwengo District machete killings where more than 20 people were killed.
For the one-and-half years, Ssegirinya and Ssewanyana spent on remand, rumours circulated that their imprisonment had nothing to do with the crimes they had allegedly committed. Conspiracy theories instead offered without giving evidence that the arrests were triggered by the lawmakers’ dealings with the powerful people within the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.
After his release from prison on bail, Ssegirinya was in and out of hospitals in Nairobi, Kampala, and Amsterdam, Netherlands receiving medication.
Ssegirinya barely attended any parliamentary proceedings but had declared in August 2024 that he would contest once more for the post of Kawempe North in the 2026 general elections.
Family life
Ssegirinya’s social life has not been publicly known but during his ailment and medical trips, his wife and brother always moved with him in and out of hospitals. His mother, recently cried out to President Museveni to pardon his son which ultimately led to his release from prison to go for treatment.
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