Speaking before an adoring crowd of constituents on September 14, 2019, Foreign Affairs minister Sam Kahamba Kutesa announced his surprise retirement from elective politics and tapped his daughter Shartis Nayebare Musherure to replace him in Mawogola North, a constituency he has represented since his election to the Constituent Assembly in 1994.
His retirement marks the end of an active political life spanning nearly four decades. By 2021 when the current term of office of this parliament expires, Kutesa will have clocked 41 years in the House since he first won the Mbarara North seat in the 1980 general election beating compatriot Yoweri Museveni. Kutesa now feels the older NRM honchos should retire and give space to the young to build on their achievements.
Interviewed by SADAB KITATTA KAAYA last week, Musherure spoke about her father’s retirement and her political ambition.
Since you started mobilizing to replace your father, you have spoken so much about the broken channel of communication between the people of Mawogola and the central government. Your father has been MP for Mawogola and conduit to the central government for more than two decades. Are you fighting him now?
I’m not fighting my father, I have his blessing, and, because he is a sensible man, he will take the criticism. He understands that I’m not going to keep quiet about some gaps. He is very aware that I will confidently point out what needs to change, where he hasn’t worked [to the satisfaction] of the people of Mawogola North.
Having said that, Hon Kutesa has heavily invested in Sembabule, he has built what you would call “people power” in the right way. He has invested in young people, he has contributed to churches, he has given young people scholarships, built schools, done everything a leader can do. However, there is always room for improvement, and that is where I step in. I am young, and majority of the current generation is young. He understands and in fact, he is very encouraging.
For now, he wants me to do my best to make sure that whatever did not go well in his time, I can correct it, that I can work with others and look for different ways… Our time calls for different strategies, different ways of [doing things].
In which particular areas, in your view, did he fail?
I don’t want to use the word fail, the man has not failed but there are gaps in service delivery, there are gaps in communicating with the people of Mawogola North. There are gaps in linking people to government services – that is where I come in. My task is to find answers, advocate for change, and look for opportunities for young people, women and the elderly.
I want to encourage excellence in schools because I want our schools in Sembabule to be top-class because I know how good schools are. I know we need parent involvement [and] good teachers.
Those are the things I want to [focus on] because I have the time, the energy and the dedication that he [Kutesa] had. But he also has a lot more work. I am committed to making sure that we fill those gaps and help our people do better.
Your father is part of the ruling NRM high and mighty. If he failed to achieve so much for Sembabule, how do you expect to convince the electorate that you can do better than your powerful father?
I’m actually already doing something. And I like it that I am not just speaking but doing something. The high and mighty have done their part, and we are grateful. But like I said, we also need to play our role. I am not in this for the politics; I am not so much of a politician but so much of a leader. I am in this to lead, to serve, to work with others, not to point fingers.
I am not in this to remind the high and mighty about where they have gone wrong. That we know, but what next? I think, what we do should be more than what we say. For example, we have a small school near our home in Kisekera [in Lugusuulu sub-county] that I have invested in. The school wasn’t in good condition, and I thought [to myself] that, “If I am going to start talking about schools, can I first fix the one which is closest to home?”
Because it was not in good condition, it had no students. With the help of my father and a few other individuals, I have renovated the school. So, it’s not just words but actions; let our actions speak louder than our words.
We are not in this to divide, to blame, to point fingers, to talk about the high and mighty or those who have done all kinds of things. But we want to work with other people who know what [we can achieve] if we work together. We want to say, yes, this has gone wrong but that is not the end of our story. We can do better if we point out what’s wrong and fix it together.
By selling you to the people of Mawogola North as his preferred heir, isn’t your father turning the constituency into a family monarchy?
Every Ugandan has a right [to stand for election], there is no need to stick to the idea that this is a monarchy, this is a democracy. If you don’t like me, if you don’t like my plans, don’t vote for me. I am in this like a Ugandan – I am a Ugandan, I have every right to stand, I have every right to lead, I have every right to [sell my program] to the electorate and then go to the ballot box and vote yes or no.
So, it is not Hon Kutesa bringing his daughter, in fact, it is interesting because some people say, “bino ssibyansikirano” [the seat is not hereditary]. ‘Namatovu’ Shartis Musherure Kutesa gets up every morning, receives phone calls, gets out there and tries to convince people about what she can do.
I am working hard, going around the constituency; if it was an issue of a monarchy or [takeover] from one leader to another without the participation of the electorates, then that is not a democracy. I am saying, I am working hard like any other aspirant to convince the people that I deserve their vote.
Besides, I am not the first, we have seen many others. Take the example of former president Milton Obote, his son Jimmy Akena is now an MP or Uhuru Kenyatta [Kenyan president], his father was president of Kenya. I think the issue should be what I am bringing to the table.
What was Kutesa’s motivation to retire and cede space to you?
I think he is the best person to answer that but I think, he believes that I can lead. He believes that I have what it takes to lead, and the time has come. Hon Kutesa believes in change, the change is us – the young people.
We are the change, but the principles remain. The continuity of the great principles the NRM introduced to this country, that it has instilled in young people, the unity, the peace, the empowerment of youths and women, the idea that all children must have free education up to some point… that is the continuity Hon Kutesa is thinking about.
The change is we the leaders, that there will be a transition, that there will be other people apart from the faces that we have seen for such a long time that will take up the mantle to lead. So, that is the continuity with change that he is talking about.
A contest between Kutesa’s daughter and President Museveni’s brother Godfrey Aine ‘Sodo’ is a contest within two families fused together because your sister is married to the president’s son Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the first lady is your auntie. Isn’t this likely to affect the relationship between the two families?
The relations between the two families are good; they are the way they have always been. Of course, as human beings, we have to deal with a new situation because, yes, we are related but we all have different agendas. [Sodo] is free just like me, to come and explain to the people of Mawogola North what his agenda is, and then, they [the people] will decide who is best suited to lead them.
This is a free country, and there is absolutely no reason why we should all not contest. We have no problem as a family.
The politics in Sembabule has always been defined by fights between a camp led by your father against another led by Lwemiyaga MP Theodore Ssekikubo. How do you intend to deal with this?
I want to be a leader who unites everyone; who does not have camps. Something has to change, let’s fix what hasn’t gone right; let us look for different ways to lead because it is possible. If we want to lead, we have to be united.
However, I will always defend Hon Kutesa because he too has tried amidst many challenges to be a leader for the people, to unite the people. He has had challenges but he has tried to be a leader for all. Essentially, that is why he has succeeded for the last 30 years despite all the challenges. I come with a different take. I want to unite the people, let me do things differently.
sadabkk@observer.ug