They were influential men and women in their day. When they spoke, their words carried weight. Some of them became prominent for their antics, others for their principled stand on some issues.
Yet with the passage of time and the rapidly changing political landscape, they seem to have vanished from the scene. Today, we highlight some of these men and women, who have disappeared from the limelight.
Bidandi Ssali
Bidandi Ssali was a powerful minister in the early years of the NRM. As minister of Local Government he oversaw the introduction of the decentralisation system at local government level. However in 2003 he was sacked for opposing the lifting of term limits. He formed a political party, People’s Progressive Party and stood for presidency in 2011. After 2011, he vanished from the political scene. After a series of health challenges, doctors advised him to rest and avoid stressful situations.
Prof Gilbert Bukenya
Prof Bukenya was Vice President of Uganda from 2003 to 2011. He showed quite early that he was very ambitious leading him to collide with the powers that be. After he was dropped from cabinet in 2011, he became critical of Museveni claiming at one point that his son’s death in 2009 in a road accident had been staged.
He hobnobbed with the opposition joining The Democratic Alliance (TDA) in 2015. But a few months to the 2016 elections, he embraced NRM again leaving political pundits confused. Since then, he has been quiet save for the occasional appearance on social media partying with young pretty things.
Namirembe Bitamazire
Bitamazire was a long serving minister of Education and Woman MP for Mpigi district. She often did her work quietly but was outspoken when it came to matters to do with education.
She was dropped from cabinet in 2011 and was replaced by Jessica Alupo. After a number of years in limbo, she was appointed chancellor of Uganda Management Institute. But she is rare.
Ingrid Turinawe
Ingrid was the firebrand FDC mobiliser who at one time became the face of protest politics in Uganda. Every demonstration against Museveni, she was at the forefront.
She was constantly harassed and hounded by the police for her activities and at times she won handsomely in court after suing them. After she fell out with her party in 2021, she went largely quiet. We don’t know whether she is planning a big comeback!
Olara Otunnu
Olara Otunnu excited the political faithful when he came back and won the presidency of Uganda People’s Congress before the 2011 elections. The former UN diplomat was articulate and persuasive. He also had an international profile.
But when he did not vote even for himself in 2011, his political fortunes took a dive. He left the leadership of UPC and settled into a quiet life. He has been invisible in opposition struggles in the last 10 years. Where is he?
Henry Kajura
Henry Kajura was a deputy prime minister for ages in President Museveni’s various cabinets. He was a long serving MP for Hoima Municiplaity.
In the 1970s, he served as governor of Bank of Uganda. After he lost in 2016, he dissappeared into political oblivion. The last we heard, he was crying out to Museveni to rescue his property which a money lender wanted to take over a loan.
Ben Wacha
When he graced Parliament, Wacha was often refered to as the speaker of the back benchers. Some have said he is the best speaker that Uganda never had. Eloquent, articlualte and highly knowledgeable on matters legal, Wacha always caught the eye of Speaker Edward Ssekandi. However since he lost his Oyam North seat in 2011, Wacha has gone quiet and vanished from the public scene. We understaand that he runs a private legal practice along Dewinton Road.
Naava Nabagesera
She came to the limelight in the 1990s when she got married to the mercurial Kampala mayor, Hajj Nasser Ssebaggala. Their marriage disintegrated after Ssebaggala was arrested in the USA over charges of paper fraud.
In 2001 she tried to dabble in politics but was defeated by Margaret Zziwa in the race to become Kampala Woman MP. The last we heard was she had been appointed a presidential assistant of sorts. Today, we can’t tell for sure where she is.
Margaret Mbeiza
Mbeiza, a former Kaliro Woman MP, whipped up a storm in the 8th Parliament when she claimed that she had had an affair with the big man. She told bewildered colleagues that the big man had appreciated her skills in bed and had promised to appoint her a minister.
She was indeed appointed minister of state for Economic Monitoring but Parliament declined to approve her arguing that she did not have the maturity to keep state secrets. She lost her seat in 2011 but bounced back five years later. She lost again in 2021 consigning her to political oblivion. But she shook the political ground in her days.
Crispus Kiyonga
Crispus Kiyonga was a long serving MP for Bukonjo West and served as minister in several powerful portfolios in Museveni’s cabinet. When he lost his seat in 2016, he was appointed ambassador to China but Museveni ordered that he be paid at the same level as a cabinet minister.
He came back to Kasese in 2021 and lost. He is currently in political limbo.
Okumu Reagan
Okumu Reagan was MP for Aswa Country for 20 years and was one time Vice President of FDC for Northern Uganda. In the mid 2000s, Okumu was considered a king maker in the Acholi sub region. Those who wanted to succeed politically in the sub region had to get his blessings.
After he lost his seat in 2021, Okumu went quiet. We have been told that he retreated to his constituency were he is enaged in a number of business projects.
Michael Mabikke
Mabbike was one of the young political fribrands who were thrust into Parliament by the Hajj Alagidde political wave of 2001. He served as Makindye East MP for two terms, exiting in 2011 after losing to NRM’s John Ssimbwa. He became president of the Social Democrats Party (SDP) and stood for the lord mayorship losing to Erias Lukwago.
After that it was downhill for him. He attempted a political comeback in 2021 but it ended in defeat and rejection. We have been told that he is now an international business broker but who keeps an eye on politics.
Henry Banyenzaki
If you have never heard of the name Henry Banyenzaki, then you must have been born after 2020. Banyenzaki was a flamboyant and controversial NRM legilsator from Rubanda West who earned the moniker of Rebel MP. His troubles started when he was appointed a minister after the 2011 elections.
He became less critical of government and people of Rubanda West punished him by voting him out of Parliament in 2016. The last we heard is he works at the Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) secretariat as a director.
Maureen Kyalya
Kyalya came to the limelight when she stood for the presidency in 2016. Until then she had been a presidential advisor on Busoga Affairs.
Her political rawness and innocent naivety excited some people. She rarely sieved her words. After the 2016 elections, she made a few public appearances before she went off the scene. We understand she now lives in the United Kingdom.
Nabilah Ssempala Naggayi
Naggayi stormed the political scene in 2006 after surfing the Dr Kizza Besigye wave in Kampala. As Kampala Woman MP, she hit the ground running becoming one of the most outspoken MPs. However by 2016, she had run out of ideas and was clutching at political straws.
In 2021 realising that she would not retain her seat, she opted to stand for the position of lord mayor losing to FDC’s Erias Lukwago. She has since relocated from Uganda and now lives in Canada.
