Why Some Ugandans Celebrated Cedric Babu’s Death
The news of Cedric Babu’s death on May 31, 2025, rippled through Uganda’s polarized society, eliciting a spectrum of emotions.
Cedric, a former tennis star, media personality, and vice chairman for Kampala in the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), was mourned by many as a kind-hearted visionary.
Yet, disturbingly, some Ugandans took to social media to express indifference or even satisfaction at his passing. This reaction, though cruel, was not random—it was rooted in the deep political divisions that define contemporary Uganda, particularly the polarizing figure of Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the PLU’s patron and son of President Museveni.
Cedric, aged 49, succumbed to heart failure at Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi after a desperate fundraising effort to secure a heart transplant. His life was one of versatility: a Davis Cup captain, president of the Uganda Tennis Association, and a charismatic television presenter who once lit up screens with The Cedric Live Show.
He was also a political figure, having contested the Kampala Central parliamentary seat in 2021 under the National Resistance Movement (NRM). Despite losing the general election, his appointment as PLU Vvice chairman cemented his allegiance to Muhoozi, a close friend from their days at St. Mary’s College Kisubi (SMACK). This association, however, made Cedric a target in a country where political loyalties are fiercely contested.
Muhoozi, Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces, is a lightning rod for controversy. His outspoken social media presence, where he has threatened opposition leaders like Bobi Wine and boasted about abducting activists, has alienated many, particularly opposition supporters.
Posts on X reveal the depth of this animosity, with some users labeling Muhoozi’s PLU as an extension of the NRM’s grip on power, accused of nepotism and suppression. Cedric’s proximity to Muhoozi, coupled with his role in the PLU—a group seen by critics as a vehicle for Muhoozi’s presidential ambitions—painted him as complicit in a system many Ugandans resent.
The opposition, led by figures like Bobi Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP), views the PLU and NRM as perpetuating Museveni’s 40-year rule, marked by allegations of corruption and economic inequality.
The public’s reaction to Cedric’s death was further inflamed by the optics of his final days. Despite his connections to powerful figures like Muhoozi, President Museveni, and other NRM elites, Cedric’s family resorted to crowdfunding to raise 1.5 billion shillings for his transplant.
This sparked outrage among some Ugandans, who questioned why a man surrounded by such influence was left to rely on public donations.
A post on X by @KellykatarU captured this sentiment: “If a system can abandon him, what chance does the ordinary Ugandan have?” To some, Cedric’s plight symbolized the failures of a government they associate with privilege and neglect, fueling their schadenfreude.
Yet, celebrating Cedric’s death was undeniably wrong. As Gen. Muhoozi noted in his tribute, Cedric was a patriot who dared to engage in politics where many elites shy away. His contributions to sports and media inspired countless Ugandans, and his humility was widely acknowledged.
The cruelty of mocking his suffering is evidence of a broader erosion of empathy in Uganda’s polarized political landscape, where political differences overshadow human decency.
