KAMPALA: Kawempe North constituency Member of Parliament, Muhammad Ssegirinya, has passed away. According to the National Unity Platform (NUP) party, Secretary General Lewis Rubongoya, Ssegirinya breathed his last at Rubaga Hospital this afternoon.
Hon. Ssegirinya, who was a member of NUP, has been in and out of hospital due to a medical condition that began shortly after his release from prison, where he spent one and a half years on charges related to the Masaka machete killings.
He was jailed alongside Makindye West MP, Allan Ssewanyana, but his health deteriorated rapidly, leading to admissions to various hospitals locally in Uganda, Kenya, and the Netherlands. Known by the moniker Mr. Update, Ssegirinya gained attention for his consistent phone calls to radio political shows and his participation in protests against the regime’s excesses.
This earned him a position as a councilor at Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) on the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) ticket. He later joined the People Power Movement, which eventually transformed into NUP, under the leadership of Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine.
Muhammad Ssegirinya started getting known among Ugandans when he started making regular calls on Kampala based radio talk shows referring to himself as ‘ssegirinya eddoboozi lye kyebando.’He later transformed into a social media sensation under the name 'Mr. Update'. He served as the lord councillor for Kampala capital city representing the people of Kawempe North from 2016 to 2021.[9] He later triumphed in the quest to become the area MP after defeating 9 other contestants including then incumbent Abdulatif Ssebagala Ssengendo and former Deputy Lord Mayor Sulaiman Kidandala.
Political Career
In 2011 Ssegirinya contested Kawempe north parliamentary seat, but lost the vote. He contested the 2016 Forum for Democratic Change party primaries for Kawempe north parliamentary seat, but he lost. He contested a position of councillor representing Kawempe North at city hall in Kampala the seat of Kampala Capital City Authority and won the election.
In 2021, Ssegirinya contested the Kawempe north constituency on the National Unity Platform (NUP) political party ticket, he won. His victory was challenged in court by one of his contenders (Sulaiman Kidandala) but the case was dismissed and court declared him winner.
Arrest, torture and treatment
On 3 September 2021, Ssegirinya was summoned by Uganda police force to appear before the Criminal Investigation Department for questioning over his alleged involvement in rebel activities in Greater Masaka region.
On 7 September 2021, Masaka Chief Magistrate's court remanded him with four counts, three of murder and one of attempted murder. He was in Kitalya Maximum Security Prison.
Proof of the allegations was never presented. It is generally believed that Ssegirinya and Ssewanyana were arrested because they were popular opposition MPs.[27] Also in 2005 two popular MPs were arrested on fake charges and later acquitted.[28] On 13 February 2023 the two were released on bail. On 10 August 2023 Ssegirinya arrived in Netherlands to receive specialized treatment from AMC Amsterdam for his torture wounds.After his release from prison on bail, Ssegirinya was in and out of hospital in Nairobi and Kampala.[30] He thus barely attended any parliamentary proceedings but in August 2024 went on to declare that he would contest once more the post in 2026.
