PARLIAMENT | LIMELIGHT | KATESHUMBWA

When he was commissioner of customs at the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), Sheema Municipality MP (NRM) Dickson Kateshumbwa was a media-shy government official.

However, his sojourn into politics brought a beam of limelight onto the man, who took the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party primaries by storm.

In the run-up to the 2021 general election, Kateshumbwa didn’t only give former science minister Dr. Elioda Tumwesigye a bloody nose; the soft-spoken legislator also, people say, buried the minister politically.

Yet the man, who is known as Speaker Anita Among’s right-hand man on tax-related matters in the House, recently returned to the limelight, this time, as people said, for the wrong reasons.

Unknown hackers penetrated Kateshumbwa’s social media accounts and exposed his ‘dirty’ secrets.

Private conversations of the NRM MP, whom some lawmakers describe as a “moving money bag”, were also revealed by hackers, leaving him ‘politically’ naked.

The hacking saga came against the backdrop of a recent report on tax waivers, in which the chairperson of the select committee that probed tax waivers within the energy sector, ordered that Bujagali Energy Lt refund sh1.2 trillion to the government.

Kateshumbwa said the sh1.2 trillion, were illegally charged by the electricity company, using wrong calculations, for the last 10 years.

According to Kateshumbwa, he joined politics to sanitize it, not to get wealthy.

“I joined politics to reclaim the image of Sheema because I realized there was a need." People had been asking me to go earlier, but I needed to first do some things. "When I achieved my target, I went in,” he said.

He added that by the time, he joined the political arena, the situation in Sheema was “very bad” and people were divided along “religious basis” and “politics of manipulation”, hence limiting development.

“All the services—education and health were taking back steps, and poverty increased due to the poor politics. People got frustrated and needed change. To show discontent, people had a protest vote and voted against the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party because they thought NRM had betrayed them,” he said.

“So, I went in and received overwhelming support to restore sanity. At the time, so many people could lead, but I considered myself the best person to lead and restore unity and development because I was exposed and I do not believe in segregation,” he added.

Kateshumbwa said that upon assuming office as MP, he tailored his politics along the social, economic, and spiritual transformation of the people of Sheema.

“I have focused my energy on establishing teams that monitor government programs and give monthly reports. I lobby the Government and ensure that the services reach the people. "Economically, for people to utilize the water, electricity, and roads, they must be earning some money,” he said.

Organizing communities into developmental savings groups is another way Kateshumbwa said he fights poverty.

Born in 1977, the Makerere University and India-trained economist, said his childhood dream was to become an architect, but he ended up studying commerce and finance.

Otherwise, I continue to do my representation role here in Parliament, actively involved in the budget process as a member of the budget committee, and natural resources committee, and actively representing my people’s views in Parliament,” he said, noting that he is unmoved by the hackers.

In his private time, away from parliamentary politics, Kateshumbwa said, he is always on the farm.

Out of the farm, he also finds time to tour Uganda’s major tourist attraction centers, across the country.