Mugisha Muntu personal chauffeur Mucureezi driving his way into Ruhaama politics

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In Uganda’s political chronicles, how many chauffeurs of presidential candidates have earned a paragraph, let alone a headline?

Except for Fred Kato, the daring wheelman of veteran politician Col. (rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye, who has ferried his boss through rallies and riots, the rest remain silhouettes behind tinted windows.

On October 6, 2025, New Vision Online caught up with Mucureezi Gerald Karakore Humble at New Pearl Hotel in Mbarara for a quick interview.

Call him a jack of all trades.

Besides, chauffeuring Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) presidential flag-bearer, Maj. Gen (rtd) Mugisha Muntu, throughout the campaign trail, Mucurezi is, for the second time. Having contested in the 2021 General Election against the incumbent Henry Zinkuratire Nkwasiibwe of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).

Mucureezi polled 7,407 against Zinkuratire's 47,203 votes.

Tall and soft-spoken, he is not your usual cup of tea.

Petroleum geo-science

Born in Butare parish, Ntungamo district, Mucureezi sat his Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) at the iconic Mbarara Parents Primary School, where he served as head boy. For Ordinary Level, he joined Ntungamo High School, where he was elected class councillor in Senior One, later becoming dormitory captain and eventually works prefect in Senior Three.

He pursued his Advanced Level at the same school, serving as academic prefect and school speaker. Thereafter, he joined Nkumba University for a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Geoscience and Production, which he completed in 2016.

A reader should be wondering what such a bwat (slang for brainy individual) would be doing in the chaotic world of politics instead of a boardroom? Behold, the answer is not far.

“After graduating, I couldn’t get a job. Even though scholarships were so hard, I remember I did interviews for a scholarship for a Master's in Russia. My name was there, but when it came to reporting for travel, I found a name of another person (laughs). That prompted me to join politics so that I could speak for others who would fall in the same category,” Mucureezi said.

He added that the shift, which occurred between 2017 and 2018, also saw him venture into personal business while honing his driving skills.

“Someone who is a petroleum geoscientist is now a senior driver. We have our documents and are graduates, but we’re doing different kinds of work to survive. And I want to appeal to all the youth not to just sit and wait for jobs,” Mucureezi implored.

Political roots

At this point, I am wondering, politics in conservative societies is usually hereditary. Where could he have derived inspiration to become a national leader? It even became more confusing when Mucureezi explained that tracing politics in his own family is difficult.

Because his father died when he was about four years old, his mother has mostly been a leader within the church.

After a brief pause, during which he seemed to search for an answer within himself, he finally broke the silence.

“In 1998, my eldest brother, Nabaasa Milton Karakore, stood for the Ntungamo district LC5 chairperson seat much as he was young. He showed direction to young people, some of us, and he was so shrewd in politics, very bright. After the President called him to go and get a scholarship, but eventually, he never saw the scholarship,” he said.

Running for MP

However, in his case, he says he found himself in politics, rather than the other way around. Mucureezi intimated that his political bromance started with the New Formation, a pressure group led by Maj. Gen. (rtd) Mugisha Muntu, who had just severed ties with the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) following a heated presidential election.



This faction would later be officially gazetted as ANT in 2019. Since then, Mucureezi has not looked back.

“I am the current spokesperson for the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) youth league, and in 2021, I stood as the MP for Ruhaama on the ANT ticket. Fortunately, I was the second to Zinkuratiire,” he narrated.

As a young first-time entrant and with the ongoing tug of war in the ruling party camp, he believes it is only a matter of time before he represents the constituency in the August House.

“Even now, Ruhaama is the constituency which has not yet declared an NRM flag-bearer. At first, they declared they declared Zinkuratiire as the winner. They then went to a tribunal and later declared Rwakimaari as the flag-bearer. After a week, they again declared Zinkuratiire, now, the team for Rwakimaari also feel that they will again declare her,” Mucureezi cited.

“So, there is a lot of confusion, disunity, and for me, it plays in my favour. On the ground, I am very sure that this time round, Ruhaama is going to be in very good and safe hands. My first task will be to unite the people of Ruhaama, after which we will tackle issues like alleviating poverty and helping improve household livelihoods,” he concluded.

Rwakimaari had originally been declared the victor of the June 17 primaries, with 15,739 votes against Zinkuratiire’s 12,943. However, in its final verdict, the party tribunal declared Zinkuratiire the winner, after finding that he had actually polled 15,524 votes, ahead of Rwakimaari’s 13,391 and Barungi’s 12,965.