SSEKANDI AND BUKENYA BOTH OLD BOYS OF SMACK

Ssekandi and Bukenya are all old Boys of St. Mary's College Kisubi. SSekandi has been 'rewarded' for his role in the 8th Parliament, more so how Parliament was able to pass the bad bill on Traditional leaders. There are also other bills that he has handled which were having opposition from the opposition. However, the Vice President in reality has less powers compared to the Prime Minister who is in charge of Government business. Some of the would be roles of the VP are done by the Minister for Presidency. So, though VP, but on ground he ends up as one who can be assigned any role by the president. Govt. is yet to officially accommodate him! A William Kituuka Kiwanuka

WHO IS SSEKANDI?
By Mercy Nalugo
Posted Wednesday, May 25 2011 at 00:00
Uganda’s new number two citizen, certain to win approval of a Parliament he presided over for a record two terms, Mr Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi will be certain to celebrate a rise from a near fall from political grace.
He bowed out of the race to retain his post of Speaker only after it emerged that his former charges disapproved of his continued stay after 10 years on the job. Though re-elected MP for Bukoto Central in Masaka District, Mr Ssekandi is still battling an election petition filed by his main opponent, Mr Jude Mbabali, who says he cheated his way back to Parliament.
As he replaces Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, who held the office for eight years, Ssekandi affirms what has come to be standard expectation for the position, a Catholic Muganda as the number two citizen. The appointment also breaks the tradition of a medical doctor being Vice President. Mr Ssekandi is a lawyer. Ssekandi becomes the fourth VP in Mr Museveni’s 25 years in power after Dr. Samson Kisseka, Dr. Specioza Wandira Kazibwe and Dr. Gilbert Balibaseka Bukenya.
While Kisseka was defined by his sometimes braggart personality as a man who loathed poverty and Kazibwe was marked more by her often explicit dry jokes on love and sensuality but also her credentials as a women emancipation trail blazer, Prof. Bukenya spent his years as Vice President championing promotion of agriculture, especially Upland rice but was also dogged by explicit tales about his private life.
What stood out for all, is that they worked at the bidding of the President and did little to cut clear space for themselves. It is not clear how Ssekandi will cut his own poise. Journalists who have covered Ssekandi in Parliament and MPs he has worked with describe him as calm and composed, reflective but too willing to do the bidding of his party. Whether he will stand up to mark himself out of the shadow of his boss, the President, remains to be seen.
A member of the Rotary fraternity, Mr Ssekandi was born on January 19, 1943, in Bulegeya village Kamuzinda in Masaka District. He holds a Bachelor of Laws degree of the University of East Africa and is a practicing advocate. Ssekandi was Deputy Speaker between 1998 until 2001 when he ascended to full Speaker, a position he held until last week.
He was also a delegate during the Constituent Assembly from 1994 to 1995 and was Lead Counsel to the Commission of Inquiry into Violations of Human Rights between 1986 and 1993. Before that, Ssekandi was Director at the Law Development Centre between 1978 and 1979 and lectured at the centre before.
Ssekandi boasts deep and good contacts and respect in two key institutions to the political balance—the Catholic Church and Mengo, the seat of the Buganda kingdom.