Ssemujju To Spend Time Outside Parliament Growing The PFF

Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, the former Kira municipality member of parliament, will dedicate most of his time now to growing his current party, the People’s Front for Freedom-PFF. Ssemujju, the Secretary General of PFF, lost the parliamentary seat he had held for 15 years to National Unity Platform’s George Musisi in the January 2026 general elections.

For 15 years, Ssemujju has been one of the most outstanding and outspoken MPs, who held the government’s feet to the fire. He was hated and loved in equal measure by both the ruling National Resistance Movement and the opposition parties. In 2023, after a fallout within his former party, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Ssemujju teamed up with others to form the PFF.

In the last elections, PFF managed to get only two MPs, including Asinansi Nakato, the woman MP for Hoima City, and Betty Aol Ochan, the woman MP for Gulu City. In an interview, Ssemujju said he is going to spend more time trying to grow the PFF into a formidable party that can play a significant role in the liberation of Uganda in what he describes as “Museveni family rule.” 

“Many people view Parliament as a source of employment. If you lose a parliamentary seat, you go on the street and look for a job. Yes, Parliament has been paying me for the last 15 years, but it was more important to me as a platform. I’m now the Secretary General of PFF. 

I’m going to give this party time to do its administrative work and also continue impacting national politics.  The things I have been saying in parliament are here to stay. The fight against Museveni and his family rule has not ended. I don’t think that because I have lost a parliamentary seat I should go home and say those in parliament its now your duty. That’s the same point that Besigye has made: that you don’t have to be a presidential candidate for you to fight because you are fighting for personal freedom. Who knew that Besigye would be in Luzira for almost two years now? I’m going to be at Katonga . If I have 10 hours a day, I want to divide five hours for PFF and the rest for my other work,” Ssemujju said. 

He revealed that he is also going to expand his agricultural activities in Mukono, which he said he started about 10years ago. Together with other former MPs, Ssemujju also plans to start a consultancy and training firm to train MPs on how to undertake their roles. “We are also teaming up with some colleagues with whom we have left parliament to do some consultancy and training. We found that in Nigeria, we think we can be a value to Uganda and also the region. We want to use the contacts we have made with parliaments and then begin offering lessons on how MPs can improve themselves. I have already been invited to go and train new MPs,” Ssemujju said. 

However, Ssemujju noted that in about 10 years, he should be retiring from active politics. “I don’t think I want to work until the final day of my life because the body also gets tired.”Ssemujju, a former journalist at the Observer and the Monitor newspaper, was first elected to parliament in 2011. That time, Kira municipality was part of Kyadondo East constituency. When the constituency was split in 2015, Ssemujju contested for the Kira municipality seat, which he won in 2016. In 2021, he defied the NUP wave that swept across Buganda and retained his seat.

However, in 2026, he failed to overcome the NUP and was swept aside, ending one of the most illustrious parliamentary careers. As MP, Ssemujju served as a Shadow minister for information, chairperson of the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises-Cosase, Opposition Chief Whip, and Shadow Minister for Finance.