INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL REPORT | The Making of Oscar Mutebi: How Ssekandi’s Grandson Is Using Coffee, Sports and Grassroots Mobilisation to Fight Poverty in Uganda

By Brian Mugenyi

mugenyijj@gmail.com

In the quiet green villages of Greater Masaka, where dawn breaks gently over banana plantations and coffee gardens, one name has increasingly become synonymous with youth empowerment, grassroots mobilisation and community transformation — Mr. Oscar Mutebi. In a denim, white shirt and dress code of lawyers, what meets the eye at the office is the receptive personnel Mr. Mutebi.

Down to earth, a leader with a great ear and an advocate of peace and development, the gun of development in Masaka District takes his seat.

To some, he is simply the grandson of former Vice President Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi. To others, he is a youthful mobiliser inspired by the vision of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. But among ordinary farmers in Kyanamukaka, Kyotera, Kalungu and rural Masaka, Oscar Mutebi is steadily becoming a symbol of practical leadership rooted in service delivery and poverty eradication.

The potrait of Mr. Mutebi and First lady Janet Kataha Museveni hangs in the office as he is jovial and smiling ear to ear to welcome guests, both for him and those addressed to Vice president Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi emeritus.

Long before his name began appearing in political mobilisation circles, Mutebi’s story was deeply connected to the soil of Masaka itself.

Born and raised in Kyanamukaka Town Council in Masaka District, he grew up witnessing both the beauty and struggles of rural life. Like many children raised in farming communities, he observed families battling unpredictable markets, unemployment and generational poverty despite possessing fertile land capable of producing wealth.

“I grow up in the village, our families are in the village and I always want to give back to my community,” said Mr. Oscar Mutebi.

Those close to him say these early experiences shaped his understanding of community needs and later inspired his determination to champion household income initiatives.

While many young people of privileged political backgrounds often distance themselves from village life, Mutebi instead immersed himself deeper into the realities of ordinary citizens.

Residents say he remained accessible to local farmers, youth groups and schools even as his national exposure expanded through his close association with Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi and other senior government figures.

Today, his name is increasingly tied to one of Uganda’s most powerful anti-poverty tools: coffee farming.

Across Greater Masaka, thousands of households survive on subsistence agriculture. Yet for years, many farmers lacked access to improved seedlings, extension services and modern farming support systems.

Recognising this gap, Mutebi smiling ear to ear as he takes his seat at Kampala Kingdom in the office of President embraced coffee mobilisation as a grassroots intervention aimed at restoring economic dignity among rural households.

Working through government agricultural programmes supported by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, he coordinated the distribution of coffee seedlings to farmers across Masaka, Kalungu, Mpigi, Kyotera and Lyantonde with a company of colleagues and staff workers in the office of president.

The initiative has since transformed into more than a farming project.

For struggling households, it has become a survival strategy.

In villages where unemployment and low household incomes once dominated conversations, coffee gardens are increasingly emerging as symbols of hope.

“Coffee can educate children, build homes and change entire families,” Mutebi often tells farmers during community outreach engagements.

Local leaders say his interventions have particularly empowered vulnerable rural households headed by widows, elderly caretakers and unemployed youth.

In Kyanamukaka Town Council, Ms. Zainab Nakidde describes the programme as one of the most impactful poverty eradication interventions witnessed in recent years.

“This initiative has restored hope among ordinary people,” she explains. “Families that had almost given up on farming are now planting coffee again because they believe they can earn income and improve their lives.”

Yet agriculture alone does not fully define Oscar Mutebi’s growing public image.

Those who have interacted closely with him describe a young man deeply influenced by mentorship, discipline and community-oriented leadership.

Friends and associates frequently credits Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, Gen. Salim Saleh and First Lady Janet Kataaha Museveni for shaping his understanding of leadership and public service.

Rather than viewing leadership as a privilege, Mutebi increasingly presents it as a responsibility to uplift communities.

That philosophy is visible in his growing involvement in youth empowerment activities.

Through sports tournaments organised in rural Masaka, he has used football as a social mobilisation tool to engage young people, discourage crime and create platforms for talent development.

The annual Oscar Football Tournament has evolved into one of the region’s most celebrated youth events, attracting thousands of residents and giving rural youth opportunities for visibility and social interaction.

For many deprived children in Kyanamukaka and surrounding villages, the tournament offers something far greater than trophies.

It offers recognition.

It offers belonging.

And in communities where youth unemployment remains high, such initiatives often become emotional lifelines that reconnect young people to purpose and ambition.

At St. Mugaga Secondary School, Mutebi’s interventions have extended beyond sports into education support.

School administrators credit him for donating scholastic materials, sports jerseys and electronic equipment aimed at improving student welfare and motivation.

Head teacher Ms. Peace Magoba has publicly praised his commitment toward community transformation, describing him as a role model for socially responsible youth leadership.

Observers say one of Mutebi’s most remarkable qualities lies in his ability to blend political mobilisation with humanitarian outreach.

While actively supporting the ruling National Resistance Movement and campaigning for President Museveni in Central Uganda, he has simultaneously focused attention on practical community concerns such as agriculture, healthcare access and youth empowerment.

Through partnerships with investors and health outreach programmes, local health centres in parts of Greater Masaka have reportedly benefited from medical support equipment including ultrasound machines.

However, perhaps his most ambitious vision remains the push for vocational education and industrialisation in rural Masaka.

Mutebi and senior leaders aligned to the Greater Masaka Development Initiative continue advocating for a government-supported vocational institute aimed at equipping youth with practical technical skills.

The proposal reflects growing concern over unemployment levels among rural youth who often leave school early due to poverty and limited educational opportunities.

Leaders believe vocational training could help transform Greater Masaka into a centre for agro-processing, manufacturing and technical innovation.

To many residents, the dream represents a pathway out of generational poverty.

And for Mutebi himself, it appears deeply personal.

People close to him say his long-term ambition is not merely political visibility, but creating sustainable structures capable of uplifting communities long after political seasons have passed.

That ambition explains why his interventions consistently revolve around income generation, education and empowerment rather than short-term popularity.

In Greater Masaka today, coffee gardens planted through his mobilisation efforts are beginning to spread across hillsides once marked by economic frustration.

Children are returning to school with renewed hope.

Youth are gathering on football grounds instead of street corners.

Farmers are imagining futures once thought impossible.

And quietly, beneath the towering coffee leaves and red soils of Masaka, Oscar Mutebi is building something more enduring than influence.

He is building trust.

In a country where many rural communities continue searching for leaders capable of translating promises into practical transformation, that trust may ultimately become his greatest legacy and become a formidable figure of leader to reckon with in 2031 in Bukoto Central Constituency.