Listening to people in their own words is powerful. This 10-minute audio interview with Brenda provides a unique window into her world. You’ll hear her in her own words and voice describe what it’s like to run for Member of Parliament in Uganda as a woman and mother of 6-month old Ifaa. You’ll also learn more about her non-traditional, village-focused campaign approach that is less about political pontificating and more about providing voters with opportunities to share their challenges, obtain new income-generating skills, and even access medical screenings! [Apologies for the audio quality; it’s not optimal. We improvised and recorded from cell to laptop].
Meet 34-year old Brenda Katushemererwe who is also known by her artist name
. Brenda humbly introduces herself as “the typical upcountry woman from the farms and jungles” in Uganda. Married with a 6-month old son named Ifaa, she lives in Bushenyi District in Southwestern Uganda (Igara West Constituency) and is currently running for a parliamentary seat.
Her story is so fascinating that I found myself asking the same question over and over again as I learned more about her: How did she get to be who she is today? How is it that she has so much energy, drive, and compassion? And, then the questions I’ve been asking over these last several weeks: What makes a ChangeMaker and what qualities set them apart from other people?
Let’s find out!
Brenda and I met by chance. I found her thanks to her YouTube video “Nakivale Refugee Settlement - One Day Tour” which I found while searching for more information on the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda, home to over 170,000 refugees from 13 countries. It’s a gorgeous, informative, and unexpectedly (to me) uplifting video of daily life in the Settlement. I reached out to her after watching it and from there we struck up a conversation.
I learned that she is the founder of Telemed Community Based Organization, a medical and technological organization providing medical services to people in remote places in rural Uganda.
I also learned, like many ChangeMakers, she is multi-dimensional, talented, passionate, engaged in a wide variety of activities, and advocating for the most vulnerable.
She is a self-described “leader for mindset changes”, using her journalism skills in storytelling, videography and public speaking “to lead communities into better health practices, proper feeding, mental health, sustainable farming practices, proper food preparation, combating cultural inspired stigma, a voice against gender-based violence, championing women’s participation in national development, conflict resolution, and child upbringing.”
I asked her what is her greatest skill. The greatest skill I employ is leadership; I inspire lots of women groups and youth organizations to become active in bringing about the change we want to see. I am also a regular on local Radio stations discussing issues that affect us.
And her greatest achievement? I am especially proud that I know thousands of people in my community who are inspired by my leadership. They call daily to ask me to keep going and going and they truly believe in me. Seeing them excelling at their simple businesses gives me alot of pride.
Motherhood & Politics
As mentioned earlier, Brenda is currently running for Member of Parliament from her district, competing against highly funded men who have been campaigning for the last year (she started three months ago). The election is mid-2025 and her task is to reach as many voters in the villages, churches, schools and stadiums as possibles. She describes her campaign as action-led.
I will not be spending money in rallies and debates but rather supporting local women and youth to achieve their dreams. I believe these kinds of works may speak better than any words.
We talked more about her strategy in the audio interview above. And, afterward she drove home the point that her life’s dream is to impact as many people as possible in the village setting.
People in the villages, in a rural village setting, are the most unpopular group of people. Noone wants to be associated with them. But they produce all of the food, they feed everyone in the country. I’m here in the villages to let them know they are loved and they are appreciated.
While it may not be popular to have a village-focused campaign, while it may not be fancy, to me it is fulfilling.
How did Brenda find herself in a position to run for President in 2021 and MP in 2024? Let’s back up and learn more about Brenda’s backstory starting with her Telemed Community Based Organization work over the last several years and then rewind even further to her upbringing and schooling. As a journalist, Brenda is not only skilled at sharing the stories of others, but she’s highly facile at sharing her own. Here is her story in her own words (in italics.).
The Telemed Story
In 2022 I embarked on a health promotion campaign that was aimed at reducing self diagnosis and self treatment, a practice that was rampant in remote areas of Uganda due to scarcity of proper medical services.
I had traveled to the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in February 2022 to determine whether it was possible to start a health clinic there with my medic team as I was promoting technological interventions for underserved communities already. One doctor at Kampala International University who also has relatives amongst the refugees in Nakivale suggested we consider it. When I traveled there I expected temporary structures and very sad people and to my amazement I found a thriving community. I called the doctor and said, “I want to stay here."
I set up a team of medics that chose to serve in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement. We did campaigns and free testing for HIV, STDs, Malaria and Typhoid which are common diseases.
The people were friendly and very resilient and strong, so much that I felt that such a community is all I ever needed. The following months I began preparations and by June 2022 I was in the Settlement renting a room where I stayed until September 2023. I only moved because I was pregnant and my project had ended due to financial constraints. The experience was very fulfilling.
Brenda’s YouTube channel has several videos describing this work; this one in particular tells the Telemed story.
While a lot of people really benefited from this project and more started seeking help in health centres, we discovered a highly neglected health problem, mental health. In the refugee settlement, almost everyone is dealing with a mental health issue. While we tried to address the problem by conducting mental health camps, we were overwhelmed by the numbers and I am especially sad to say the situation is daunting.
Brenda produced a video highlighting caretakers of neurological patients whose mental health is directly and heavily affected.
This year I am campaigning to run for Ugandan Member of Parliament for Igara West. While my participation as the only woman running against men is a story for another day, the problems faced in around Uganda are not so very different from the Nakivale Refugee Settlement. I am especially interested in empowering women to actively lead the working solutions I have in my agenda.
My range of work is broad-reaching and not limited to a specific area. That is why I founded a community based organisation called Telemed Community Based Organization to serve as an umbrella for all my initiatives. Through Telemed we are promoting talents, encouraging and facilitating technology initiatives by youth, setting up literacy centers and supporting local skills in tailoring, brick making, and carpentry and joinery.
In all of these projects, I am the Lead Architect and promoter. Our biggest set back is money to fund all the needs. To date, we have solely depended on contributions from members and simple donations. This has not proved sustainable as sometimes we have to halt activities only to resume when we have funds available again.
Growing Up In A Rural Ugandan Clergy Family
Brenda was born to a church family; her father was a clergyman in the village setting. Every three to five years they moved to a new church, which meant moving to a new village, staying in whichever church house was provided, and changing schools.
Growing up for me was fun. There was so much to appreciate from the church services where the singing and energy from the gathering were my best moments. I have fond memories of my mama telling us bible stories and making us favorite dishes (and strange ones like boiling the blood of cow into a bread). I carried water from a distance, fetched firewood or cooked using dry grass, and sleeped on a sack packed with grass, ate cow legs and feet (a delicacy), walked to school without shoes, and ground millet on stones.
As a student I enjoyed singing, composing music, and public speaking. I won a school debate competition when I was 11 years old. Throughout high school I was a quiet student but performed well. Getting good grades helped build my confidence.
Brenda described that she stayed out of trouble during school, but was head strong. Against the will of her parents, she went to a music recording studio as a teenager and recorded her first song titled It’s All About Me. The title in itself is telling, she told me.
I had the strength to not be persuaded into doing something I knew was wrong but in the same way I knew I would also move mountains if I wanted to do something that I knew was right.
I asked Brenda how she thinks she came to be the person she is today. She shared how she thinks about the trajectory of her life and how she got to be where she is now, doing what she is doing - a Ugandan young woman (and mother no less) running for Member of Parliament at the age of 34.
I do not know why I am the way I am. I am not the only educated person. I come from a family of seven and I am the second born so I am also not the only one in the family. I think I have a special calling to lead people for a better world. My University education was made possible by a scholarship by the Madhvani Group Foundation.
My life looked to me and still seems to me to be predetermined by destiny. A lot of the things I do and have wanted to do align so that it seems like I am not in a position to prevent my next step. I usually start a fresh endeavour at my worst. My worst days are also my beginnings of new and fresh beginnings of another level of life that I must walk and usually it is all about purpose.
Music, Politics, & Community Organizing
At University, Brenda came into her own as a leader. She led many student organizations and founded some whose major role was to return to secondary schools to mentor and provide career guidance to the younger generation.
Meanwhile she continued to “sneak into music studios” working on songs, often dodging lectures (but still passing her courses).
In the past I have worked with farmers over a wide area to help them gain the expertise for best farming practices and held workshops to give them knowledge about making the best out of their efforts.
She also worked as a Media Administrator with Greater Afrikan Radio for 4 years which gave her experience in management and journalism. She was the Executive Director of “Africa for Africa and African Descendents” (AFAAD). She is a member of many Pan African organizations that are advancing African solutions like the The Pan African Pyramid, local Journalist Associations like SHEJA (Sheema Journalists Association), and national politics. In 2021 she ran for President of Uganda!
Brenda Makes Music Videos with a Message!
“I do sing; actually you can listen to one of my songs. I love singing,” she says. More than that she makes music videos with a variety of themes such as celebrating indigenous culture, Pan-Africanism, and encouraging Africans to stay and commit to Africa.
Who Inspires Brenda?
After University I read more history that had not been offered in my education. One character that caught my attention was Malcolm X. Through watching his videos and later reading his books I woke up to the outside world dynamics, the struggles of Africa, and the universality of some societal problems. And, in all of this I knew that I am a Queen of Africa that must help restore our lost glory through community and self-help initiatives.
Where in the World is Brenda?
Bushenyi is one of the most western districts in Uganda. Residents rely primarily on subsistence agriculture with some also employed in commercial crop production, ranching for beef and dairy farming for milk.
Brenda Katushemererwe, Telemed Community Based Organization, Uganda