By Our Reporter,
SHEEMA
After three years of defiance, Sheema South MP Prof. Elijah Dickens Mushemeza has finally eaten his words, publicly apologizing to teachers for disparaging remarks he made in April 2022.
In a video shared on his social media platforms on Sunday, August 31, 2025, Prof. Mushemeza expressed remorse for branding teachers “poor, needy and brainwashed” during a strike for salary increment. At the time, he insisted he would “never apologize,” even repeating the same stance during rallies in the just-concluded NRM party primaries where he lost to Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu.
“This is my apology to all the teachers of Uganda,” he said in the video. “I withdraw a statement I made some time back in relation to the enhancement of teachers’ salaries by the government. I have realized that my words hurt many people, especially teachers. I’m a teacher myself, I have taught at university, and I own schools. I did not intend to demean anyone, but I was drawing from my experience with strikes at Makerere University, which were very expensive and tiring. I’m therefore apologizing in the spirit of reconciliation and integrity.”
The apology comes three years after Mushemeza’s comments ignited outrage within the teaching fraternity, with teachers describing the remarks as “demeaning and exploitative.”
The 2022 Remarks That Sparked Fury
On April 26, 2022, while responding to a nationwide industrial action by teachers demanding salary harmonization, Prof. Mushemeza dismissed the strike as unsustainable.
“Can a needy or poor person afford a strike? How? These teachers you see here are too poor. Now, if you strike for three consecutive days, what will you eat? Please stop the strike. You will not manage it,” he said, adding that “sometimes people need to be told the truth.”
The comments, first published by Parrots Media, were widely condemned by Teachers across Sheema and beyond accused him of trivializing their plight and undermining the teaching profession.
Outrage and Demands for Apology
The remarks sparked protests and a crisis meeting in Bugongi Town Council, where furious teachers demanded an immediate retraction.
“Yes, we are poor as he described us, then why does he come to us looking for votes?” questioned Praise Natwijuka, a teacher at Kyeibanga Secondary School during the NRM primary campaigns.
Sheema District Inspector of Schools, Zebedee Mwijukye, also weighed in during a crisis meeting in Bugongi: “You can’t just belittle professionals like that. It’s not true that teachers are poor, nobody has ever gone to his home looking for food.”
Cynthia Mujurizi, a teacher at Bugongi Secondary School, emphasized that the apology should not be localized: “We demand an apology not just to teachers in Sheema, but across the country.”
But Mushemeza stood firm. For months, he told journalists, constituents and fellow politicians that he had no regrets and would never apologize, even when heckled at public rallies.
What Changed?
Mushemeza’s abrupt change of heart is raising eyebrows in political circles. His apology comes just weeks after losing the Sheema South NRM primaries to veteran politician Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu.
Some analysts believe the move is an attempt at political rehabilitation ahead of the 2026 general elections. “He knows teachers are a powerful voting bloc,” a local politician told Parrots Media. “The apology is as much about healing old wounds as it is about reviving his political fortunes.”
Mixed Reactions
By press time, teachers had not officially responded to the apology. However, whispers within the profession suggest skepticism. Many argue that the timing so close to the next electoral season, suggests political opportunism rather than genuine remorse.
Still, some say the apology, though belated, is a step in the right direction. “It takes humility for a leader to admit when they are wrong,” one teacher in Sheema noted.
Whether the apology will mend Mushemeza’s strained relationship with teachers and salvage his political career remains to be seen.
As Scripture cautions that only a dog returns to its vomit, the MP who once swore never to say sorry has now eaten his words has bowed his head before Uganda’s teachers with contrition.
