By Brian Mugenyi
Kampala: In politics, 2031 may still appear distant.
For Oscar Fransisco Mutebi, however, the future of Bukoto Central is a mission that cannot wait for an election year.
The Private Secretary in the Office of Vice President Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi Emeritus lives by one defining thought: to make Bukoto Central Constituency great through economic development while placing humanity at the centre of leadership.
His vision is increasingly being expressed not only through political engagement, but through activities that bring him closer to communities.
From the Diimo Landing Site, where community activities bring together residents whose livelihoods are closely linked to the water and local commerce, to young footballers at the Buddu County Arena, students at St. Mugaga Secondary School and farmers embracing commercial agriculture, Mutebi’s engagements offer a window into a different understanding of leadership.
It is leadership measured not merely by visibility, but by presence.
Not by promises, but by participation.
And not only by what happens during elections, but by what communities experience between them.
“It is better to deliver services to people than to walk the grapevine of politics,” Mutebi says.
Diimo Landing Site: where leadership meets ordinary life
At Diimo Landing Site, the language of development becomes particularly human.
Here, community life revolves around activity — people moving, trading, working and searching for opportunities to improve their livelihoods.
The landing site provides a useful illustration of the kind of grassroots environment in which Mutebi believes leadership must operate.
For him, development cannot remain an idea discussed in offices.
It must reach the places where citizens live and work.
His engagement in activities at Diimo Landing Site forms part of a wider approach that seeks to connect leadership with the everyday realities of communities.
The significance of such activities lies not simply in the events themselves, but in the opportunity they create for leaders and citizens to interact outside the formal structures of government.
At the landing site, the issues are immediate.
Livelihoods.
Youth opportunities.
Small businesses.
Community welfare.
Access to services.
And the question of how local economic activity can translate into better household incomes.
These are the issues that ultimately give meaning to the phrase economic development.
A constituency cannot become great merely because its political leaders say so.
Its greatness must be visible in the lives of the people who live there.
The constituency beyond the ballot
Political constituencies are often reduced to electoral figures, campaign rallies and voting patterns.
But Bukoto Central is ultimately made up of people.
Young people looking for opportunities.
Entrepreneurs trying to expand businesses.
Families struggling to improve household incomes.
Students searching for better learning opportunities.
And communities seeking leaders who understand their daily challenges.
It is this human landscape that Mutebi says must become the starting point of leadership.
His ambition towards 2031 therefore raises a bigger question:
What should Bukoto Central look like by the time voters return to the ballot box?
For Mutebi, the answer should be measured in economic opportunity, empowered young people, stronger communities and citizens who feel that leadership is working for them.
A football pitch becomes a platform for youth
At the Buddu County Arena, young footballers chase a ball across the pitch with dreams that extend beyond the boundaries of the playground.
Through his support to Buddu County Team under the leadership of Jude Muleke, Mutebi provided sports kits and other assistance.
The equipment may appear modest.
But to a young player, being supported can mean being recognised.
It can mean hearing a simple but powerful message:
Your talent matters.
Mutebi believes youth empowerment must be treated as an investment rather than charity.
“Young people have talent, but talent needs support. When you give young people opportunities, you give society a better future,” he says.
That philosophy connects the football pitch to the broader economic question facing Bukoto Central.
A young person whose talent is developed is not simply an athlete.
They can become an employer, entrepreneur, coach or community role model.
When a television became a window
At St. Mugaga Secondary School, Mutebi’s intervention took another form.
A flat-screen television donated to the school gave students an opportunity to watch major international events together.
During the FIFA World Cup, students from St. Mugaga Secondary School and Molly and Paul Schools gathered to watch matches ahead of the final between Spain and Argentina.
There were cheers.
Songs.
Ugandan flags.
And the excitement that comes whenever young people experience a global event together.
But Mutebi saw something beyond entertainment.
“Technology should not only be used for entertainment. It should help young people understand the world around them,” he says.
For Deo Ssembatya, the Head Prefect of St. Mugaga Secondary School, the experience changed how students viewed global events.
“I had watched World Cup games on small phones before, but seeing the players on a big screen at school made me feel part of the global tournament,” he said.
The lesson, however, was larger than football.
“The message from Mr. Mutebi taught us that education is not only about books. We must know what is happening in the world.”
Agriculture as a route to household prosperity
The economic vision also reaches into agriculture.
In Greater Masaka, Mutebi has encouraged communities to embrace commercial agriculture, including coffee growing, as a pathway towards stronger household incomes.
For many families, coffee is not simply a crop.
It is school fees.
It is medical care.
It is investment.
It is the possibility of giving children a better future.
“When you empower a family, you empower a community. When you empower communities, you strengthen the country,” Mutebi says.
The philosophy is particularly relevant to a constituency seeking sustainable economic transformation.
Development ultimately becomes meaningful when households have the means to participate in it.
The 2031 test
Mutebi’s political ambition towards 2031 therefore presents a test that goes beyond the ballot.
By then, what will citizens remember?
The speeches?
The political slogans?
Or the interventions that touched their lives?
That question gives his mission a different character.
The activities at Diimo Landing Site.
The support to young footballers.
The exposure of students to technology.
The encouragement of farmers.
These are individual pieces of a larger picture.
Together, they suggest an attempt to build a leadership identity around community engagement and economic empowerment.
Politics comes and goes
Mutebi has participated in grassroots mobilisation activities during Uganda’s political season, working alongside local leaders and NRM structures.
But he insists that political mobilisation should not become the entire definition of leadership.
“Politics comes and goes, but service remains. The most important thing is whether people’s lives are improving,” he says.
That may be the most important principle underlying his 2031 mission.
Because elections happen on a particular day.
Development happens every day.
What remains when the campaign ends?
At Diimo Landing Site, the question of leadership is not theoretical.
It is about people trying to make a living.
At the football pitch, it is about young people trying to build a future.
At St. Mugaga, it is about learners trying to understand a world that is moving faster than their textbooks.
In the farms of Greater Masaka, it is about households planting today for tomorrow’s income.
These are the places where leadership acquires a human face.
And they provide the most important measure of Mutebi’s political philosophy.
Not how loudly he campaigns.
But how deeply his work connects with people.
Not how many promises are made.
But how many opportunities are created.
Not simply whether Bukoto Central becomes politically powerful.
But whether it becomes economically stronger.
The mission
The story of Oscar Fransisco Mutebi is therefore not simply the story of a man looking towards 2031.
It is a story about what kind of leadership Bukoto Central might choose to embrace.
A leadership that sees the landing site not merely as a geographical location, but as an economic community.
A football pitch not merely as a playground, but as a nursery for talent.
A school television not merely as entertainment, but as a window to knowledge.
And agriculture not merely as subsistence, but as an engine of household prosperity.
That is the larger mission.
To make development personal.
To make leadership human.
And to ensure that when political seasons pass, citizens can still point to something tangible and say:
This changed because someone cared.
For Mutebi, that is the challenge ahead of 2031.
And perhaps the real campaign has already begun — not with posters or slogans, but with people.
