Nasser Sebaggala

Nasser Ntege Sebaggala is a businessman and politician in Uganda, the third-largest economy in the East African Community. He was an independent presidential candidate in the 2006 Ugandan general election before dropping out and joining the Kampala Mayoral race. He was the Mayor of the City of Kampala from 2006 to 2011.

Background and education

He was born in Kampala, Uganda's capital city on 15 November 1947.

Career

Following the expulsion of Asians by Idi Amin in 1972, Nasser Sebaggala acquired an electronics and clothes store on Kampala Road, the main thoroughfare in Kampala. His business interests grew over time. In 1998, he began his political career by running for the position of Mayor of Kampala. Ostensibly a member of the Democratic Party, Sebaggala won the first direct elections for mayor of Kampala in 1998, beating two government-sponsored candidates. However, he was arrested in the United States two months later in June of that year on eight counts of fraud and of lying to U.S. customs officials. In February 1999, he received a 15-month sentence, but was paroled in December 1999. He returned to Kampala in February 2000 to a warm welcome and considered a bid in the 2001 presidential elections.