Comic Mabirizi Joins 2021 Presidential Race

By Andrew Irumba

As the 2021 general election looms nearer several Ugandans have started showing their presidential ambitions.

Among those eyeing the presidency is former presidential aspirant Joseph Mabirizi, who has since announced his bid to contest for the presidency in the 2021 General Elections 
Mabirizi contested as a first timer in 2016 Elections and became the last of the eight candidates, after garnering 24,498 total votes which were 0.25 percent of the total votes.

While talking to the media recently about his second presidential bid,  Mabirizi, whom many Ugandans branded a political comedian, said that”When the elections ended, I went to strategize for 2021 and one of the strategies was to go the villages and do some social work. We have a multipurpose skills foundation, where we give variety of skills in tailoring, carpentry, agriculture and computer; we also give capital and machinery.”

He added that “Many people did not know that there was a Mabirizi! But I’m coming back! [When he first announced his candidacy, many took him for a joke, right up to election day. Looks like this coming round is hakuna mchezo for him too.” 

Mabirizi is a Monitoring and Evalution, Supply Chain and Health Systems Strengthening SpecialistHe has a Master’s DegreeUniversity of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Mabirizi has over 15 years of working experience with a combined skillset in health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, education and livelihoods programming and supply chain management.

He  has worked with UNICEF, UNDP, USAID, American Red Cross, the Government of Rwanda Ministry of Health, the Rwanda Ministry of Gender and Family Protection, the Government of Southern Sudan Ministry of Health and the Government of Uganda Ministry of Health in developing Operation Management Plans (OMPs), strategic country operation plans (COPs), national M&E frameworks and policies, national supply chain strategies and guided their implementation. 

Joseph has a Masters of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore USA; a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Health (DTM&H) and the Master of Science in Medical Statistics degree from the University of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom.