Now I know that lawyers use laws in the same way a drunkard uses street-light poles; for support rather than lighting. How can a reasonable person say that Peter Sematimba does not possess an EQUIVALENT of A-level certificate? We all know him; what he is; what he has done; what is capable of doing. The NCHE rightly saw this sense. Peter is one of the few “thinkers” and “doers” in this country of only thinkers and talkers.
He revolutionalised Uganda’s FM radio programming while at Capital FM; started and built CBS radio, > arguably Uganda’s leading FM radio; he is one of the most successful modern farmers; he forever changed the face of Rubaga Division (introduced sweeping of roads in Uganda etc); in short, he is one of the most civilized, well cultured & enterprising Ugandans you can ever find.
If his former employees, Kato Lubwama & Moses Kasibante, and others like Hanifah Kawooya, and a bunch of other ‘pedestrian’ honorables can be MPs in our Parliament, why not Sematimba?
I know someone will say the Law is the Law, but I don’t think the law should be used to fail society. I honestly think that the people of Kyadondo and Uganda will miss Sematimba more than he will miss being MP. I adore the guy because it’s not easy to find a performer in Uganda.
Let’s stop this silly obsession with papers. Equivalence should have a meaning. That’s why universities award honorary doctorates to people who’ve never stepped in a lecture theatre. Sematimba’s lecture theatre has been in the boardroom, studio, farm, market and everywhere he has left a trail. In my view he could actually be more educated than the bunch that’s obsessed with “Sematimba does not have papers.”
