I met with Ambassador Edith Ssempala via Zoom to get a sense of who she is and the kinds of things she is passionate about. To start, I wanted to know how she defined herself. I am Edith Grace Ssempala, a mother, grandmother, and the National Coordinator of the Alliance for National Transformation Women League. As a mother, my mission and greatest desire is to nurture, support and pray for my daughters to fulfil their life purposes. As a member and leader in ANT, I work with other leaders to build a strong Party and for transformative change that will benefit all Ugandans equally and leave no girl or woman behind. She also spoke a little about her previous roles of leadership, including serving as an ambassador. I served as Uganda's Ambassador for 22 years, from 1986 – 1996, in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden); from 1996-2006, in United States of America and from 2006-2008 as Permanent Representative (PR) to the African Union (AU) as well as Ambassador to Ethiopia and Djibouti. In February 2008, I joined the World Bank as Director for International Affairs and served as Senior Advisor focusing on relations with International Civil Society Organizations and relation with AU. My diplomatic career was fulfilling. Together with my teams we represented our country with integrity and distinction. Relations between Uganda and the various countries I served in grew by leaps and bounds resulting in political and institutional support, financial support, and support to our private sector.

What drew you to politics? I had desired to retire after the World Bank but found myself sucked into politics, into the struggle for change once again. The original mission of NRM based on the ‘10 Point Program’ had been aborted and bad governance including in gross violations of human rights had returned as in Ronald Mayinja’s song ‘Bizeemu–what led Muzeyi Museveni to fight had returned’. I thought hard and was tempted to turn a blind eye to politics but could not ignore violations of human rights and institutionalized corruption. I remembered the famous quote ‘Evil triumphs because good people do nothing’ and had a nagging in my heart to do ‘something.’ I joined Go-Forward pressure group and supported the candidature for the presidency of Rt. Hon Amama Mbabazi. During Mbabazi’s campaign I saw with my own eyes the ugly face of the regime and was convinced, I had made the right decision to leave NRM. After 2016 elections, Go-Forward did not go forward. As I was contemplating what to do Gen. Muntu and a group of other leaders came up with New Formation, which later became Alliance for National Transformation Party (ANT). I joined ANT because of the Party’s stated values but most importantly because of the track record of its top leaders. Gen. Muntu’s track record of integrity, zero tolerance to corruption and respect for divergent views, represent some of the values I expect from a leader that would put country before self and help the country build a firm foundation for democracy and sustainable development, a foundation built on institutions and transparent systems and not individuals. ANT has many other credible leaders that are tested and able to lead the country forward. As John Maxwell states, ‘Everything rises and falls on leadership’, our country has fallen on selfish leadership and will rise on leadership that puts country before self. I am confident that given the opportunity by the people of Uganda, ANT leaders have the values and competence to lead the country to realizing its full potential as the Pearl of Africa, for all Ugandans.

Since most people view politics as a male-dominated profession, have you ever been afraid on the job? No, I know that with the right mindset and skills, women can accomplish anything that men can do and even do better. Personally, I am very confident and not easily intimidated by people or situations. I see difficulties as challenges to be overcome and setbacks as setups for comebacks. Professional inspiration from other women? Tell me about someone who has inspired you. There are many women who inspire me, both nationally and internationally. I admire women with values of integrity, who are God fearing, competent, disciplined, brave, and are purpose driven. Hon. Alice Alaso happens to be one of the women I admire in Uganda. She has integrity, is intelligent, hardworking, no-nonsense and yet compassionate. Other women are Hon. Winnie Kizza former leader of Opposition and many others. I like Hon. Miria Matembe’s courage to speak truth to power. On the African Continent, I have been inspired by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Managing Director of the World Bank and current Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO). I was privileged to work with Ngozi (as fondly called) at the World Bank, she is a role model for women globally. I also admire former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson, Sirleaf. I had the opportunity to meet outstanding women such as Hillary Clinton, former First Lady, Secretary of State, and Presidential Candidate of USA. The women leaders mentioned above are exemplary, intelligent and strategic, strong and fearless, disciplined and compassionate. They are not quitters.

Do you encounter any resistance when in charge of a group of men? How do you effectively handle it? I may have encountered resistance at the beginning and not noticed it, but I know that when you are an African woman and a young one as I was when I started my diplomatic career, there must have been biases and misconceptions about me. However, I have always known who I am and do not feel I have to prove myself, especially to men. My relations with people I work with have always been collegial with less emphasis on protocol and not intimidating to men. When I meet resistance, I handle it firmly but calmly. What do you believe has been the most essential aspect behind your success in your leadership role? Also, what has been the most difficult barrier you've encountered in your career as a female leader? How did you overcome this? I attribute all my successes to the grace of God. My character and personality also played a role. I am driven by purpose far higher than self, in this case I wanted to contribute to making Uganda democratic and prosperous. I did not look for benefits for self and so I concentrated on marketing the country. Fortunately, Uganda was marketable at the time. I was self-motivated and worked very hard, learning and improving all the time. I made friends and influenced them to support Uganda. Many people have contributed to my success. First, I had good staff and we worked hard and well together. I consider my successes a result of team effort. Secondly, I was fortunate to have great mentors, friends and supporters. I am grateful to my Ugandan and international mentors and everyone who supported me in one way or another. As for obstacles, like everybody else, there are people who tried to undermine me but did not succeed. Ultimately, the secret to successfully navigate through challenges is to focus on the goal, avoiding being destructed by unnecessary battles and that’s what I did.

How do you use your position as the National Women's Leader of ANT to transform the lives of women in Uganda? The transformation of women’s lives starts with mindset transformation. If the mind tells you that you can, you will. Similarly, if your mind starts throwing hurdles in your path, telling you that you can't do something, you won't be able to achieve it. So, the first thing I am passionate about is to empower women to believe in themselves and overcome fear. This will be done through sensitization, training, and mentorship. ANTWL plans to create formal mentorship programs for young women to share experiences with more experienced women leaders, encourage them to aim high and overcome self-limitations. Second, is to carry out training programs in leadership skills, public speaking, negotiations and lobbying, conflict management and resolution, entrepreneurship, enterprise development, money management and work-family balance. All the programs will be tailored to suit the needs and aspirations of the particular segment of women. Empowerment of women must start at home by empowering girls and boys, validating them and encouraging them equally. This will be part of our conversations with the women in ANT and nationally.

Do you believe there are any structural (cultural) obstacles that hinder women from pursuing political positions? How can these be addressed effectively? Yes. There are cultural barriers, such as inheritance of land, which favors male children and disadvantages women and girls economically. The perception about family roles, which creates heavy loads for women and girls is also a big problem. Cultural norms that disadvantage women and girls must be discouraged through various means, including legislation, sensitization, socialization of children and ultimately raising girls and boys who are responsible, respectful, and self- assured. How do you strike a balance between your professional and personal commitments? My life is simple, and since my children are grown, I do not have many family obligations. I divide my time between reading different kinds of books, doing some research on topics of interest and Party obligations and activities. As a believer, I also spend time in prayer, reading the Bible and fellowship What words of wisdom or message would you most like to instill in the next generation of female leaders? First, I encourage Women of every generation to believe is themselves, invest in building character of integrity, discipline, respect, and hard work. Women should know what they want and pursue their goals with determination. Study and acquire life and academic skills. Do not compromise on values. Women should recognize that politics affects all facets of life. Politics is important because the things that elected officials do affects our lives therefore I encourage women to be interested and to participate in politics, influence policy by choosing leaders with good character. I encourage the next generation of female leaders to aim at the moon so that when they fall short, they settle with the stars. I would like to say to our women in ANT that we are blessed to belong to a party that is founded on values and believes in equality and equity. Our goal in ANT is to have at least 40% of all leadership positions occupied by women as prescribed by our Constitution. I also want to invite all the women of Uganda who share our values to join ANT so that together we can build our country on values of justice, zero tolerance to corruption, respect and dignity of all people, and equal opportunity for all Ugandans. Join us and together let’s build a better future for ourselves and future generations.