Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa has clarified that his remarks on nurses were intended to recognise their professional competence and academic achievements, including their ability to hold leadership positions.
Tayebwa said his remarks during the House sitting on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, highlighted that nurses can attain advanced qualifications and should not be regarded as less capable of providing leadership.
“But I think the public should know that there are nurses who have PhDs, we are taking it as if nurses are so low,” Tayebwa said during Tuesday’s sitting.
This followed concerns raised by the Leader of Opposition, Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi, about a nurse heading the Pharmacy Department at Mbarara University of Science and Technology.
Explaining his intervention, Tayebwa said he had sought to challenge the perception that a nursing background necessarily made someone unsuitable for a leadership position. He reiterated that nurses are accomplished professionals whose qualifications and abilities should be recognised.
His clarification followed the circulation of a video posted on social media by a journalist identified as Paul Ssebaduka, which Tayebwa said had been edited to portray him as demeaning nurses.
According to the Deputy Speaker, portions in which he praised nurses and acknowledged their academic achievements had been deleted, creating a misleading impression of his contribution.
“Someone got a full video, cut out parts, joined them together and the video went viral. The whole of last evening and today morning, it was me being abused that I abused nurses,” said Tayebwa during the House on Wednesday, 21 October 2026.
He described the editing as deliberate blackmail and said the resulting abuse had extended to his family.
Tayebwa told the House that he had engaged the Uganda Communications Commission to follow up the matter, and called for a public apology from the journalist.
