Who is Proscovia Salaamu? Flash Uganda Media looks at her biography, age, husband, family, Bugabula South, Kamuli district, relationship with Isaac Musumba, Dr Kizza Besigye, early life and education of the current Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Vice President for Eastern Uganda.

Proscovia Salaamu is a Ugandan politician who currently serves as the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Vice President for Eastern Uganda.

Salaamu is a resilient woman who never gives up easily, straight forward, speaks with brutal candour, is allergic to injustice and is not a hypocrite. If she hates you she will not hide it away, the reason people brand her to be rude and arrogant.

Salaamu has peace of mind, spends time alone, talks alone, does self-audit, works hard, do some walking but not a lot of gyms to keep fit. 

She has short hair because she dislikes the salon and she doesn’t want to look like a flower. Also, she wants people to focus on her speech, but not her looks.

Early Life and Education

Proscovia Salaamu was born in Namwendwa village in Kamuli District on March 11, 1963. She attended Mt St Mary’s College Namagunga for her secondary school a girl’s boarding school, then Makerere University from where she graduated with a Bachelor of Social Work and Social Administration (SWASA).

Later, Salaamu proceeded with school and was awarded a Master of Art in Social Policy and Administration by Nottingham University. 

In her childhood, Salaamu was a quiet child, a deep thinker, the brave who climbed the tallest mango trees in the village and the naughtiest girl while in S.2 class. She recalls sneaking to the chemistry laboratory to hot combs her hair where Sister Cephas, the headmistress of the school caught her red-handed. 

Salaamu froze and apologized right away, but still, she was punished, and ordered to peel matooke alone for the rest of the students at school. 

She woke up at 3 am and completed the task. Her best memory at school was socializing with the Namilyango Boy’s College, their meetings were always fun. 

Besides, Salaamu who is one of the pioneers of Mt. St. Mary’s College Namagunga was a bright student who always emerged as the best in first grades.

Salaamu studied Literature, Economics and Geography at A’ Level obtaining ABC, the best mark and while at university she was among the best students in her class.

Salaamu was an independent woman something that manifests itself even in her adulthood because she was born to a family of only girls. 

She does not rely on anyone not even for approval. Born to a middle-class family, Salaamu never lacked anything while growing up as a child, because his father who was a medical assistant at Namwendwa Health Centre and her mother a nurse, would provide. She lived a stress-free and happy life.

At school, she participated in the school band and played the accordion with her other team members before Idi Amin, the former President of Uganda to mark the Eid celebrations, feast, drink soda which they used to wash their hands because the water was scarce. 

She narrates that Amin was more like a father to them.

Politics

In 2021, Proscovia Salaamu withdrew the election petition challenging Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga’s victory as a means of fostering unity within the Busoga sub-region. 

She had filed the petition before the High Court in Jinja District accusing both Kadaga and the Electoral Commission (EC) of allegedly orchestrating irregularities that barred her from winning the 2021 vote for the Kamuli District Woman legislator seat.

In 1996, Proscovia Salaamu resigned from her job at the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) where she served as the Senior Programme Officer from 1987 to 1996 to contest for the Bugabula South parliamentary seat. 

She won the vote to serve in the 7th parliament becoming a vocal critic of the regime’s ills.

Salaamu while at parliament chaired the parliament’s committee on presidential and foreign affairs, Deputy Chairperson, Uganda Women Parliamentarians Association (UWOPA), and Coordinator Young Parliamentarians Association (YPA). 

However, later, she lost the seat to Asuman Kiyingi in the 2006 election.

Also, from 2012 to 2016, Salaamu served as the Kamuli District chairperson. She won the by-election following the nullification of the Ahmed Kawugu Mughainho win in 2011 by the High Court citing inadequate academic credentials. 

In another set of responsibilities, Proscovia Salaamu served as Prime Minister in the People’s Government led by Dr Kizza Besigye, the former FDC president.

The FDC iron lady in 2019 was ordered to refund 4.7m, Uganda Shillings that she allegedly misappropriated during her reign as Kamuli District Chairperson. 

Salaamu is said to have used her position to lobby and acquire 10m Uganda Shillings from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) meant to support the education sector in Kamuli but rather diverted it for personal use.

Salaamu was also accused of threatening to dissolve the District Service Commission (DSC) for failure to take her instruction; forcing the District CAO to pay for computers that had been donated by diplomats, as well as receiving fuel allowance while at the same time drawing fuel from the district.

She also tried to contest for the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) on an FDC ticket but lost the contest, although her party later pulled out of the race. 

In 2020, Salaamu informed the public that she was poisoned, a slow poison she battled with that caused loss of her hair.

Family

Proscovia Salaamu is married to Isaac Musumba, a Ugandan lawyer and politician, and together they are parents of four boys.