On July 21, 2024, Hebert Anderson Burora, the former Resident City Commissioner (RCC) of Rubaga Division, found himself behind bars, at what he describes as one of the darkest chapters of his life.
Today, just a year later, he stands as the newly declared winner of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party primaries for Nakawa West, in a political comeback few could have predicted.
Speaking exclusively about his journey, Burora opened up about the personal cost of that period, revealing that his wife was heavily pregnant at the time of his incarceration, and nearly lost their unborn child.
“By God’s grace, we later welcomed a beautiful baby girl,” he said via his official X handle formerly Twitter.
The emotional toll was heavy. He missed visiting his elder daughter at school, and she tried to reach him in vain. His phones were off.
He was completely cut off, not just from his family, but from a world that had suddenly grown silent.
“Most of the people I once called friends had disappeared,” Burora recalled. “My circle shrunk to fewer than three individuals who still publicly called me a friend. Only a handful of brave lawyers stood with me in court, amid pressure and intimidation.”
Upon his release, Burora found himself at a personal crossroads. It was the reflection and conversations he had with fellow inmates, “men society had written off,” as he described them, that stirred a deeper calling within him.
That moment of reckoning inspired a bold pivot: he would enter elective politics.
“When I announced my intention to contest, people laughed. Many thought I was joking. Some still haven’t returned my calls to this day,” Burora said.
Still, he pressed on. With little more than determination, faith, and a skeleton team of believers, Burora launched his campaign quietly and steadily. There were moments, he admits, that were humbling.
“There were days my car ran out of fuel in the middle of the road. We had no money, but somehow, we always found a way. We never stopped, because we believed,” he recalls.
That belief bore fruit. In the early hours of a Friday morning, after ballots were counted and tension gave way to surprise, Burora was declared winner of the NRM Party Primaries for Nakawa West.
“The morning after the results came in, my phone nearly crashed, 600 WhatsApp messages, 380 missed calls, 89 unread text messages, and media houses all calling,” he shared.
The irony wasn’t lost on him. “Many of the same people who once ignored my calls were now reaching out to congratulate me.”
Burora emphasized that while the journey was intensely personal, the message is universal.
“This story isn’t just mine,” he said. “It’s for that one person out there who feels forgotten, abandoned, or discouraged. Keep going. Don’t give up.”
He cautioned against placing too much faith in people. “The truth is, many will only call you when they need something, not when you need them. But God? God will always show up.”
