It started, as most of Uganda’s best Twitter arguments do, with a comment that probably should have been left untyped.
NRM Director of Information Emmanuel Lumala Dombo made a remark on a post comparing Dr. Jimmy Spire Ssentongo’s cartoons and Bobi Wine’s music to art and comedy. Whatever the intention, Ssentongo — associate professor of Ethics and Identity Studies at Uganda Martyrs University and part-time lecturer at Makerere University, editorial cartoonist, anti-corruption activist, and 2026 winner of the Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award — was not going to let it slide quietly.
He laid out his academic record in full. And then asked Dombo to match it.
What followed drew over 100,000 views and ignited a debate that cuts to the heart of one of Uganda’s most persistent tensions — what a degree is actually worth, and whether credentials or impact should define a person’s standing.
Ssentongo’s academic record is genuinely formidable. He holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Humanistic Studies from the University of Humanistic Studies in the Netherlands, a Master’s degree from Makerere University, an MSc from London South Bank University, and a Bachelor’s degree — first class — from the Pontifical Urban University in Rome.
Three continents. Four degrees. A PhD defended in 2015. He also teaches Ethics and Research Methods at Makerere University and is the author of What Died When We Lived (2025).
Dombo, on the other side of the exchange, holds a commerce degree from Makerere University. He is a former Member of Parliament and, as Makerere University’s former Guild President in 1991/92 — a successor to Norbert Mao in that position — is no stranger to navigating institutional politics. He responded to Ssentongo’s challenge by saying he meant no offence and calling the demand petty. His counter-argument: professional reputation, not paper credentials, is what defines a person’s real contribution.
The numbers tell the story of how much the exchange resonated. Over 100,000 views. A comment thread that ran for hours. Users taking sides not just on Ssentongo versus Dombo specifically, but on the broader question their clash represents.
Does a PhD from the Netherlands and a first-class degree from Rome mean you have earned more authority to speak on Uganda’s affairs than someone who served as Guild President at Makerere, won a parliamentary seat, and has spent years in the machinery of political communication?
Or — flipping the question — does holding political power without equivalent intellectual rigour explain some of Uganda’s governance problems?
It is a debate that has no clean answer, and Uganda’s educated Twitter class knows it. That is partly why the thread ran as long as it did.
For students currently at Makerere, Kyambogo, and universities across Uganda grinding toward degrees they hope will open doors — this exchange carries a specific weight. Both men are Makerere products. One pursued his degree as a starting point and kept building an international academic portfolio for decades. The other used his time at Makerere — including the Guild presidency — as a launchpad into political life.
Dombo has previously spoken about his Makerere Guild days with candour, including admitting he once removed his wedding ring and denied being married to avoid losing female voter support during his guild campaign — decisions he said he defended because his vows were between himself and God.
That detail, surfaced alongside this credentials clash, adds a layer to the portrait of a man whose political instincts have always been sharper than his academic paper trail — and who has never pretended otherwise.
Ssentongo, meanwhile, is the cartoonist who has faced death threats for his anti-corruption campaigns, won international recognition for courage in the face of government hostility, and continues to lecture at Makerere while drawing cartoons that go viral across the continent.
Neither. Both. It depends entirely on what you think education is for.
If a degree is proof of intellectual investment, disciplined inquiry, and the capacity to engage with ideas at the highest level — Ssentongo wins this exchange without contest. His record is exceptional by any measure.
If professional contribution, political effectiveness, and real-world impact are the metrics — Dombo’s argument that reputation matters more than transcripts is harder to dismiss than the academic crowd wants to admit.
The most honest answer is that Uganda needs both things from its public figures — and has too often accepted one in place of the other.
One hundred thousand people watched this argument because they recognised themselves in it. Some of them are students right now, wondering whether the degree they are sacrificing for will ever get the respect they believe it deserves.
That is the question Ssentongo and Dombo accidentally asked together. Neither of them has answered it yet.
