If I must vote in the Uganda 2021 elections, my line-up for Kampala definitely includes Dr. Stella Nyanzi for Woman Member of Parliament (MP). I love Dr. Nyanzi for she refuses to gentrify and to transmogrify, in order that she fits in with the traditional norms of how a woman campaigning for political office is expected to be well behaved, which often means be timid and subservient.

Dr. Nyanzi refuses to be censored. She uses sexuality and womanhood from whence she derives and delivers powerful analogies in her speeches that other women political candidates wouldn’t dare vocalize. In other words, she effectively uses to the fullest her doctorate – her anthropological expertise on sexuality.

Dr. Stella Nyanzi pastes one of her posters at a market in central Kampala, Uganda on Oct. 28, 2020. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION/Alice McCool

Case in point, there is a video clip doing rounds on social media in which Dr. Nyanzi introduces herself, in Luganda, amid loud cheers from the crowds; while her fellow political contestants sharing the podium and platform with her, such as Lord Mayor Lukwago, cringe; shake their heads in disbelief and hide their faces with shame in the palm of their hands.

Here is how she introduced herself in that clip:

“Amanya gange, nze Dr. Stella Nyanzi. My names are Dr. Stella Nyanzi. Abasinga mumpita Nnalongo ow’enene engazi. Most of you call me Nnalongo (mother of twins) with the big and wide one (insinuating that her vagina is literally big and wide. Ate nga banange kituufu. And yes, my fellows, it is true (that her vagina is literally big and wide). Constituency yange ey’eKampala nnene nnyo ate nngazi nnyo ate ebwatukabwatuka. My constituency of Kampala is very big, very wide and is explosive. Kati no munndeke mbwatuke. Now, let me explode. Banange mbasaba kalulu. My fellows, I am asking you for your vote.”

Dr. Stella Nyanzi

Her analogy in this case is so effective. Yes, Kampala is large geographically; it is a challenging constituency, since it hosts the capital city; and it is the ‘apple of my eye’, so to speak, for all political parties. No wonder that campaigning in Kampala is not without drama, including explosives – tear gas canisters being hurled at campaign gatherings of opposition politicians.

Indeed, only one with a big one and who is without roses in her mouth can effectively represent Kampala in parliament. This is basically Dr. Nyanzi’s message. I agree with her and for that she has my vote.