Shartsi Kutesa Nayebare Musherure is the current Member of Parliament for Mawogola North constituency, Ssembabule District in Central Uganda. As with common parlance among rotarians, herself being one, her life has always been testament to service above self, owing to her humble background which instilled into her these values. Shartsi is the first of six children born to Hon. Sam Kahamba Kutesa and the Late Jennifer Nankunda Kutesa.
Her father, Hon. Sam Kutesa, now retired from a lifelong career in public service first as Minister of State for Investment and later as Minister of Foreign Affairs, was also a representative for Mawogola County, his place of birth. Her late mother Jennifer Nankunda Kutesa was a businesswoman who supported her family and kept all her children firmly rooted in their culture and faith. Owing of this background, Shartsi had always known since her youth, that she was destined for a life of service. To this date, her parents remain a stellar example of what it means to give back and to serve one’s community and nation resolutely.
Faith is an important aspect of one’s character, more so that of a leader. Shartsi’s decision to commit her life to Christ at a young age was due to the influence of her paternal and maternal grandmothers who, themselves, had grown up as part of the East African Revival. This experience was life changing as they testified, verbally and by action, to their lives being transformed through the acceptance of Christ as their personal Saviour. This decision, having been made in her formative years, has been the foundation of her life’s journey.
After six years at King’s College Budo, Shartsi went on to obtain a law degree from University of Wales, Cardiff and a master’s degree in law from Cornell University, New York. In 1999, she married Dr. Paul Musherure, a paediatric dentist practicing in Minnesota, USA and they have been blessed with four children
In 2006, Shartsi found an amazing group of rural Ugandan women who made eco-friendly jewelry and connected them to the US market. Together with her late business partner Ellen Willis, they built an import business which led to building partnerships with Minnesota retailers and consumers. For the Ugandan ladies, this humble project translated into an improved sense of identity, self-worth and financial freedom. Owing to her interest in early childhood development, Shartsi volunteered and became a part-time teacher in two school districts in her area. This allowed her to gain first-hand experience around critical issues regarding efforts to improve the livelihoods of low-income families and the needs of their children.
In 2012, Shartsi made a return to Uganda for two years where she was then entrusted with the task of reviving Mbabule FM, a political radio station in Sembabule that had- up to a certain point- been very successful in the greater Masaka region with coverage that still reaches many areas of Western Uganda. This new venture allowed her to gain even more insight into the Ugandan media, communication and community affairs landscape. As she immersed herself in this daunting task, she discovered that it involved an ever-increasing need for service. This compelled her to go further down to the grassroots of her community and seek out ways to improve both the radio station and the lives of its listeners, particularly the people of Sembabule. In no time, the radio recovered and became tenable as a going concern.
After eight years at the helm of Mbabule FM, having established her footprint in the civil society space through the Goberera Initiative Uganda, she was asked to consider running for higher office to continue her pursuit of service to her community. With the blessing of her family and the people of Mawogola North, Shartsi accepted and ran for the office of Member of Parliament for Mawogola North, an office that her father was retiring from after a successful tenure.
In January 2021, Shartsi won the election after one of the most highly contested campaigns, nationally. Since being sworn into office in May of the same year, she has served on a number of House committees including the legal and parliamentary affairs committee, the budget committee, the foreign affairs committee and most recently, the climate change committee where she now represents the House and the country on international fora such as the Global Renewables Congress.