Ssenfuka’s cancer, diabetes drugs win Museveni, clergy support

For more than a decade, herbal researcher David Ssenfuka knocked on government doors carrying the same promise: that a medicine he developed from indigenous plants could help treat cancer and diabetes.

Most doors remained closed. Now, after an unexpected intervention by President Yoweri Museveni, Ssenfuka’s long campaign appears to have reached a turning point. His project has won the backing of Uganda’s most influential religious leaders, reigniting debate over the country’s approach to indigenous medicine, scientific innovation, and the rigorous testing required before any treatment can be approved.

In a statement released by the Inter- Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU), the country’s leading faith leaders welcomed President Museveni’s decision to support efforts aimed at advancing research into Ssenfuka’s herbal medicine.

They argued that, if successfully developed through the required scientific processes, the project could benefit not only public health but also Uganda’s scientific and economic ambitions.

“We commend the President for supporting indigenous research and innovation and for providing an opportunity for innovators such as Mr Ssenfuka to engage with relevant government institutions. Strengthening research programs on herbal medicine will build public trust in local remedies. Currently, scepticism persists because outcomes are uncertain,” the statement, signed by IRCU Secretary General Joshua Kitakule, said.

The endorsement followed a recent meeting between President Museveni and members of the Inter- Religious Council to discuss national affairs.

According to sources familiar with the meeting, senior religious leaders, including Church of Uganda Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, Catholic Bishops’ Conference president Bishop Anthony Zziwa, Mufti Sheikh Shaban Ramathan Mubaje, Bishop Joshua Lwere and Dr Joseph Sserwadda of the Pentecostal churches, and Orthodox Archbishop Jeronymos Muzeeyi, raised concerns over the country’s human rights situation.

After that discussion, Museveni introduced the delegation to Ssenfuka. During the meeting, Ssenfuka presented what Kitakule described as the story behind his years of research and his ambition to make the medicine affordable for patients in Uganda and beyond.

For some of the religious leaders, however, the meeting was more of a reunion than an introduction.

“Seven years ago, the IRCU had met Mr Ssenfuka through Bishop Joshua Lwere… and made some recommendations. We are happy that his efforts are paying off now. IRCU believes Uganda should encourage and protect local innovation. Our country has abundant medicinal plants, talented researchers and indigenous knowledge that, if properly researched and developed, can make a significant contribution,” Kitakule said.

Among the strongest voices backing Ssenfuka was Lwere, who urged Ugandans not to dismiss local scientific innovation simply because it originates at home.

“I want to speak to the general public not to be derailed by people who are going to speak against this,” Lwere said.

“These people have got a colonial mind. They think that if something is local, then it cannot be good. That it can only be important if it is coming from the laboratories of Europe and the United States. This is a very wrong mentality, especially when it comes from people who are educated, because some of them have been sponsored by foreign interests. The same factories that make this medicine are the ones sponsoring them such that if they support the local person, they will be rivalling their sponsors.”

He encouraged Ssenfuka to continue despite growing criticism.

“We are ready to speak to the public to support these efforts,” he said.

Lwere reportedly said he personally knows people who claim to have benefited from Ssenfuka’s treatment.

“Before condemning Ssenfuka, first talk to people who have testimonies. There are very important people in this country who have given testimonies. You cannot say people like judges, ministers, professors are all lying. It disturbs me that anybody can say this man is a conman. I think before you write anything accusing this man of being a conman, first speak to these people. They are very responsible people who cannot lie for anything. So, before you say or write anything, first do due diligence otherwise, if the President had not listened to Ssenfuka before, this project would be dead.”

His comments were a direct response to recent articles by journalist Andrew Mwenda, who questioned the credibility of Ssenfuka’s project and accused him of misleading the government into financing what he described as a fraudulent venture.

Ssenfuka has rejected those claims and says he has instructed his lawyers to sue Mwenda for defamation.

“I have been on this project for more than 10 years but in one stroke, my lifelong work was mocked as fraud,” Ssenfuka told The Observer.

“I maintain that Mwenda’s words are entirely false. As a result, I have been lowered in the eyes of right-thinking members of society and have come to be regarded with hatred. That’s why I have instructed my lawyers to sue Andrew Mwenda.”

The dispute comes as Ssenfuka says government agencies are beginning to take practical steps toward evaluating the medicine through the formal scientific process. He revealed that the Science, Technology and Innovation Secretariat under the Office of the President recently wrote to him outlining areas of cooperation.

“They have said that they are committed to supporting the systematic development of my drug and facilitate its progression through the requisite scientific, regulatory and institutional pathways. But so far, nothing much has concretized,” he said.

For Ssenfuka, the latest developments mark another chapter in a journey that has stretched over 13 years. During that period, he has lobbied ministries, scientists, politicians and international organisations seeking support to move the medicine through laboratory analysis, clinical trials and regulatory approval.

In 2020, frustrated by the lack of progress, he took the unusual step of suing both the Government of Uganda and the World Health Organization, arguing that without support for internationally recognised human clinical trials, his research could never obtain the scientific validation or patents needed for large-scale production.

The Attorney General later sought an out-of-court settlement, but Ssenfuka says little changed afterwards. Over the years, several prominent Ugandans, including former Chief Justice Wako Wambuzi, former Makerere University Vice Chancellor Prof. John Ddumba-Ssentamu, former Katikkiro Joseph Mulwanyammuli Ssemwogerere, former High court judge John Bosco Katutsi and minister Kahinda Otafiire, have written to government urging greater attention to the project.

“This has been a very long journey; we have tried everything,” Ssenfuka said.

“When I was introduced to him, he wondered why he did not know me earlier yet I’m doing a very commendable job.”

He even says his search for support extended beyond Uganda.

“Do you know that we even wrote to the former President of America Joe Biden asking him to take interest in this drug? You know he had lost a son to cancer. Of course, some of those efforts paid off because we had got some people from America who were willing to invest in the project.”

Ssenfuka also credited former Science and Technology minister Dr Elioda Tumwesigye with helping finance the preparation of research protocols.

“If he had stayed in that ministry longer, maybe we would already have had this drug processed and on the market. But the people who replaced him were not as active. But we thank God that finally the President took interest in the project.”

Whether presidential support ultimately translates into approved medicines will depend on the scientific, clinical and regulatory processes that still lie ahead.

For now, Ssenfuka finds himself closer than ever to a goal he has pursued for more than a decade: convincing the country that traditional knowledge can stand alongside modern science, as long as it withstands the same rigorous scrutiny.

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