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President Yoweri Museveni last night made a surprise revelation about the true parentage of Ugandan musician and President of the Uganda National Musician’s Federation (UNMF), Edirisa Musuuza, aka Eddy Kenzo.
While the award-winning singer named his father as Hassan Ssenyange who passed away in 2012, Museveni revealed that his real father was the Late Chefe Ali, a high ranking commander of the National Resistance Army (NRA) and later the UPDF.
Before his passing in 1999, Chefe Ali, whose real names were Eriya Mwine served among others the UPDF’s Chief of Staff and commander of three different divisions.
Back in the bush war, he is most remembered for commanding 11th Battalion, which besieged the Simba Battalion barracks in Mbarara in 1985.
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Museveni made the stunning disclosure at the launch of the Yoweri Music Album
A son of a soldier
Museveni made the stunning disclosure at the launch of the Yoweri Music Album, a compilation of songs put together by UNMF, producers and songwriters associations from across the nation.
“Kenzo is a son of a soldier. He told me he is the son of Chefe Ali,” Museveni revealed.
The president went on to ask Kenzo if he had made this information public or if he was still hiding it.
He also asked Kenzo to introduce other children of the Late Chefe Ali and commented on how they all resembled him.
Kenzo with his wife Fiona Nyamutoro at the launch of the Yoweri Music Album
Hassan Ssenyange
Eddy Kenzo first commented about his family in 2015, revealing in an interview with NTV that his father was the late Hassan Ssenyange.
The singer recounted how his family was once homeless and his father Ssenyange spent two years sleeping under a tree.
Eddy Kenzo said his father was the late Hassan Ssenyange.
“He actually pretended he was mad but he wasn’t. It is because he had lost his job and couldn’t afford to rent a house," he said .
Kenzo also said his biological mother passed away when he was around five years old
Brigadier Chefe Ali: A Revolutionary War Hero of Uganda
Brigadier Chefe Ali, officially Eriya Mwine, was a highly decorated and deeply respected military officer whose career spanned Uganda’s most turbulent decades.
Born circa 1955, his military life began early when he quit his secondary education to join the struggle against the regime of Idi Amin.
He became part of the Front for National Salvation (FRONASA), led by Yoweri Museveni, playing a key role in the Western Front forces that contributed to the eventual overthrow of Amin in 1979.
Ali’s reputation as a committed and disciplined soldier was cemented during the 1980–1986 National Resistance Army (NRA) Bush War.
The late Chefe Ali
He was assigned the command of the 11th Battalion, which besieged the Simba Battalion barracks in Mbarara in 1985.
Chefe Ali was not only known for his fighting prowess but also for his ability to use "siasa" (political education), often raising the morale of the combatants through revolutionary songs.
After the NRA took power in 1986, Chefe Ali continued to serve in high-ranking positions in the national army.
He held commands of multiple critical divisions, including the 2nd Division in Fort Portal and the 3rd Division in Mbale.
His appointment as the Commander of the 4th Infantry Division in Gulu placed him at the forefront of the counter-insurgency operations against Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda.
In 1996, Chefe Ali was appointed the acting Chief of Staff of the army, replacing Brigadier Sam Nanyumba. He was widely praised by his peers, including high-ranking generals, for his unwavering personal discipline and integrity, reportedly never engaging in corruption.
General Salim Saleh, publicly stated that Chefe Ali never took "a single shilling from the army except his entitlements."
At the time of his untimely death in July 1999 at the age of 44, Chefe Ali was in charge of training Congolese rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of Uganda's military interventions in the region.