28 children and counting: NUP president Nambeshe opens up on family, spiritual life

For most people, raising one set of twins would be enough to demand a lifetime supply of patience. John Baptist Nambeshe has six.

At 60, the National Unity Platform acting president does not speak like a man preparing to slow down

He has 28 children, ranging from the very old to the very young, and insists he is “still going strong”.

“By the way, I am now in the morning hours of my life,” Nambeshe said with a broad smirk, in an interview with Diaspora Connect.

“I have very old children and very young ones. I have six sets of twins. Three sets are from one woman, and she still wants more because she does not have a girl yet. The rest of the sets are from other women,” he said.

Nambeshe attributed the number of twins in his family to genetics. His late father also had twins.

The lawmaker spoke fondly of his father, who died aged 96. His family, he said, still considered that an early death because of their expectations of longevity.

His old man, he said, left behind several wives and feared his sons could inherit them. So he took action.

"My father left behind one of his wives who was only one year older than me. One of my brothers used to hang around her a lot, so my father left a strongly worded will because he knew he had some crazy sons and he was a jealous man just like myself,” he said.

“So he warned us not to touch his wives; he said whoever goes near his women would be in serious trouble”

Born in Bududa from  the Basayi clan, Nambeshe prides himself in his spiritual life which is less visible in national politics

He revealed that for hers he has been and remains a born-again church leader at a level of “presiding apostle”

He initially served under the late Pastor Fred Wambuzi at a church that started in Nansana.

Later, he became an evangelist and travelled across Uganda preaching.

“I traversed almost every part of Uganda preaching the gospel as an evangelist. By the time I joined the 10th Parliament, I was at the level of bishop in the church,” he said.

Nambeshe was born on November 24, 1965, in Bududa District. Parliament lists his profession as teaching. Before entering national politics, he worked as a teacher at Bududa Secondary School and later as a laboratory technician at Jinja College.

His political career started in local government. He became chairperson of Bududa Town Council in 2006 before winning election as Bududa District chairperson in 2011.

Nambeshe entered Parliament in 2016 after winning the Manjiya County seat on the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) ticket. 

His relationship with the NRM later deteriorated. He was among ruling party MPs who opposed the removal of the presidential age limit in 2017. He later crossed to the People Power movement and subsequently joined NUP.

He retained the Manjiya County seat on the NUP ticket and rose to become the party's deputy president for eastern Uganda. He also served as Opposition Chief Whip in the 11th Parliament.

Nambeshe returned to Parliament after the 2026 elections and is now serving in the 12th Parliament. 

Parliament also elected him as one of four backbench commissioners on the Parliamentary Commission.

In July 2026, NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu appointed Nambeshe acting party president, replacing Lina Zedriga Waru. Nambeshe continues to serve as NUP deputy president for the eastern region.