Two top politicians have recently spoken openly about their private money and how they made it. Local Government Minister Balaam Barugahara and Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa both say they were already wealthy before they took public office, and that their businesses still run without their government salaries. Their comments have sparked public debate over who is actually richer and whose story holds up better.
Balaam has been the more consistent in claiming early billionaire status. In interviews with Spark TV, UBC and New Vision, he said he was already a millionaire by Primary Seven from small trading, and a billionaire by university or by age 25 to 28. He has recounted a 2007 phone call from Sudhir Ruparelia, then of Crane Bank, congratulating him after his account crossed the one-billion-shilling mark. Balaam describes himself as a medium taxpayer who has paid about one billion shillings in a single year and employs hundreds of people across radio stations, a water bottling plant in South Sudan, hotels (including a five-star property in Masindi), real estate, events and MTN distribution in Kigezi. Some profiles put his worth near 100 million dollars, though none of the figures have been independently verified. He has also repeatedly said he entered politics from a position of strength and has never left his companies.
Tayebwa’s disclosures have been more recent and more specific. In October he said his company, Tayari Rides, operates more than 10,000 boda bodas nationwide (some reports put the number above 20,000). He explained that the shift to cashless mobile-money collections had cut defaults and that the business produces what he called “clean money” without touching his parliamentary pay. Public estimates based on his remarks put the capital tied up in the motorcycles between 40 and 50 billion shillings. Separately, at a thanksgiving service for the 12th Parliament, he said that during his first term he was a major money lender and that nearly 60 percent of MPs and ministers owed him money after he returned from business in South Sudan. He has also mentioned interests in telecom services, consumer goods, real estate and investments, plus residences valued above four billion shillings. Friends from the business community contributed most of the 2.7 billion shillings used for a church project in his constituency.
On the available evidence the two men score differently. Balaam leads on longevity and the sheer volume of billionaire claims. His story dates back to his late twenties and the higher circulating estimates place him ahead. Tayebwa scores higher on concrete, current operational detail. A fleet of more than 10,000 motorcycles is a large, ongoing financing business whose scale and cash flow are easier for ordinary Ugandans to picture than a collection of radios and hotels. Both stress that their wealth came before politics, that they pay taxes or earn “clean money,” and that their companies continue to run while they hold office. Neither has published audited personal statements, so every external estimate remains speculative.
In a country where many people struggle with high living costs and where the wealth of public officials is often questioned, the two accounts show different paths. One was built early through media, promotion and cross-border trade; the other has scaled more recently through high-volume asset financing and earlier lending. Balaam currently holds the edge in the volume of billionaire rhetoric and the highest published estimates. Tayebwa holds the edge in the specificity of a large business that people can see on the roads.
Until more transparent data appears, both can claim legitimate bragging rights in their own spheres—but neither figure alone settles the question of who is ultimately richer.
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