Martin Ssempa
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Martin Ssempa MSc |
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|---|---|
| Born |
Martin Ssempa 1968 (age 48–49) Masaka District, Uganda |
| Nationality | Ugandan, American |
| Occupation | Pastor, anti-gay rights activist |
| Spouse(s) | Tracey Ssempa |
| Children | 5 |
Martin Ssempa (born 1968) is a Ugandan-American pastor and activist, founder of the Makerere Community Church. He supports the separation of church and state and the use of condoms to prevent HIV contraction, and supports abstinence plus fidelity education in the fight against sexual diseases. Ssempa claims to be leading a crusade to "kick sodomy out of Uganda, endorsing proposed legislation in Uganda that makes certain homosexual acts punishable by life in prison or even, in some cases, death."
Martin Ssempa was born in Naluzaale of Uganda's Masaka District in 1968 to a single mother. He did not know who his father was. His mother was a teacher and he changed schools often as a child. Ssempa went to Kimanya Primary School in Masaka and St. Peter's Primary School in Nsambya. He then went to Rubaga Boys' Secondary School, before he completed his A level at Namilyango College. During his teenage years he became a celebrity in East Africa as the national break dancing champion. In 1988, Ssempa was admitted to Makerere University.
During this time both Ssempa's brother and sister contracted HIV. Ssempa sat by their beds as they grew sicker. When they died in 1990, he blamed their promiscuity and feared that his lifestyle would also lead to his death via AIDS; thus, he decided to take action. Ssempa converted to Evangelical Christianity at the Wandegeya Baptist Youth Center. He travelled the country with a drama group that performed in schools in an effort to educate students about AIDS.
Ssempa graduated from Makarere with a Bachelor's degree in Social Science, specialising in sociology. He later received a Master of Arts degree in counselling from Philadelphia Biblical University. In 2006, that same university awarded Ssempa an unaccredited honorary doctorate for his work with people with AIDS. In 2010, it denounced Ssempa for his public policy on sodomy in Uganda.
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