For more than a decade, Ugandan herbalist David Ssenfuka has fought an uphill battle—writing letters to ministers, knocking on government doors, and pleading with anyone in power to give his cancer and diabetes treatment the serious attention he believes it deserves.
Now, after years of being ignored, his persistence has finally paid off. According to sources familiar with the matter, the Ugandan government has signaled its willingness to fund and support the further development of Ssenfuka’s herbal medicine, which he claims can treat cancer and diabetes— two of the world’s deadliest and most expensive diseases.
A QUIET MEETING, A BOLD STEP
The shift came quietly but significantly. President Yoweri Museveni recently invited Ssenfuka to brief the cabinet on his work. He was joined in that session by Prof. Charles Ibingira, board chairman of the Joint Clinical Research Centre, and Dr Mathias Magoola, managing director of Dei Biopharma.
Each was asked to present innovations in need of government support. While the details remain private, insiders who spoke on condition of anonymity said Museveni was visibly moved by Ssenfuka’s presentation.
The president reportedly described Ssenfuka’s work as “a national treasure” and questioned how Uganda could afford to fund lesser projects while neglecting one with the potential to transform lives globally.
“Government has a lot of money which sometimes it uses for useless things,” Museveni is quoted as telling the cabinet. “How can we fail to help people like Ssenfuka? There are many other Ssenfukas who need our assistance.”
Sources say the president went further, vowing not only to fund the project going forward but to help clear debts Ssenfuka may have incurred during his years of self-financing. He also disclosed that foreign investors had expressed interest in acquiring Ssenfuka’s innovation—raising the stakes for Uganda to act quickly or risk losing the project to international players.
A DECADE OF DETERMINATION
Back at his modest office in Kasubi, Ssenfuka was unavailable for comment—reportedly out of the country. But one of his aides, speaking off the record, confirmed that the meeting with the president had taken place.
“He’s done everything he can since 2013 to push this medicine forward— lab testing, documentation, appeals to authorities,” the aide said.
“But as an individual, he lacks the resources to take it to mass production. Even foreign investors who were interested wanted us to at least complete preliminary procedures like human trials. That’s why the government stepping in now is such a big deal.”
The aide credited Museveni’s openness to local innovations as a turning point.
“The president has always spoken highly of herbal medicine. He’s said publicly that he uses it. So, this is not surprising—it’s consistent with what he believes about Uganda’s potential.”
VOICES OF ENDORSEMENT
Among those rallying behind Ssenfuka is former chief justice Samuel Wako Wambuzi, who has long championed local research and indigenous knowledge. Wambuzi, along with other prominent Ugandans, has written to both President Museveni and even former U.S. president Joe Biden, urging them to support Ssenfuka’s work.
“This is very good news,” Wambuzi said. “Cancer and diabetes are enemies of the entire world. To know that one of us may have discovered something that could help—this is something to be celebrated.”
Wambuzi isn’t just a supporter in name. He recounts a personal experience with Ssenfuka’s treatment.
“I have a relative who developed diabetes at a young age. We tried everything— nothing worked. Then we turned to Ssenfuka. I was surprised by how methodical the process was. It wasn’t guesswork. You first see doctors, get examined—it was professional. That’s what convinced me.”
He said it’s time Africans stopped dismissing their own innovations.
“Too often, we look to the West. But look around—many medicines come from plants, from nature. We must support our own.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Globally, the stakes are enormous. According to the World Health Organization, cancer and diabetes are among the leading causes of death. The United States alone spends roughly $250 billion annually treating cancer, and another $450 billion on diabetes, according to the National Cancer Institute and the American Diabetes Association.
And the burden is growing in Africa too. Changing diets, sedentary lifestyles, and poor access to early diagnosis have made non-communicable diseases a rising threat, even in developing countries like Uganda.
That’s why, to many, the idea of a local herbal remedy—one backed by structured testing and medical protocols—feels like a rare glimmer of hope.
WHAT COMES NEXT
For now, the details remain under wraps. The ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, under which the project falls, had not commented by press time. Minister Dr Monica Musenero has previously expressed interest in working with Ssenfuka, but her office did not respond to multiple inquiries for this story.
Musenero was the one who led Ssenfuka, Magoola and Ibingira to Cabinet. The President thanked her and Dr Grace Nambatya Kyeyune, the head of the Natural Chemotherapeutics Research Institute, for their support to local scientists.
Ssenfuka’s medicine has in the past been confirmed by NCRI as containing curative components for diabetes. Still, momentum appears to be building. Government backing could mean faster clinical trials, access to regulatory support, and, eventually, mass production of a drug that has lived too long in the shadows of the mainstream medical system.
Whether the treatment fulfills its promise remains to be proven through rigorous trials. But for Ssenfuka and those who believe in him, the path forward suddenly looks more possible than ever before.
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