KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — In the Ugandan newsroom where he appeared one day as an intern, Zohran Mamdani seemed shy and modest. His father had arranged for him to spend time at the Daily Monitor newspaper in the hope that the teenager would show more interest in current affairs.
“He himself told me: I had to go every night and talk to his father about the current affairs of the day,” recalled Angelo Izama, the journalist who was assigned the task of advising Mamdani in 2007 in the capital of his native Uganda, Kampala.
Mamdani wanted to be a “featured reporter,” which is how Izama remembers saving the young man’s number in his cell phone. While sports were the teenager’s passion, he also “had an insatiable curiosity about the world” around him.
“As a young man I was very, very curious,” said Izama, who stayed in touch with Mamdani for years after his months-long experience as a journalist. “This is something that will stay with him forever.”
Now Mamdani, 34, who has retained his Ugandan citizenship, could become New York City’s first Muslim mayor and the first of Indian descent. Tuesday is the final day of voting, when he faces Republican Curtis Sliwa and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent.
Izama told The Associated Press that he was not surprised by Mamdani’s rise in American politics and described him as a role model not only for his fellow Ugandans and other Africans, but also for young people around the world.
“I think it’s basically global, not so much Ugandan and not so much American,” Izama said.
Mamdani was born in Kampala in 1991. His father is Mahmood Mamdani, a Columbia professor who taught for many years at Uganda’s main public university, Makerere University, and whose academic writings are influential in the field of postcolonial studies. His mother is filmmaker Mira Nair, whose work has been nominated for an Academy Award. He is an only child.
The Mamdanis divide their time between the United States, India and Uganda, where they have a hillside home in a wealthy area of Kampala. In July, the family gathered here to celebrate Zohran Mamdani’s marriage, underscoring their Ugandan roots.
Some Ugandans who have known Mamdani over the years say that while he may not be fluent in the local Luganda dialect, he understands the language and is proud of his local origin.
“We shouldn’t just be proud of Mamdani,” said Joseph Beyanga, a media manager who is among Mamdani’s mentors at the Daily Monitor. “We should be very excited.”
Beyanga said he felt “challenged” by Mamdani’s ambition, calling it a civic lesson for young Africans who feel alienated from politics as aging leaders are accused of staying in power longer. Among them is Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who has led the country since 1986.
Izama said Mamdani “provides a role model that would electrify Africa, which is full of talent,” adding that “there is reason for us to be very proud.”
Mamdani left Uganda as a child but returned regularly. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018. Before becoming a New York Assemblyman in 2021, the self-described democratic socialist was a community organizer in the New York borough of Queens, helping vulnerable homeowners facing eviction.
Mamdani’s victory over Cuomo in the Democratic primary for mayor sent shockwaves through the political world. His campaign has focused on lowering the cost of living, promising free city buses, free child care, rent freezes for people living in rent-stabilized apartments, and government-run grocery stores, all paid for by taxes on the rich.
His candidacy has caught the attention of US President Donald Trump, who alleged without evidence that Mamdani was in the US “illegally.” Some Republicans have called for Mamdani’s denaturalization and deportation.
Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama is said to have offered to be a sounding board for Mamdani, and has received endorsements from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
However, Mamdani’s breakneck success would not be easy to replicate in Uganda, said Nicholas Sengoba, an independent political analyst in Kampala.
His rise shows “that America is a land of opportunity for the free and the brave,” he said. “The irony is that in Uganda you would have to fight hard to get it. You would have to fight your way to the door.”
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