Zohran Mamdani, a New York State Assemblyman and rising Democratic Socialist figure, returned to his birthplace of Uganda earlier this month. Not for a campaign pause or family visit, but to celebrate his wedding—already formalised earlier this year—with artist and animator Rama Duwaji.
The celebration took place in Buziga Hill, one of Kampala’s wealthiest enclaves. It stretched over three days, from Tuesday through Friday. By all accounts, it was private, tightly controlled, and utterly extravagant.
The Mamdani family estate was turned into a party zone. Fairy lights draped the garden trees, music poured out past midnight, and luxury cars like Mercedes and a Range Rover glided past heavily fortified security gates.
The house was guarded by "more than 20 special forces command unit guards, some in masks, and there was a phone-jamming system set up — all for the strictly invite-only Mamdani event... One gate had around nine guards stationed at it."
Military-style tents appeared within the grounds, only to be taken down once the party concluded. Mamdani’s own private security then resumed control at the entrances.
Guests were seen dancing to local DJs, sipping fruit juices—typical of Indian-style weddings—and soaking in views of Lake Victoria from a two-acre estate that sits behind three security gates.
While the Mamdanis celebrated, a very different mood hung over the neighbouring homes. Just three minutes down the road, former Ugandan Supreme Court Judge George Kanyeihamba had died a week earlier. The community was still in mourning.
President Yoweri Museveni visited the area to pay his respects. His convoy shut down local streets, including those around the Mamdani compound. It’s unclear whether he also dropped in on the wedding. If he did, no one’s admitting it.
To some locals, the celebration came across as tone-deaf.
"Because of the culture here, it was insensitive to have a wedding celebration in the same week as mourning — or 'Okukungubaga' — as it's called here," one resident told The Post. "He has not even been buried, and we have his friends coming to give last words and to mourn before the burial next week, yet Mamdani is celebrating his wedding for three days."
Others in the area didn’t even know what was going on inside the gates. "Local children have been watching Mamdani on TV, and everyone was talking about him, but not about the wedding," said another resident. "For us, it’s just about survival. We’re just trying to win the bread and make sure our families are OK."
Mamdani, 33, was born in Kampala but moved to New York at age seven. He became a US citizen in 2018. His parents—filmmaker Mira Nair and political theorist Mahmood Mamdani—split their time between Uganda, New York, and New Delhi. Their Buziga Hill estate, worth well over a million dollars, sits among properties owned by some of Uganda’s richest, including tycoon Godfrey Kirumira.
Mamdani and Duwaji, who met on Hinge, now live in a rent-stabilised flat in Astoria. Earlier this year, the couple eloped. The Ugandan celebration was their moment to mark the occasion with family.
But critics online weren’t impressed by the extravagance. Many took aim at what they saw as contradictions in Mamdani’s political message.
"Zohran Mamdani has run on the platform of defunding the police and abolishing prisons but this is his private security outside his family compound in Uganda," one X user posted. "Don’t those that can’t afford private security also deserve to feel safe and protected?"
Another called him out as a "champagne socialist", writing, "Masked guards, phone jammers, three-day bash on a private estate—peak hypocrisy."
One jabbed at the optics: "Nothing says American like getting married on your family's luxury Uganda compound. A man of the people."
The backlash was swift, and loud. Mamdani hasn’t issued a formal response to the criticism. But he did poke fun at the media attention with a video posted to Instagram. Holding mocked-up front pages, he smiled and said. "
He confirmed he would remain in Uganda until the end of the month. That was as close to a statement as anyone got.
What this event revealed, more than anything, is the tension between public persona and private reality. Mamdani campaigns on economic justice, police reform, and housing equity. But his family wealth, private armed security, and ability to host an insulated celebration in a country grappling with poverty stand in contrast to those ideals.
Whether the wedding will affect his campaign remains to be seen. But it’s clear that this wasn’t just a family affair. It became a political event, with consequences far beyond Kampala’s hills.
In the end, a party that was meant to be private became public in all the wrong ways.
