NAMANYONI, UGANDA—Wednesday marked the closing of Uganda’s campaign season, ahead of February 18 elections for president and parliament. The president, Yoweri Museveni, has held power for 24 years, and claims that his police and military units were deployed to “ensure security” during polling and the lengthy hand-counting expected for Saturday. But the mood in and around Namanyoni is festive, all-hands-on-deck. Gershom Sizomu, likely the first and only native-born black African rabbi and the leader of the local Abayudayah community of Ugandan Jews, sees his prospects for a parliamentary seat as better than decent. The outgoing MP, Yahaya Wojje, a Muslim, has floundered in gambling debts in Kampala, the capital, and done nothing for the locals, while Sizomu, with the help of his international friends, has completed two health clinics, several schools, and a number of water towers and wells. He has been telling groups of voters gathered under mango trees or in schoolyards or village elders’ patios that as an MP he can do such things not only for the Jews, but for all the people of Bungokho North district. In return, they cry in support, “Gershom Jou!” which is Swahili for “Gershom Arise!” It sounds a lot like “Gershom Jew!” a rallying chant that wouldn’t be inappropriate, given that Sizomu stands smiling under a crocheted kippa.

In the flat wide expanse of a schoolyard in the valley, Sizomu’s crew erects a platform out of logs and planks, and calls in the services of the Sikimu Fire Sounds sound system, which consists of a generator and a number of gigantic speakers. The screensaver on the DJ’s old laptop shows Sizomu shaking hands with George W. Bush at the White House.

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