Mukisa on life as a Kwanjula Mcee

Who are you?
My name is Twaha Mukisa. I am married with two daughters. I am also a sub- editor of Ennyanda, a Monitor Publications Limited Luganda sports publication, an events manager and Master of Ceremonies (Mcee) for introductions, weddings, anniversaries and such events.

Does it get complicated religiously when you have to handle Christian events?
I get more Christian than Muslim clients but booking church is not hard. However, I get trouble with religions and cultures that deal with alcohol. Sometimes you are made to carry the gourds of local brew. If there is anything I do not like about my career, it is this.

Which are your basic languages and traditional ceremonies you emcee?
I basically do western, eastern and central cultural events. I grew up in a confused culture but this taught me several languages. I can speak Luganda, Runyankore, Rukiga, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Lusoga and English.

How long have you been an emcee? What does it take to be one?
I have been an emcee since 2005. It takes talent, education to know the limits of different cultures and how their events flow, creativity and being able to read the environment and mood of the people.

How do you get the clients?
Clients come with exposure but I also belong to an umbrella body based in the Buganda region and another of the Muslim MCs in Uganda. Through these, I get clients.

Are there times you turn down clients? Why?
Yes! When clients want me on a particular date that was already booked, it is unprofessional to hold two events on the same day however simple they may be.

What are the terms of payment?
A client must make a deposit of the money before the D-day to book for the day but complete the payment before the event starts because it is usually hard to demand for the money after the event has ended. My charges range between Shs 300,000 to 700,000 depending on the location of the event.

How do you prepare?
I must know the program of the day, have a clear voice, dressing that suits the event because impression also matters and knowing about the family where I am going to emcee. For cultural events, it is important to know the clan, if there are any religious differences or polygamous and separated family members.

Are customary weddings about the couple or the parents?
Such ceremonies are about the parents. This is the reason they are done at the parents’ home. Many of the couples I have seen not respect their parents’ advice have failed.

What is the most important part of a customary wedding ceremony?
In the Buganda custom, after groom’s side has presented dowry, acceptance by the father is the peak of the event. In the western cultures, when the bride’s parents hand over the girl to the groom’s parents is the most important part. Without these, the event cannot go on.
What is the hardest thing about your job?
Clients who do not keep time for both cultural and religious events make my job hard. Some do not want to pay after ‘sweet-talking’ that they would pay immediately after the event. Demanding for the money becomes tricky. Also some do not respect culture and Muslims that take an extra wife yet you are still in contact with the first wife make me feel bad. They insist on me being the emcee thus the first wife thinks of me as a traitor.

What was the biggest catastrophe you have ever encountered and how did you avert it?
A groom went with his side-dish and slept in the same hotel room at the eve of the introduction. The side-dish put some chemical in his drink and she returned to Kampala. The groom did not wake up until 6pm yet we had to be at the event by midday.
We did not tell the bride what had happened but had told her something was wrong. The event moved but we kept giving excuses until the groom woke up.
There was a time when a bride gave birth at the reception near the time of cake cutting. The event ended prematurely and only a few people remained because the main celebrants had gone to hospital.

How did you know you had the talent of emceeing?
It was in 2000 when I was in Senior Five and my teacher Mr Robert Mwebaze asked me to be the emcee for the Senior Six leavers’ party at Kabukunge Secondary School.
I think I did a good job so he told me this was something I could do. In 2005, Mr Musoke Isa introduced me to Kwanjula things and trained me how to do it.

BEST\WORST
What is the best event you have emceed? Why?
Ronald Mayinja’s introduction was a thriller. There were over 1000 guests who kept time and the number was so overwhelming that the fence was broken. It was multi- cultural; there were several artistes and cultural troupes present.
Also at Faridah Kigongo’s wedding that was held at Kampala Serena Hotel and the president being the guest of honor. I felt good controlling such important people.

Worst event?
I was dispissed as a short small boy by the client even before the event sometime in 2008. I really looked so young. The mother of the bride called the person who had linked me to her that she did not want a small boy for an emcee but to her surprise, I did my job so well that she apologised to me after the ceremony.