Keeping the king’s secrets

A chance meeting with royalty changed his life forever. The former teacher turned cultural historian tells of his life as the Private Principal Secretary to Solomon Gafabusa Iguru I, the Omukama of Bunyoro.

Little did Yolamu Nsamba know that the prince he met in 1985 during one of the educational conferences at the Masindi National Teachers college (NTC), would one day become a king and eventually employ him.

Nsamba, who is a founding director of the NTC, remembers chatting with a jovial prince who shared with him his love for education and skills development.

Omukama Iguru, the son to Omukama Sir Tito, was then living at his late father’s palace in Masindi town.

That was the time when cultural institutions that had been abolished in 1967 were yet to be restituted.

“I have known him from humble backgrounds and he was very social. He liked interacting a lot with people from all walks of life,” Nsamba recollects.

Dr Iguru was one of the regular visitors to the NTC, just like he would do to other educational institutions, due to his love for education.

Nsamba talks authoritatively and keeps referring to historical books and ancient artifacts during the interview. The teacher turned cultural historian who has been close to royalty since 1994 when he was appointed, says he has seen archeological studies that show closer cultural similarity between Bunyoro culture and various ancient communities that lived in the Nile valley and various ethnic communities in the great lakes region.

A custodian for royality
As the Principal Private Secretary to the King of Bunyoro, he has quite a number of roles in the kingdom. He writes the king’s memoirs and official documents. He is the custodian of royal documents, writer of royal speeches and letters and author of royal and dynastic history. He also receives and entertains royal guests, looks after the royal ancient regalia and writes its history.

Nsamba looks at his job as a calling to serve and this attitude enables him withstand the challenges that come with it.

“The biggest challenge is that I work with limited resources. Somehow, I live on the goodwill of the people who love the king and the kingdom,” he says.

He remembers the king sending him as an emissary to the former Libyan leader Col Muamar Gaddafi in Tripoli with limited resources, but on reaching Entebbe Airport, he received an air ticket and on arrival in Tripoli, he got a warm reception.

“What consoles me is that I realised I’m a servant of the King. I do this job within the available circumstances even in situations where I do not know what lies ahead where I have been sent,” Nsamba adds.

Nonetheless, his is an exciting job. It exposes him to Bunyoro’s rich cultural heritage, and local and international dignitaries that come to meet the king as well as enabling him get exposed to the life and work of royals.

He has undertaken research on Bunyoro’s culture, past kings and rulers and currently manages the kingdom’s regalia which preserve the artifacts and symbols of past kings of Bunyoro. It is estimated that the regalia is over 4,000 years old.

Wherein lies a solution
A strong advocate for reproductive health, Nsamba, who was a member of the Family Planning Association of Uganda’s Programs Committee and participated in processes that transformed the association into Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU), believes that culture should be integrated in the fight against HIV/Aids. “Culture can prevent defilement, prostitution, early marriages and other vices that escalate the spread of HIV/AIDS,” he says, adding that he often participates in United Nations Populatin Fund (UNFPA) reproductive health activities on behalf of the kingdom and includes reproductive health messages in the king’s speeches.

Lowering the Union Jack
The son of a clergy man, late Rev Michael Ndoleriire, and a teacher, Georgina, Nsamba attributes a lot of his successes today to his Christian background and family’s love for farming. Born in 1947 at Mubende Hospital about 50 Kilometres away from his ancestral home in Mugarama sub county in Kibaale District, he is the second of eight children. His fondest childhood memory is of Independence Day in 1962, when he participated in lowering the union jack and lifting the Ugandan flag at his school then.

“I was 13 years old at independence. I was a boy scout at Nyakasura Teachers College,” he recollects. He remembers that the government then slaughtered buffaloes to offer to the residents of Fort Portal Town, where he was living, as part of festivities of independence. “Meat was being distributed under a tree at Boma grounds,” he says.

Nsamba summarises his life as one without major regrets. He believes he will head straight into retirement from his current job and enjoy his pension benefits as well as caring for his grandchildren. His hobbies include reading, socialising and jogging. He is currently writing a book about Bunyoro’s history.

fmugerwa@ug.nationmedia.com