An architect, a pastor and gospel artiste

He started a church called Worship Harvest and located at Kati Kati in Naguru a Kampala suburb. He says the goal of the Church is modelling a different kind of leadership.

“It was amazing. I couldn’t believe it,” he recalls with a smile. “The next day I went to town and bought a newspaper, cut out the newspaper piece which had my name and put it in my wallet up to date. Wallets have come and gone but it’s still there,” Mr Mukisa explains, as he pulls out his wallet to show the newspaper cutting.

His dream of joining the university on government scholarship had been realised and being given his dream course- architecture- was what gave him even more joy after all the years of riding rough.

No simple task
While at Makerere University, the five-year course was not any simple. Mr Mukisa had to endure three years of studying compulsory subjects and doing projects throughout the week until fourth and fifth years.
He struggled to remain at the top and remembers seeking God’s intervention again. He graduated with a second upper degree.

Mr Mukisa says his love for architecture and his desire to serve God, especially after seeing him do wonders in his life, made it hard for him to decide which career path to take.

“After university I thought I would go to the seminary. I wanted to get involved in God’s ministry at a better thinking level, but I also wanted to be an architect,” he says.

But finally, Mr Mukisa got a job with Kiggundu and partners architect which later became Arch Forum Ltd. After working for two years, he did professional exams at Uganda Society of Architects and there after opened his own business called, Living Space, specialising in innovative design.

Despite giving first priority to architecture, Mukisa’s desire to serve in the ministry was not diminished. He started a church called Worship Harvest and located at Kati Kati in Naguru a Kampala suburb. He says the goal of the Church is modelling a different kind of leadership. But why leadership? Mr Mukisa says Africa is facing a very big leadership challenge, with churches, governments, and schools alike, affected.

In his church, the congregation is allowed to ask questions, challenge what the preacher says and make comments after the sermon.

Mr Mukisa believes it is through conversational relationship with God that people can begin to have a collective effort towards development.

“We have turned the whole thing around. Leadership in the church nowadays is not about being some sort of village chief. Everyone has to participate,” he said.
Mr Mukisa says leadership should be about “laying down your life, interests and helping other people achieve their dreams, where your dream becomes seeing other people’s dreams come true.”

Mr Mukisa is married to Sarah with two children. He describes his wife as ‘a friend’ and adds that “marriage is wonderful as long as you know what it’s about.”

Like a bank
He likens marriage to a bank where depositing and withdrawing money are made.
“When people are dating, they see each other in the best of times, so there is always deposit but when you get into marriage and dishes are not washed, food is not ready in time, it becomes a withdrawal and if that continues it will reach a point where the account gets to zero.”

Looking back at his life and where he has reached so far, Mr Mukisa – who is referred to as Mose (short for Moses), instead of pastor, by people who pray at his church – believes the quest for success should be driven by “a sense of focus, of purpose and of knowing what you want.”

The problem with people today, he says, has been because of fear to think widely and have big dreams. “Remove the boundaries, get out of the box, and don’t look so much at the circumstances surrounding you. Destroy the fences. It doesn’t hurt to have hope. Hope costs nothing and yet without it we are doomed.”

So will Mr Mukisa’s hope drive him to study more? No, he believes that more school leads to more conformation, as opposed to revolutionary thinking.
“The more you go to school, the more the boundaries,” he said. “For the sake of responsibility to people in my church, I will probably do a Masters degree in Divinity to understand better how to manage and run a church, but I wouldn’t do it to get more knowledge.”

Best UACE science students, 1996
Name............................School