Kasiwukira lived to change people’s lives

Kasiwukira’s wedding photograph hanging in his living room. PHOTO BY Abubaker Lubowa

What you need to know:

Kasiwukira, the wealthy music promoter who was killed last week, leaves behind a legacy of a man who shared success wisdom with people who crossed his path

Last Friday morning, city businessman Eria Sebunnya Bugembe aka Kasiwukira woke up as usual, put on his sportswear and stepped into the chilly outdoors for another of his daily morning routine. He went jogging.

Everything must have pointed to another uneventful morning exercise for the businessman who had for 20 years woken up for the same morning ritual in his neighbourhood.

In fact, before he began jogging on Friday morning, he sent an SMS to his friend Gaster Lule –the managing director of Ntake Bakery and the treasurer of the city tycoons’ association, the Kwagalana Group, informing him about a meeting they were to have with KCCA Executive Director, Jennifer Musisi later in the day.
Yet in stepping out, Kasiwukira was actually going on his very last run. A moving car would cut short his life just a few metres from his gate.

To the uninitiated, the vehicle that knocked down and killed Kasiwukira took away a life of just another rich man. But for many in Uganda’s recording music industry, he is a man who played a very critical role in the development and elevation of the music industry to where it is today.

And for the tycoons’ club, the Kwagalana Group, Kasiwukira was a friend and a committed colleague and leader in the association.

A revolutionary of Uganda’s music industry
Seasoned musicians, music promoters and music fans eulogise Kasiwukira as the man who first successfully made local artistes’ records available to fans across the country, in album format and at friendly prices.

“He was the first one to duplicate the songs of different artistes onto cassette tapes in the early 1980s, which tapes he would brand with his logo Kasiwukira and then have hawkers go selling them around the city,” says veteran kadongokamu singer Kolobba.

“Kasiwukira started buying albums from artistes in 1983 at Capital Traders,” says Ddembe FM presenter Ibrahim Ssematimba Mubiru, who has also been in the business of promoting music since the early 1980s. “He started with not more than 200 tapes. He had an old gramophone which he would use to burn the music and duplicate it onto tapes.”

The general narrative goes that when cassette tapes finally hit Uganda around 1983, it was courtesy of Kasiwukira who had begun importing them from South Korea, Japan, China and other Asian countries. Onto the tapes Kasiwukira would duplicate local artistes’ music and sell it.

Then in time, he would set up his business after the model of a standard record label like those in the developed countries. He set up a recording studio, where he would have an artiste record a full album, pay the artiste an agreed amount for the album and make cassette tapes which he would distribute across the country; the proceeds would be his.

Mubiru recalls that in time Kasiwukira became so successful at his business, that it became simply impossible to find a tape on the local market which didn’t come from his studio/retail shop.

According to musician Ras B Ssali, Kasiwukira also played a big role in developing Non-Kadongokamu music in Uganda. Ras B recalls that around 1995, Kasiwukira agreed to record and market the tapes of artistes like himself, laying the foundation for Non-Kadongokamu artistes who would come later such as Chameleone, Bebe Cool and Bobi Wine.

Ronald Mayinja, the Golden Band singer, describes Kasiwukira as a Ugandan music enthusiast who always had the livelihood of Ugandan musicians at heart. “He was somebody that started buying music so that artistes would earn big from their music,” Mayinja says.

“If he told you he would buy your album at say Shs20m, he would pay cash on the spot, with zero balance.” Also reflecting on how Kasiwukira paid the artistes and thereby turned around their lives, Mubiru recalls how Kasiwukira bought the late Herman Basudde’s last album, Egwala. He paid the singer handsomely, and seven days later, the still excited Basudde bought a Land Cruiser which killed him a fatal accident on Masaka Road.

Apparently Kasiwukira wouldn’t just pay musicians well for their work, but he would also offer them advice on how to live responsibly and productively.

“After paying you handsomely he would then give you a piece of advice on how you can spend the money. It was entirely up to somebody to leave or take up his advice,” Mayinja eulogises. “He was a man of a few words. On my part, he bought my music and at the same time taught me how to spend my money. You would only hear him arguing if it is a business.”

Andrew Benon Kibuuka, the president of the Federation of Performing Artistes in Uganda, says Kasiwukira was the biggest single music publisher in Uganda. He remembers the deceased’s humility and respect for everyone.

“He never dealt with only big artistes, but also supported rising artistes like Chance Nalubega whom he supported when no one knew her,” says Kibuuka.

A fighter for copyright
Kibuuka also talks of Kasiwukira’s dedication to upholding copyrights in the local recording industry: “At a time when we are trying to restore sanity in the music industry in terms of bringing back publishers in order to strengthen the copyright law, we have lost such a big contributor who defended copyrights in the music industry,” Kibuuka says.

Ddembe FM presenter Ibrahim Ssematimba Mubiru recalls how in his days trying to sell music records he actually loathed the deceased because he tried as much as possible to wipe out piracy in the music industry.

“I couldn’t afford to buy an original album from a musician, yet I also wanted to make a buck off music distribution. For that case, I did not like him that much,” Mubiru confesses. “I never wanted him to fall but in my need to survive, I used to buy an already duplicated tape from Kasiwukira, at Shs250 by then, and make my own copies for sale.”

Joining Kwagalana Group
According to Kwagalana Group members, Kasiwukira joined the tycoons’ club right from its founding in the early 2000s. He was already a rich man. These say Kasiwukira built his fortune by re-investing the proceeds from his music business into such ventures as real estate, manufacturing of construction materials, among others.

Kasiwukira was the deputy treasurer of the group, and gasper Lule says he was given the responsibility because he was very trustworthy.

“He was very honest, loved his family and was so trustworthy. I do not think he ever cheated anyone, even a shilling,” Lule says.

FACT FILE
Network of friends:
He was the vice treasurer of Kwagalana Group, an association of wealthy Uganda.

Artistes whose music he bought:

Kasiwukira had rights to albums like; Omwana w’omuzungu, Kampala mu Kooti both by Paul Kafeero (RIP), Gwanga Mujje and Mpawo Atalemererwa by Lord Fred Sebatta, Tukwegomba Bangi by Mesach Semakula, Emilly owe’Nsambya, by Elly Wamala, Omuyaga by Eddy Yawe among others. He also bought Herman Basudde’s last album, Egwala.