‘Fred has a very sharp memory’

Inseparable. Fred Kakembo and Titus Kakembo, are siblings with different media callings. Freddie is a radio producer at Nation Media Group, while Titus is a travel writer. Nicolas Akasula caught up with them for a chat about their childhood.

Titus

How would you describe Fred?
Fred is a calm and composed person. He has a photographic memory that he remembers even the tiniest detail. He has a cross section of friends in the arts, Police Force, aviation and the media. But above it all, he’s a fighter and perseverance is his second name. He’s a linguist too, with a good command of English, Kiswahili, Ateso and passable Kumam.

What is your earliest memory of him?
I used to make a fortune out of him. Our Dad Lt Frederick Kakembo, opened an account for me in a Cooperative Bank, and I was tasked to deposit savings on it. By then toys were in short supply, so Fred became the maiden customer of my handmade ones (wire cars.) I was releasing new products like: sports cars, Sura Mbaya (gunships) and racing bikes. And he would dash to dad for money to buy them.

What is the craziest thing you did together?
We were admirers of Schwarzenegger, and began a home gym programme. We lifted heavy metal, did 20-50 push- ups, and jogged. This was crowned by gulping mugs of porridge, and chucks of food, but interestingly our bodies never bulged.

How often do you meet nowadays?
We live in the same compound in Kisasi, and normally go out to ‘brain storm’ (their term for sipping beer and munching roasted meats). We at times sneak into each other’s home to talk about politics, business and people. We used to go dancing in Ange Noir and Club Silk.

What is his favorite outfit?
Fred loves Jeans trousers, baseball caps, pointed shoes, jungle boots and African print shirts. He manicures his beard with the attention surgeon spares, for a patient on the operation table. I suspect that is why he brands himself ‘Mr. Uganda’.

Were you always friends?
We have been ever the best of friends. He is my ‘ATM’ when money avoids me. We at times travel together, and take stock of our achievements, likes and dislikes.

What is the craziest thing you did together?
I don’t remember any of that.

What nickname did you have for him?
I call Fred ‘Kid Brother’, but have also heard him branded ‘Ziggy’ or ‘Mr. Uganda.’

How often did you fight?
I don’t remember us fighting.

Did you ever team up to fight someone?
I used to beat up boys who used to harass him. They were some of them in our neighborhood, and given the big brother I was, I was protective of all my siblings, him inclusive.

How did both of you end up in the media?
There were always newspapers at home, and I loved reading so much. And at the time, one of my best writers then was Robert Ludlum. He also doubled as a journalist and as a novel writer. So I used to admire him and then our dad also, was a journalist before he switched to law. So home was always full of newspapers. Hence with that, we got interested in the media work.

Fred

How would you describe Titus?
He’s a funny guy. There’s a 10 year gap between us, but we grew up riding bikes around town.

What is your earliest memory of him?
Interestingly, whichever level of school I found him at, he would be shifting to another. Then, he would also always be a sought after reporter, and I admired him. He used to write and when he realised I had interest too, he would tag me along with him wherever he went.
We would go to the district officials, and I would see him questioning them, then get out of Soroti and go to as far as Katakwi, Amuria, or Serere to do interviews.
Then sometimes he would be fetched home, to go and cover different functions.

What is the craziest thing you did together?
One day, I opened a radio after I asked him if he knew the people that were talking on radio. He said they were inside. So one day, when he was away, I tried opening the radio to see them.
I only saw wires conjoined. When asked later after dad found the radio open, I narrated the entire saga and I think got Titus in trouble.

How often do you meet nowadays?
Like once in two months, and most times for lunch. There’s a place at abattoir, where we go and eat. Then also, another small one near the railway station which has some good millet bread. We like it so much given we grew up in Soroti.

What is his favourite outfit?
Give him a ‘Kitenge’ any day.

Were you always friends?
Yes, we were.

What nickname did you have for him?
We used to just call him ‘Tits’.

What is the craziest thing he did as a child?
He would discipline me because of bathing issues. I was like a baby to him. You know it were usually our sisters who used to bathe us, and here came this day when he was the one to bathe us. Instead of staying put, we were playing around. He lost it and lashed us.

How often did you fight?
I don’t remember if we ever fought.

Did you ever team up to fight someone?
Not any I can I remember.

How did both of you end up in the media?
He worked with Daily Monitor then, since the paper ran a children’s column, he encouraged me to interview and write about children. That’s how I slowly developed the skill, though joining radio was totally my idea.

Bits:
Were born seven siblings, four boys and three girls but three of the total one passed on,
They both love travelling, meeting new people, love children, reading, and also eating out.