I had two girlfriends at the same time- Mckenzie

First thing you do in the morning…
The first 20 minutes of every morning, I stretch, jump rope, do planks and just sit in silence for about five minutes. Just to get my body ready for the day. I only started this three months ago, otherwise I have always been on my phone replying texts and watching YouTube sports highlights.

First thing you do when you get to work…
Well I don’t have any permanent office right now, so it’s always the desk in my living room where I do a lot of writing, to align my thoughts and fulfill the first task I set out to do the night before. So it can be ideas I have or could be completing a proposal.

Earliest childhood memory….
I was raised by my mother and she ensured I was connected to my roots, so quite often she would organise a trip to the village in Rutooma where my father was buried. One Saturday morning, we sat on a blue pick-up truck from Mbarara to Rutooma which was almost a three hour journey compared to the 30 minutes ride today, the road was dusty and as we got to the town, all her hair was brown, her eyebrows and nose were brown and she looked like a clown that I laughed so loud at her.

Much as she feigned a smile, she was not happy, because whereas it was fun for me, it was a struggle for her to sit with 20 other people like goats while covering her child from dust. All the other passengers started laughing and as we walked to our house 1km away from the main road, she told me the only reason she was not mad at me anymore was because I was happy. That’s the first time I said sorry and I meant it.

First best friend…
Muzoora Philip, he was in the same school with me at St Aloysious Primary school in Nyamitanga Mbarara, we had the same skin colour and both our parents were teachers, we were like brothers in many ways and did a lot of stuff together. Life took us in different directions but I still hold him dear to my heart.

First kiss..
I don’t know how old I was but I was definitely below 10, it was with a girl who was older than me. We were playing daddy and mummy and she made me daddy, I didn’t enjoy the feeling to be honest because I was basically being taught, it didn’t come off like I had seen it in the movies, so it took me a while to do it again.
First childhood hero?
Romario, the Brazilian footballer. During the 1994 World Cup I admired Romario so much that I wanted to be like him. I wore a yellow shirt with charcoal marking at the back of Number 10. It’s very easy to remember because my mother almost killed me when I cut out the number 10 on my shorts just so I could impress my dodge and score fans. That year I won a football from the Coca-Cola world cup campaign, becoming the first person in my community to appear in newspapers, it was huge.

First girlfriend..
What if I told you that I had two girlfriends at the same time as my first girlfriend? It is not fiction. Because of my early encounter with sex, I always looked at girls differently and appreciated more than one, so there were these two girls that were close to me and I liked both equally and they were in the same school. Later in life, I couldn’t have either because I was too weak for them.

First book you read...
A South African classic, Mine Boy. My mother was a literature teacher and made me read this book when I was eight years old. By the time I started studying literature, I was glad I was forced to read it.

First job..
I worked as a barber and pool table attendant for my uncle’s business. This was in my Senior Two, I used to make my pocket money and also was able to learn how to trim hair and play pool. I was earning Shs50,000 but it was not really a salary but away of encouraging me.

Current job….
I manage my own public relations and events company, KELLA PR.

What do you like about your job…
I am able to create new things every day, I never get bored, I connect with a lot of people, I find it easy to be dedicated when I’m in love with what I do and my company has given me this leverage to execute only what I love. I am also able to inspire many others just like me.

What don’t you like about it….
I am responsible for other people’s wellbeing, so I end up taking up jobs that I don’t want but the company does just so we can pay bills and everyone involved. It’s also a heavily unpredictable business, you are bound to have a planning fallacy if you don’t plan to the dot.

Quick notes…
First salary…
Kampala Fm, highest paid on air personality 2006-2007 and I was earning Shs220.000 of which they spent 6months without paying me that I left the day they cleared my payments. It totaled 1.6m