Waste, parenting keep Zizinga busy

He is retired but not tired. Edward Charles Kisukye, alias, Zizinga Omutambuze is focusing his energies on a couple of things, chief among them, an initiative to handle waste management.

“I had an idea of creating wealth from waste. I started by recycling empty wine bottles into flower vases and glasses as a way of saving our environment,” the 54-year-old recounts.

Irked by seeing mismanaged waste because of laziness and lack of sensitisation in communities, Kisukye went on to visit Kiteezi, in Wakiso District, one of the waste dumping areas. He believes it can do better.
“The waste is mixed. It needs to be sorted and cleaned so that the water flowing in the neighbourhood is clean. The waste can be managed before it is dumped there,” he argues.

Transforming waste
After retiring from formal employment, Kisukye’s plan was to provide waste management solutions to homes and schools. He registered Ziz Organics which also cleans latrines, pig sties and lagoons.

“If offensive odour is a challenge, l have a solution. I use local and imported raw materials from Japan. And the beauty is, after treatment, the stuff becomes manure or even fertiliser. We also treat animal dung which later can be mixed in animal feed,” he explains.

He says that to treat swine fever in pigs, he boils human urine, cools it and adds it to pig feed as treatment. To actualise his new ventures, he taps into personal and his National Social Security Fund (NSSF) savings.

When did he plan?
Kisukye started planning for retirement when he lost his wife, Deborah, on October 28, 2012, that started him on a single parenting course. Today, he has to split time between fending and caring for his children. Their mother gave them a good foundation.

“Women are more organised than us [men]. I have had to learn a lot through my interaction with our children. Sometimes they advise and fault me. We talk about it and I obey them because I am not an angel,” he explains.
As such, he considers his wife one of the special people that were influential in his life, as a friend and mother. He also mentions Alex Ndawula, a fellow radio presenter who introduced him to radio. The two studied together at Namasagali College School, Kamuli.

On parenting, changed routine
Kisukye, Ndawula and Christine Mawadri were morning show hosts on Capital Radio and Kisukye adds that at the time, himself and Mawadri were young parents and as such shared a lot about parenting. He also says he got many parenting tips from Stella Odongo with whom he served on the Parents Teachers Association of Gayaza High School.

In his endeavours, he gives credit to motivation speaker Ethan Musolini as his trainer and mentor that continues to take him through steps of appreciating tenets of surveying the market, researching, seeking knowledge and marketing his skills and products to the targeted clientele.

The retired radio presenter continues to seek advice and guidance from his parents, John Robert and Sarah Kisukye. Unlike before, where he had a scheduled day, it is different today as a retiree, a day will take him many places as he looks for business, new connections, and knowledge.

“I do everything; I pray, do the house chores, exercise, listen a lot to radio, read through my email, get onto social networks but all that depends on the day. At times, l am someone’s “ADC” of some sort (nothing to do with security). I enjoy simply guiding an elder,” he further explains.

He is setting up a home to grow organic produce, put up a play centre, occasionally host his children and grandchildren and cook for them.
“I am a good cook and I plan to establish myself as a freelance barbeque chef,” he adds.

Advice to others
Plan for retirement
Edward Kisukye’s advice for anyone planning for retirement is to identify what they would like to retire into, do research about it and do feasibility study so as to enable them find ease in executing it.
Kisukye observes that life with friends and family brings meaning, adding that he is there for such people and they have been there for him too in difficult times. In essence, he roots for coexistence. Interestingly, Kisukye is an accountant who qualified at Uganda College of Commerce in Kabale, an institute that provides business training and skills.