At 60, Allan Kanyike parties six days a week

He is a common face at social events and more than show face, he exhibits a dance stroke that he has dubbed the ‘Allan Kanyike dance’, after his name. While dancing, he simultaneously moves his hands in a cyclic manner as he pushes his head forward.

It doesn’t matter what the rhythm is, he will pull off the same stroke. He dances and sweats and shouts and sometimes sings. Kanyike likes being captured on cameras so photographers and photojournalists alike are used to him calling them to take his photograph with a friend or stranger. It doesn’t matter who you are, he will want to become your friend.

And when he gets close, he enjoys telling stories and sharing about his connections with notable friends such as the Katikkiro of Buganda Charles Peter Mayiga, with whom he went to school at St Henry’s College, Kitovu (Shack).

Itinerary
Kanyike is a few years shy of his 60s but he is an outgoing person with an itinerary that lasts him throughout the week. Apart from Mondays when he takes a break, he is out at some concert or party every other day of the week. You will catch him at Club Amnesia, in Kampala on Tuesdays where he dances to Radio and Weasel’s music as they perform.

He is a regular at Zone 7, in Mbuya every Wednesday where Janzi Band performs live. He follows the same band to Diner’s Lounge in Bukoto every Thursday. On Friday, he is a patron at Faze 2, in Nakasero, where Rockamilley rocks the night. He is a regular at Liquid Silk, in Bugolobi, which hosts a band on Saturday nights.
On Sunday, he takes it slow, enjoying oldies at some of the bars or nightclubs within or around Ntinda where he resides. On average, he spends between Shs150,000 to Shs200,000 on a night out. This caters for his meals and drinks for himself or friends and strangers he meets.
“Music is in my blood. I was born a happy man and music has made me a happier man,” he says as he sips a Coke in the comfort of his sitting room at his home, off Ntinda’s Stretcher Road.

Change of course
Until 2012, Kanyike woke up early every morning to go to work in London, at Queen’s Bridge Management Limited where he served as a property manager. After 18 years in United Kingdom, he felt that he had done enough and it was time to return home and enjoy his retirement.

So far, he has done well enjoying life back home where he says he does not have to worry about rent, bills and living life off a credit card which was routine in the UK.
While in England, he made up his mind that he would not work again, and he duly started working towards achieving that. He began saving money and would send it to his mother, Robinah Kanyike, to invest it in buying land. Later on, he began constructing commercial structures. He owns houses in Kalinabiri, where he earns rent fees. He also owns some rentals in his immediate neighbourhood.

“These properties can afford me a comfortable living here (in Uganda) to sustain myself rather than rent in the UK where everything is paid off a credit card,” he says. When he was returning, his wish was that he boards the plane with his wife and children but they preferred to stay in UK.
This partly explains why he is always out at happening places. He lives like a bachelor who spends much of the day at home so when night falls, he goes out for a lively interaction.

The other side of Kanyike
Meeting Kanyike during the day offers a different picture, away from the partygoer. He is sober, speaks fluent English and is quite likeable. On the day he agrees to an interview, this reporter waits for him at his gate from which you can see the tarmacked Ntinda Stretcher Road. Kanyike disembarks from a matatu with a young boy, perhaps seven years old. The two are carrying shopping bags.

From an earlier communication, he told me he was out at Capital Shoppers, a big retail mall in Ntinda. As he reaches to the gate to open it, he tells me the boy is one of his many grandchildren.
In we go. His home is heavily green, dotted with many plants, flowers and trees. The house is a modest one, with a cemented shed and rails that close it off.

There is a heavy metallic rail that opens up to the glass and wooden door. Understandably, he locks all these because he lives alone and sometimes with tenants, who are off to work in the morning.
He shows me into the living room and to a seat as his left foot aids in removing a moccasin shoe from the right foot and the other way round.

“Eladde,” he greets me in Luganda, extending his hand to shake mine, before switching to English which he speaks with a markedly good accent. He asks about my taste when it comes to drinks.
He chuckles when I tell him I could do with a glass of water. “You mean you cannot try something ‘hard,” he jokes and smiles, splitting his lips to reveal his red gum that has lost some teeth over the years.
Almost hurriedly, he goes to his kitchen to get three glasses, one for him, the guest and Derrick, his grandson. As he pours himself a coke, I re-introduce myself, which calls for his attention. He gives me a straight look and settles down on one of his sofa seats, sitting at its edge.
“So how is Monitor?” he asks, as if to break the ice. Without formal prompting, he starts narrating his life journey.

Background
He is a dual citizen of Uganda and UK. He was born in Fort Portal. One of many portraits in his living room is one of him and his mother then others that highlight different phases in his life. Two of the portraits are of him with Congolese singer Kanda Bongo Man and another of him with singer Jose Chameleone. His love for music and musicians cannot be over-emphasised.

He narrates his story, in a chronological manner. He began school in Fort Portal but followed his parents into exile in 1972 to Mombasa, after Idi Amin captured power.

They lived in Nyali for nine years. When Amin was overthrown, the family returned and he joined Shack for six years. The country became unsettled again as Milton Obote was ousted, Kanyike’s family fled to Nairobi.
He pursued his ABE (Association of Business Executive) at Strathmore College in Nairobi. They returned to Uganda. His father, Anthony Henry Kanyike, got a job with Total Uganda. Kanyike got a job with Statewide Insurance Company Limited where he worked for four years.

“I got married to my first wife Florence Kanyike and we had a child, Kelvin Clive Kanyike who is making 27 soon,” he explains, adding that he has another son, Dr Ian Bwete, with Barbara Kakoma, a daughter of the late George William Kakoma.

Towards the end of 1988, he left Uganda for UK. When he got there, he got a job as a banqueting officer in Holborn, London. While there, he rose through the ranks to become a manager at the biggest conference centre in London at the time. He used his influence to get jobs at the institute for qualified Ugandans.

Investments
After eight years, he got a placement as property manager at Queen’s Bridge Management Ltd, a real estate company. He managed 42 properties in London.
“From day one, I wanted to invest back home given the exposure we got in Mombasa. When the recession hit the world, I chose to return home and manage my properties,” he recounts.
One of the properties was Allan & Pinky Resort in Mbalala, Mukono, which did not go well and was sold off. He got married again, in UK, to Justine Asiimwe and the couple bore two daughters; Melanie Rosette Kanyike and Amanda Pinky Kanyike.

He has three brothers and they all live abroad. Their sister, Harriet Kanyike, passed on. She was a teacher at St Thereza Namagunga Boarding Primary School but had relocated to Boston, USA.
Through all this narration, Kanyike maintains a straight face. After an hour or so of chatting, it is lunch time and he has to go to look for lunch. Across the road from his home is a market and in it, is an Internet café.

He meets an old friend and jokingly compliments him for looking handsome and wonders if he has a new girlfriend that’s giving him a ‘good treat’. The two laugh it off. He is at the café to send me a Facebook request.
His phone in one hand and a polythene bag in another, he strides on, takes steps up and stops at a food stall. He hands the bag to a woman who removes containers and asks him what food he will be taking.

“Pack me peas and meat for my grandson. We are not particular with the types of food we would like to have. Feel free to serve anything you have,” he orders the food vendor. It is time for the reporter to move onto the next assignment but Kanyike’s stories just seem to go on and on. He is one interesting and free-spirited fellow.

Facts
Allan Kanyike is in his late 50s and was born in Fort Portal.
The father of four moved to Uganda to manage his estates after 15 years in United Kingdom.
He parties six days in a week and spends close to Shs200,000 on each night out.

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