Tribute to a friend, cartoonist Mozeh

In 2000 Kevin O’Connor, 64, sauntered into Daily Monitor offices seeking space to tell stories from a different perspective.
O’Connor, a British national, was granted the space and for more than 20 years, once in every week, he told his wittingly and humourously written stories in Sunday Monitor under the Roving Eye moniker until 2012 when he stopped writing regularly.
The stories which were told in different tones touched a number of subjects including religion, sex, death, gender and education, among others.
While some reflected on serious topics within and beyond Uganda, others were light episodes written with lots of humour and satire.
From the 193 articles O’Connor compiled a book Insights into Uganda which is a selection of his articles that were published in Sunday Monitor between 2007 and 2015.
The articles, more interestingly, are coloured by more than 14 cartoons that blend well with what happened or what is happening in society now.
For instance on page 203 of the book, there is an illustration of renowned athlete Dorcus Inzikuru being pushed by Ugandan society towards the direction of a ‘marriage college’ sign and having a baby while another sign with the inscription of Olympics points in a different direction.
The drawing was illustrated at a time when Inzikuru was under pressure to start a family while some fans thought it would be better to concentrate on her sports career before getting into family commitments.
The cartoons are a collection of Moses Balagadde’s works who in September succumbed to cardiac arrest.
Mozeh, as he was popularly known had worked with Daily Monitor for more than 15 years. He was 43 years at the time of his death.
In Mozeh’s honour, O’Connor came up with a book signing session at Monitor Publications Limited (MPL) officers on Tuesday to raise money for his widow, one daughter and a son.
The book, which ordinarily costs Shs25,000, was sold at Shs15,000 to staff of Monitor Publications.
“My wife and I developed the idea of Mozeh’s [Daily] Monitor colleagues buying the book at a reduced price, and then the proceeds being given to his family,” he says.
At the signing session on Tuesday O’Connor sold 32 books raising Shs480,000. The couple topped up that to make it Shs500,000 which has been handed over to Mozeh’s family.

Meeting Mozeh
O’Connor got fascinated with Mozeh’s work who he later learnt was a humble man, easy talking and highly professional.
“His cartoons were superb and make my book hugely better than it would otherwise have been,” he says.
The duo also jointly worked on a book Ugandan Society Observed which was published in 2007. Mozeh told the story through cartooning and illustrations.
O’Connor was born in 1952 in West London and holds a Masters of Arts in Economics from Cambridge University.
Together with his wife Sue, 56, a photographer, they have lived in Uganda for 22 years. O’Connor arrived in the country in 1996 as deputy director for British Council.
In the same year [1996] O’Connor retired from his job and started writing for New Vision as a columnist in 1997 before moving to Sunday Monitor in 2000 until 2012.
Away from writing, O’Connor is an athletics coach, something he jointly does with his wife.
“We have voluntarily coached athletes with our biggest success coming in 1999 when Grace Birungi who won a 800-metre bronze medal at the 1999 All-Africa Games in Johannesburg,” he says. Currently, the duo is coaching two young women, Joyce Baako and Shida Leni.
Baako is a representative on the Uganda Athletics Federation executive while Leni is a semi-finalist of the 400 metres at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Passion for athletics
According to O’Connor, the passion for athletics started way back in life because his father was an athlete and he at one time participated in a number of races.
The couple who had left the country in 1996 retuned to Uganda in 1997 and have found a home here flying out once in every year to visit their family in the UK.
The couple has no children and it is something that has not come between their happiness.
“Every day we get asked why we do not have children. Ugandans generally have zero understanding of the different socio-economic culture which has shaped us,” Sue says.
This, according to O’Connor is perplexing because Ugandans don’t believe that a couple cannot live happily without children.
“I am perplexed by the attitude Ugandans have towards having children. Who says a couple cannot live happily by themselves,” he says.
For now, what is important for him is to enjoy his life in Uganda, the country he calls his home.

Who is Mozeh

Mozeh died in September having worked with Daily Monitor for more that 15 years.
At the time of his death he was 43 years. He was born in 1973 to Mzee Asaph Kyobe and Rev Beatrice Kyobe of Kiwala village in current Sembabule district.
He attended Lugazi West Primary School before moving to Nkoyoyo Boarding Matale where he completed his primary education.
From Nkoyoyo he proceeded to St Henry’s College Kitovu for both O and A-levels. He later graduated from Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Art, Makerere University.
He is survived by a widow, one daughter and a son.

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