The Observer (Kampala)
Diana Nabiruma
29 October 2009
Recently at the MTN Jazz Safari, TShaka Mayanja's father, Joash Mayanja Nkangi, was in attendance and he looked every bit the proud parent. The former Katikkiro of Buganda who later served as Uganda's Minister of Finance, probably prefers Afrigo Band and Dan Mugula, but there he was, watching jazz in the name of supporting his son.
When Navio launched his Half the Legend album earlier this year, his mother Dr. Maggie Kigozi, who is unlikely to be a hip-hop fan, was right there with the young revellers who are into Navio's music. Again, she was being a supportive parent.
Since when did parents become so supportive of children who choose to tread career paths that are so different from theirs, let alone not being highly regarded by society?
Today, being a musician may not be considered a bad thing, but until recently who wanted their son singing for a living, moreover when the parents held prominent public offices?
Winston & Joash Mayanja Nkangi
Joash Mayanja Nkangi, TShaka's father, is chairman of the Uganda Land Commission and has been Buganda Katikkiro, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, and Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. Rather than become a lawyer, like father, TShaka branched off into music in the 1980s, a time when music was looked down upon.
So how did TShaka's father react to his child wanting to be a singer? "With trepidation," is how the musician, whose real name is Winston Mayanja, describes his dad's reaction.
"Most parents want their kids to be academics or to be in more traditional forms of employment. Mine were not any different," TShaka said. They did not encourage him to study music and were generally unsupportive. However, as times changed, Winston's parents came around. Now he has won them over and they are some of his greatest fans, as we saw at the Jazz Safari do.
Daniel & Maggie Kigozi
Klear Kut's Daniel 'Navio' Kigozi is son to Dr. Maggie Kigozi, the Executive Director of Uganda Investment Authority, and you would expect that she would have whipped her son into becoming a medical doctor like herself, or doing some other kick-ass job, but no. She is proud of her "musician" and says that all she asked was that he finishes his first degree.
"He is very talented," she says. "He produced his first songs or whatever you call them (meaning album) without my help and he was successful." She advises parents to let their children decide for themselves what they want to be.
"Children can be successful even when they pursue non-traditional careers," she says.
Did Dr. Kigozi have other dreams for her son?
Navio answers this for her: "No she did not. As long as what I chose to do generated cash, my parents were fine with it and I must say that I have made more money in one year than I would have made in four years had I pursued what I studied." Navio is a graduate of International Relations, Communications and Media Studies.
Moses & Jaberi Bidandi Ssali
Before Moses Ssali a.k.a Bebe Cool's generation, you did music at your own peril and therefore it is not surprising that his mother, Ms Samalie Sepuuya Ssali, was against his career choice. He, however, says that she had "trust in me though coming from a successful family herself, she did not want her son doing music".
His father, Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, Chairman of the People's Progressive Party and a former long serving minister of Local Government, was not any different, much as he says that his policy is to "let children make their choices and it is important to recognise a child's talent, be it in football, drawing or music".
He denies having disowned his son because of his career choice, and says that this was as a result of some family matter. Today, Bidandi Ssali says he is proud of all his children and Bebe Cool says, "Yes, today my parents support me 100%".
Angela & Bonney Katatumba
Angela Katatumba, daughter of Bonney Katatumba, an entrepreneur and Honorary Consul of Pakistan to Uganda, is also a musician. How did this graduate of Law, Economics and Human Resource Management from Oxford Brookes, manage to convince her parents to let her sing for a living? She did so by "going their way first" which means that she first studied as they wanted her to, but when she came back to Uganda, they encouraged her to sing. This is not surprising, given that while at school in Canada, they paid a music teacher $40 a month to teach her.
Ntare & Frank Mwiine
Other prominent Ugandans that have produced children who branched off into what traditionalists would call "unserious" careers, include Ntare Mwiine, son of Dr. Frank Mwiine, the former Managing Director of the defunct Uganda Commercial Bank. No one would call Ntare's career unserious today, since he became Uganda's biggest export to Hollywood as an actor.
Lillian& Anthony Butele
There was also Lillian Butele of the group Prim n' Propa, Uganda's first real girl group. She sang with Brenda Z'Obbo. Lillian is the daughter of Anthony Butele, a former MP and minister for Karamoja Affairs.
Hannington & Stephen Kavuma
The latest addition to this list is Hannington Kuteesa, one of Uganda's two representatives to Big Brother Africa Revolution. Son of former MP, minister and judge, Stephen Kavuma; and veteran educationist and MP, Ruth Nvumetta Kavuma, Hannington was recently evicted from the BBA house, thus failing to win $200,000.
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