By Henry Ssali
Disclaimer: Sangoma is a word used in South Africa to refer to witch doctors. Ugandans based in South Africa are now referred to as Sangomas, whether they are witch doctors or not, just like we refer to Ugandans based in Europe, America and Asia nkuba kyeyos whether they sweep the streets or are professionals doing white collar jobs. So referring to S.A based Ugandans as Sangomas in this article doesn’t imply they are Sangomas… even if they might be.
We have always known the festive season to be characterised by the Nkuba Kyeyos on holiday. You can easily tell these “ba Summers” by their American accents whether they are from Denmark or China. They spend a few dollars in the nightclubs and cannot be seen in taxis, so they use “special hire”. Then they have tales about how they live near Lil Wayne’s crib and that he is actually a short guy, and they give relatives and friends a few “I Love New York” T-shirts – that’s pretty much it.
Enter the Sangomas with their sleek rides with personalised “GP” plates, posting photos of themselves sleeping in Serena and throwing money in the nightclubs. Now all the guys who have been chasing a visa to go and live the American dream want to go to the Rainbow Nation.
But the most iconic figure out of South Africa is the late Nelson Mandela. He was a man known for tolerance, reconciliation and many other things, but most importantly humility. Basing on just the fact that they lived in South Africa with Madiba alive, they should at least have learnt to be humble. But what we see are bogus displays of wealth akin to US rappers and boxers like MC Hammer and Tyson who squandered their wealth. Yes, the Sangomas have money but is it necessary to come to Club Silk in four Hummers? Mbu SK Mbuga 1, 2, 3 & 4? Mbu Ivan 9 & 10? Sudhir Ruparelia is on the Forbes list as a dollar billionaire, but he drives his S.R 1 Range Rover all year. Gordon Wavamunno has the Mercedes Benz dealership but he doesn’t change cars like shirts.
Don’t get me wrong, there is no problem with enjoying one’s money and one can buy as many cars as they can afford, but the problem is in showing off. These guys call it okujjoga (loosely translated to mean undermining everyone else). They go as far as throwing money in the nightclubs and enjoy watching people in a stampede to pick the bu-notes… kujjoga indeed.
And this “Kujjoga” is common habit of people who “started from the bottom” and they cannot believe they are where they have reached.
Like rapper Drake sings, “Started from the bottom now we’re here …,” these guys are always seeking attention, making a statement that they have arrived. In the US, it’s called new money. A typical scenario of new money and old money is Ivan and Zari throwing money in the air in Club Silk that is owned by the likes of Elvis Ssekyanzi and his friends like Aga Ssekalala who have old money. Their dads are billionaires and these guys are also billionaires. So as Ivan flaunts a bottle of Moet because he has spent about 400k on it, he should remember that Ssekyanzi owns not just Club Silk, but the building as well, before he throws 20k notes in his direction. Charlie Lubega owns Guvnor and prime properties in Kampala like Rwenzori Courts, but these guys can throw 10 dollar bills in his direction! He has properties and business in the UK but he is still the same old humble Charlie.
Attention whores
The problem is that these guys are attention whores and their only desire is to be seen. Otherwise why make a fuss over staying in Serena like you have gone to the moon. Lot’s of people spend nights in Serena. If you make a fuss about sleeping in Serena or Speke Resort Munyonyo, then what should we expect the owner of Munyonyo to do???
The likes of Zari started out with music careers that never blossomed. Throw in a Lamborghini and a white party and finally you are celebrity who even wants us to watch your reality show on TV!
A one Katsha YMCMB (How unoriginal) also nursed dreams of being a musician but when no one cared to listen to his music … he decided to throw a sushi party mbu eating sushi off naked models’ bodies, complete with clips on Facebook telling people how rich he is, all recorded in his room in Serena.
Others have taken to “befriending” already famous or fairly famous people so that they gather some celebrity dust. SK Mbuga’s Hummers didn’t get him any news but when he started dating musician Leila, he booked himself a few centimetres of text in the tabloids.
Now a one King Lawrence is friends with Juliana Kanyomozi and social media is abuzz with speculation of whether they are an item or not. Lawrence doesn’t help matters as he keeps posting pictures him and Juliana by the minute. There is even a rumoured sex tape and Lawrence appears to be enjoying it all.
Educationalists?
Apparently many of these guys own colleges in South Africa. According to his Facebook page, Ivan owns Lincoln International Varsity College, Menlyn Technical College and Hartland Training College. Ivan’s profile states he studied at the University of South Africa (Unisa). King Lawrence owns kingsbridge Colleges and he also studied at Unisa according to his page. Katsha also claims he owns Katsha International College and that he went to Harvard.
The one thing I know about educationalists is that they are humble people. But these guys behave like hip hop gansters with kilogrammes of gold chains around their necks. The way they dress, they are most likely headed to a music video set than a campus.
As for Katsha to claim he went to Harvard, the Luzungu in his clips of “eating susi (oops… sushi)” at Serena is akin to that of former mayor Al Hajji Nasser Ntege Ssebagala and other school drop outs. Harvard is an Ivy League institution of higher learning for polished people not guys with a gaudy sense of style.
And don’t say I’m hating on these guys. I have no problem with people who enjoy their money as long as they are not attention whores. There are hundreds, probably thousands of rich people in Uganda that are living the good life, but they don’t throw it in our faces. And the problem is that the stories of guys who flaunt wealth don’t usually end well, because there is usually a shady angle to their source of wealth. (I’m not saying these guys made their money in a shady way).
Source: henryssali.wordpress.com
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