Fr Grimes: Architect of holistic education who was ahead of govt

There is no doubt that Rev Fr Grimes has left behind a legacy of transformation and compassion that continues to resonate in Uganda.

Unfortunately, Namasagali College became dilapidated after he returned to the United Kingdom and lost most of what made it a unique school in Uganda and East Africa, thanks to the unique integrated curriculum that he created and nurtured at the institution.

The curriculum did not only make Namasagali College unique but also produced unique personalities who have gone on to serve their country in diverse ways and stations in life.

I call him a holistic educator because unlike in other schools in Uganda and East Africa, he promoted a unique integrated Namasagali curriculum long before we started to talk of an integrated curriculum in Uganda and East Africa’s school and higher education systems.

In fact, Uganda’s and East Africa’s school and higher education systems are to date far less integrated than was the case when Fr Grimes developed the Namasagali College Curriculum. They lag several years behind the Namasagali curriculum in the sense that they remain rigidly disciplinary in structure and function, largely producing graduates who are less responsive to the needs of the 21st century.

The 21st Century is more receptive to students and graduates that have gone through an integrated curriculum. Therefore, in designing the Namasagali curriculum, Fr Grimes was looking far ahead. He wanted future-ready graduates and professionals who would earn a living without begging. To this end, Fr Grimes’ mind and my mind met. It is the main reason why I readily decided to write this eulogy.

His products

It was not surprising that Hon Daudi Migereko thought and believed that I, Dr Patrick Bitature, Rt Hon Rebecca Kadaga, Prof Frank Nabwiso, Prof Wasswa Balunywa, Hon Moses Kizige and Ms Olive Lumonya were some of the few remaining people Basoga who could write a befitting eulogy for the fallen educator. My father, Mzee Charles Afunaduula Ovuma, Haji Balunywa (Prof Waswa Balunywa’s father) who was Busoga Territory Administrative Secretary, Mzee Nathan T Mpabulungi (Hon Migereko’s father) and Mzee Kalange (from Namutumba), were intertwined in the story of Namasagali College as Members of the Namasagali College Board of Governors, who made the policies that supported Fr Grimes’ administration in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Mzee Charles Afunaduula Ovuma was the Speaker of the Busoga Lukiiko that decided in 1965 to establish a Busoga Territory School at Kamuli ( the very place where Busoga College, Mwiri had its first home before it moved to its current home on Mwiri Hill), jointly with the Mill Hill Fathers of the Roman Catholic Church. My father used to tell me a lot about the school when it started operation but I also got more information when my young brother, David Wekiya, was admitted to Senior One by the pioneer headmaster, Fr Naval in 1966. He tasted the militaristic disciplinary measures of Fr Grimes when he succeeded Fr Naval in 1967 as headmaster. Wekiya failed to keep up with the disciplinary demands of Fr Grimes and relocated to Jinja Senior Secondary School. Discipline was part of Fr Grimes’ legacy at Kamuli College that became Namasagali College.

I was old enough in 1965, completing my Junior two-level education at Mwiri Primary School, when Kamuli College, which became Namasagali College, was innovated. 

Lasting impact

When I entered Busoga College, Mwiri, to begin my senior secondary school education, I soon learned that Namasagali College interacted well with Busoga College, Mwiri. When Fr Grimes was named headmaster of Namasagali College in 1967, I was in Senior Two at Busoga College, Mwiri. That year I was part of a group of Mwiri boys that visited Namasagali College in our new school bus. I don’t remember what exactly we went to do, but that was the time I saw Fr Grimes for the first time. He looked imposing and ever-alert about what was going on in his school.

Over the years, I interacted with Namasagali College students whenever they came to Mwiri for social functions such as dance. I continued to be connected to Namasagali College when my brothers, John Yalibanda and Michael Muganywa, were admitted to the school by Fr Grimes.

Fr Grimes was resourced from Namilyango College, where, like at Namasagali College, he instructed boys in boxing. In fact, in Uganda, it was Namilyango College and Namasagali College where the most prominent boxers sprang from.

Fr Grimes was the legendary headmaster of Namasagali College (1967-2000) during the most critical formative years of the school. His legacy includes turning Namasagali College into an academic giant and promoting and encouraging performing arts and theatre at a time when the Makerere Free Travelling Theatre was declining.

Those who passed through Namasagali College during his time say although Fr Grimes displayed militaristic disciplinarianship in his administration, he was humane, visionary and believed in the success of every child entrusted to him by parents from all over Uganda although it was a school established by Busoga Government. They do remember that their headmaster, who was a boxer in his early life, used to tell them that “if you have a voice, you can sing; if you have legs you can dance; and if you have hands, you can box”.

The next time I chanced to meet the legendary headmaster of Namasagali College was in 2004 at Makerere University’s Department of Music, Dance and Drama (today known as the Department of Performing Arts and Film). I was not surprised he was at the Department.

During his time at Namasagali College, he promoted music, dance, drama and theatre. He had sent so many students to the Department of Music, Dance and Drama. It is possible some of the lecturers in the department were his students at Namasagali College. That could be the reason he was at the department. Or else he was there to do some part-time training (see below)

I am aware that the fallen legendary headmaster of Namasagali College wrote a book titled, ‘Uganda: My Mission,’ in which he reveals the struggles of managing a secondary school in difficult and complex circumstances, but which gave first-class education to many children, some of whom have risen to senior positions in government, Parliament, schools, trade, and industry, including theatre and music. 

While writing this eulogy, I have established that 18 former students of Fr Grimes became ministers in the Uganda government appointed by President Museveni. They include Rt Hon Kadaga, Moses Kizige, Aggrey Bagiire, Miria Matembe and Isaac Musumba. Others such as Faith Kalikwani Mwodha became judges. Others such as Peter Walubiri are prominent lawyers in the country.

Jimmy Akena, is the leader of one of the oldest political parties in the country and a Member of Parliament, Patrick Bitature and Charles Mbiire are prominent businessmen. Prof Wasswa Balunywa and Prof Katwalo Mulenganyi are leading academics. Juliana Kanyomozi and Irene Namubiru are prominent in the music industry. The list of successful former students serving every sector both locally and globally is endless.

In death, Fr Grimes can boast that within a very short time he was able to raise Namasagali College to the level when it could and continue to compete with traditional schools such as Busoga College, Mwiri, Buddo, Ntare, Makerere College School, Namilyango, Kisubi, Namagunga, Nabingo and Gayaza in dominating the public space in all spheres of life. The legendary teacher can rest in peace having accomplished his mission: Educating for the future.

There is no doubt that many students nurtured at Namasagali College during Fr Grimes’ time found themselves in the Department of Music, Dance and Drama and in the Dramatic Society of Makerere University.

Performing Arts at Namasagali College seemed to supersede those at Makerere University with the passage of time. In fact, while they declined at Makerere University, they flourished at Namasagali College, and became the most distinguishing feature of Namasagali College.

Acting and dance became the hallmark of Namasagali College's experience of students under Fr Grimes. Performances involved rigorous training by Fr Grimes who also trained his young boxers until he stopped the sport on health grounds. In fact, he even rose to be the president of the Uganda Amateur Boxing Association.

Influence on MDD

According to Ian Kiyingi Muddu, in his article “Namasagali College: How the school became Uganda’s Arts Hub” published in The African Theatre Magazine, on June 13, 2020, from 1978 until around 1998, Namasagali College managed to put up annual theatre productions. The plays written, adapted and directed by Fr Grimes himself with a team of writers like Kaganda and choreographers such as Sandra Jones, were eclectic, but, by and large, dramatic plots laced with music and dance.

It is a surprising coincidence that the two people who have had a permanent and enduring impact on the now lucrative performing arts industry - Fr Grimes and Prof Grace Wilson Igaga Mutekanga (August) - have left us at almost the same time.

Prof Mutekanga, a former student of Makerere College School (1963-1964) and lecturer in Makerere’s Department of Music, Dance and Drama (1975-1981), is remembered most for composing the Makerere University's anthem.

Interestingly, and a surprising coincidence too, Fr Grimes and Prof Mutekanga will both end up being interred near each other in Kamuli District – the latter at Kananage and the former at Namagali College grounds.

It is incumbent upon us still living to extend the legacies of the two icons well into the future.