Prime
Dr Kibuuka and when absolute power can be a good thing
What you need to know:
- Story is, as the second school term kicked off in May, power changed hands at Namilyango College too. The very amiable, bespectacled and soft-spoken Mr Alfred Mugoda, bless his soul, who had been “in power” for 13 years made way for Mr – a few years later, Dr Peregrine Kibuuka.
January 1986. Guerrilla chief Yoweri Museveni marches into town and takes power from Gen Tito Okello Lutwa. As citizens, we are still going through the motions of understanding the new President, when, as students, more change turns up.
Story is, as the second school term kicked off in May, power changed hands at Namilyango College too. The very amiable, bespectacled and soft-spoken Mr Alfred Mugoda, bless his soul, who had been “in power” for 13 years made way for Mr – a few years later, Dr Peregrine Kibuuka.
Whereas Museveni’s takeover had been through war and Gen Okello did not, for obvious reasons, feel able to stick around and hand over the mantle to his successor, Namilyango’s was a peaceful transfer of power. In fact, after the initial handover, Kibuuka threw a huge party for his predecessor.
And whereas the new President was a lean fellow, Kibuuka, clearly, had made good use of his food. Anyone who walked into Namilyango did not need, after a cursory glance at him, to ask who the headmaster was, because Kibuuka was a big man, in stature, size and office.
He lived big, walked with a spring in his step, palms fisted. He had very rich, idiomatic English – could easily have taught English at Buckingham Palace - a rare sense of humour and incredible eloquence. You didn’t want him to stop talking!
Kibuuka unveiled exactly who he was from day one: he didn’t suffer fools! He didn’t pussyfoot on matters or try to rival a chameleon in changing colour; he was forthright and steadfast. Kibuuka bared his iron fist right at the start.
Kibuuka immediately made it clear who was boss. In his office a large poster proclaimed two rules: One: the boss is always right. Two: When he is wrong, please refer to Rule One.
Kibuuka came to office loaded with big ideas and exhibiting conceptual clarity: he knew exactly what Namilyango needed. Within no time, he had made serious innovations, too many to list here.
He didn’t waste time disparaging his predecessors; he instead built on their achievements and encouraged us to make excellence a way of life. Namilyango prospered.
Absolute power can be a good thing, if it falls into the right hands. Dr Kibuuka used his ruthlessness to make Namilyango College a better place and make men out of the boys that destiny ushered into his arms.
Namilyango has always had a highly complex policy and legal regime. The Mill Hill Fathers who founded it were clear: leave the boys alone, don’t micro-manage them. Let them be free to discover by empirical research. Let them learn to be self-driven and self-reliant.
But there was a caveat to this: anyone who violated the rules ran a risk of suspension or expulsion without a further thought. Kibuuka maintained the tradition, but often made or found exceptions to the general rule, giving boys a second chance for the sake of their future, forgivingly aware that “boys will be boys”.
Kibuuka was a father figure who encouraged boys to be everything they could be and spoke positively into their lives.
On Thursday, October 21 – the Namilyango family turned up at Magere, outside Kampala, a stone’s throw from Bobi Wine’s home, to bid a fond, final and heart-breaking farewell to a man who, if you took him out of the story of each of us, there would be very little left.
Over the years, every time Dr Kibuuka has crossed my mind, I have inevitably smiled and mouthed a “thank you, Jesus!”
Mr Tegulle is an advocate of the High Court of Uganda [email protected]
