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Lately, I had a late evening lakeside chat with new people and some Europeans who were ostensibly expatriates. Our conversation quickly gravitated towards African heritage and culture, from interest West African Vodoo festivals to the Southern African dance fetes. One outstanding figure appeared to bask in allurement on these Africa jollifications particularly the evolution of the “dikula” character in Uganda. I established that this well-informed gentleman was Michiel Van Oosterhaut, a towering Dutch intellectual journalist, music archivist and documentary filmmaker with a stellar memory. A close friend of Michiel city lawyer Godwin Toko attests that when it comes to Uganda’s arts: literary, audio, visual, he’s probably, the most passionate non-Ugandan out there. If you’re one of those who frequent the Uganda Museum, National Theatre, Makerere Library, Exhibitions et al, you’ve probably seen him. Michiel has an insatiable appetite for discovery; he's always going somewhere to find some piece of music, or story, or on a boat en route to Kalangala to discover and write about some religious cult headed by the Bambi’Baba - crazy! As a history afficianado, I was quickly fascinated by the level of attention to detail and relentless efforts he had invested in archiving Uganda’s precious past. He is a man so well-versed with the oldest Ugandan music records ranging from Christopher Ssebaduka, Elly Wamala, Herman Basudde to Congolese rumba-inspired bands such as The Cranes, The Rwenzoris and The Tames. I played a couple of these antiquated audios and he could sing along and name the titles off-head.
One of the biggest challenges Africa as a continent has faced over the years is the inability to document and curate our own history and heritage. It is for that reason that some key actors in our story have been vilified so much by biased scholars and the media because they did not author their side of the story – I for one would have loved to read a Mwanga, Amin or Obote autobiography to hear them out. This equitably applies to our social history and pop culture.
Coincidentally, a few weeks prior to our abrupt rendezvous, I had been intrigued and my deep interest in music archival sparked when I landed on Michiel’s recent publication, The Soul of Uganda Through Song. It is a meticulously researched lyrical telling of Uganda’s history in the period starting at independence in 1962 to the end of Idi Amin’s rule in 1979. It is a substructure his extensive music archive and profound passion for Uganda’s popular music and politics of the era and throughout the entire book, you can realize that the author is cognizant with the singer and songwriter as both an entertainer and a legitimate custodian of a nation’s past. US-based physician and author Robert Bwire credits Michiel for studiously curates the lyrics and sounds recorded by numerous magnificent singers of a bygone era; lyrics that spoke to the events of the day and thus providing a unique insight into Uganda’s history and zeitgeist as well as compiling the first compendious work of Uganda’s popular music and it spans across music genres, ranging from Kadongo Kamu to pop classics.
The period 1964 – 1979 was Uganda’s most turbulent period that was marred by conflict and unwarranted political repression. It also had periods of merrymaking, vigorous excitement and great hope. This is evident in Elly Wamala’s lyrically gyrating hit song, “Ebinyuma Ebyaffe” where aptly tells a story of the “vibe” life back in the day. He sings about the predominant night clubs of the time, and by the end of the song one is able to establish the hang-out spots patronized by people of varying class societies; bourgeois and working class. He even makes mention of Norman Godinho Cinema; the first cinema in the country which is current-day Watoto Central Church building. What a way to document history!
In choosing popular music to recount the country’s history in Michiel refers his book as an “alternative history book”, The Soul of Uganda Through Song, is a strikingly ambitious work, which offers some detailed accounts of unique events that have scarcely received mention or have been totally ignored in major historical accounts about Uganda. The book is more than a passing retelling of the country’s popular music and its societal, political and economic significance; it also highlights the contributions of a generation of musicians that emerged in the post-independence era and how they shaped Uganda’s popular culture through their music.
In a sense, the book, a leisurely read with a rich and well-researched content, is the welcome comprehensive sequel to Michiel’s successful documentary, Bwana jogoo: the balled of Jessy Gitta, which explores the tragic fate of Jessy Gitta Kasirivu, a member of the 1960s/70s Kampala boy band, The Cranes. Michiel recently released documentary titled Bwana Jogoo: The Ballad of Jessy Gitta which provides first-hand information on the love triangle between Kyolaba, Kasirivu and Amin. In July 1975, then Ugandan president Idi Amin wedded Sarah Kyolaba, as his fifth wife, at the Nile Mansion (now Kampala Serena Hotel), with Palestinian Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat as his best man. Kyolaba became a public figure and often appeared with Amin at the country's national and sporting events. That was as much as the public knew. But behind the scenes, their marriage cost the life of famous musician Jessy Gitta Kasirivu, Kyolaba's well-known lover and bandmate, who dared to stand up to Amin over the love of the woman he called his. The one-hour seven minutes-long documentary features interviews and narrations by Kasirivu's former bandmates, old musicians, family members, Amin associates and analysts who were privy to the relationship between Kyolaba and Kasirivu, who were bandmates with The Cranes. According to the documentary, on the morning of August 4, 1974, Kasirivu was arrested by Amin’s infamous State Research Bureau agents and bundled into the boot of a vehicle, and disappeared without a trace. Michiel reiterated that that the story of Gitta is one of a terrible injustice. “I didn't want to make a political documentary but one on how the life of an ordinary person—Jessy Gitta—can be destroyed under a brutal regime.” He told The EastAfrican. “I wanted the focus to be on the musician, to show how daring some people were in resisting a brutal reality then and not giving up on love. Growing up in the Netherlands, I learned that preserving these kinds of stories in books and films is of utmost importance,” he added.
Our interaction which culminated into a warm friendship of exchanging knowledge gave me food for thought and re-ignited my passion to curating and refining and showcasing not only Uganda but the entire Africa’s rich history and heritage because I faithfully associate with Malcolm X’s though that we can use history to charter a course of our path. There is so much beauty in discovering the untold stories of our past and Michiel therefore proved to me that the preservation of stories through the media and the ever-growing technological advancements so that we can with pride and dignity take charge of our own destiny. It is really absurd that there is a dismal interest in our past especially among the youth and therefore efforts by altruistic people like Michiel, Tony Owana, Bart Kakooza, History in Progress (HIP) and some of the media houses have digitized and documented the stories of Uganda’s past through audio-visual media as well as print media. I personally look forward to creating a database for the past music records, video footages and writings and I plan on locating collections and material such as colonial archives and personal; anthropological and journalistic relevant to the representation of Uganda’s past. This is a clarion call to the government of Uganda to aid access to historical information such as easing on the stringent bureaucracy by the ministry of information for people seeking to utilize the national archives.
Written by Bwiranda Kennedy Max
Twitter @bwiranda
LinkedIn @Kennedy Max Bwiranda
The Writer is a Law student at Makerere University and Chairperson of the Pan-African Students’ Union of Uganda.
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