Tribute to Bbale

By Charles Musana Manyindo

Four months after the passing of veteran newsman, Bbale Francis, please allow me to pay tribute to my old friend, colleague and mentor.

Although Bbale and I did not keep in very close touch after I left Uganda in 1990, I still cherish the memories of the times we worked together as newsmen on UTV – the only TV station then, of course!

Bbale was a man with flair, a flair for the English language. He presented Monday night’s Weekly News Round Up with an accent that was so ‘from out this world’ that he inspired the rest of us to aspire to read like him.

Yet we could not get anywhere close. I must confess I very nervously cherished the days Bbale would call newsroom to say he was unable to read the news and would ask that I read the 9:00 pm news or the Monday night round up in his place. Nervous because I knew that viewers were anxiously waiting to see Bbale on the screen, only to see me, the rookie, instead! I hope I didn’t disappoint too many Bbale fans.

Even as I write this tribute I can vividly see and hear him signing on, in his emphatic tone: “This is Weekly News Round Up; I’m Bbale Francis”. Of course I can also see and hear the faces and voices of my other old friends: “…the news, read by Charles Cannery Mugisha” and “This is Toya Kilama, UTV News”. I learned of their passing while I was away; may the Almighty rest their souls in peace!

As for my UTV / Radio Uganda contemporaries still living – Lucy Banya, Stephen Hashaka, Wamboga Mugirya, Andrew Luwandaga, Munira Ali, Mr Mukirane – hope we meet someday and reminisce the good ol’days of Bbale Francis, who, I believe, continues to grace the angels in heaven with his wonderful voice. RIP, my friend!

The writer is a Ugandan living in London