Village DJ to disco tycoon

Apr 11, 2014

Born and raised in rural Rakai district, Joseph “Ambiance” Kiyimba was forced to out of school in Senior Two in 1987 because his peasant parents could no longer afford to pay his school fees. But Kiyimba had a passion; he liked music and parties, and organising discos for peers was his favourite pa

Born and raised in rural Rakai district, Joseph “Ambiance” Kiyimba was forced to drop out of school in Senior Two in 1987 because his peasant parents could no longer afford to pay his school fees.

But Kiyimba had a passion; he liked music and parties, and organising discos for peers was his favourite pastime.

So he brewed crude waragi (potent gin) and sold clothes in markets in the greater Masaka to make ends meet. He also organised dances for youth in the neighbouring villages and at local bars till he raised enough capital for Kampala, where he joined the used car spare parts business that took him to Nairobi, then Dubai.

This gave him a chance to acquire state-of-the-art sound equipment to do what he was truly passionate about — disco, write Michael Kanaabi and Emmanuel Luganda

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