IN THE PICTURE ABOVE: Dancing girls who spiced up the Susana Band's show. Inset, Shelton now

We had our first big music deal in Uganda at the Black Cat nightclub, on Kampala Road opposite where City Bar was (it has since been replaced by the Thobani Centre). It was exclusively for whites. The owner of the club was an Asian of Goan origin called Souza Figerado. The manager was a white man. Even Souza, the club's owner, was not allowed into the club. He would only come in during the day to check on business, and then disappear.

Although we performed there, we were not allowed to use the same plates as the white patrons. Ours were cheaper. Yet we thought we had left this racist system back at home! 
Most of the customers were South African Boers, working in Kilembe mines, who would come to the city over the weekend. One night in 1958, Kabaka Muteesa came in with friends, who included a one Dr. Kaggwa, who was married to a muzungu lady. Although a members-only club, management let him and his friends in.

The Boers walked out in protest, leaving their food on the table. They had no idea who the Kabaka was, and did not care. It is the British civil servants who stayed behind. On stage, we had been playing European music: tango, cha-cha-cha, fox trot, quickstep, and bolero from South America. In protest, we now started playing African music, which angered the white manager. I remember we played some South African tunes especially for the Kabaka, which he enjoyed very much, and so did the people in his company.
Of course, the Kabaka had taken note of the white men who had stormed out on his entrance. After the music, he said, “Mwebale nnyo, abatatwagala bagende, eno ensi yaffe, (thanks a lot, those who don’t like us may go away, this is our country),” then he left. After an hour, we resumed playing European music. 

Kabaka Mutesa II

Nowadays it is campus girls, but in those days nurses, air hostesses and barmaids that made the hottest dates. The nurses were the preserve of high-class people, politicians and wealthy businessmen. However, there were not enough to go around, since those in mission-founded hospitals were not easily accessible.

A beautiful nurse at Mulago Hospital once got a government minister beaten up by her boyfriend, who staged a road block at Kyengera on Masaka Road. The minister had gone to Masaka on official duty, and had taken along the beautiful nurse to give him company. 

Although she had a boyfriend, the nurse could not resist the chance to hang out with a minister. The man who beat up the minister was a wealthy drug dealer called Mulumba, who still lives in Masaka. The nurse eventually went to London. 
For the low class, it was barmaids. Bars would compete to hire the most beautiful girls that would attract customers.

In 1959, two years after our arrival in the country, our contract with Black Cat expired, and we set up a new home on top of Norman Cinema (now Watoto Church), where we had been offered twice the money our previous boss had been paying us.

Norman Gordino, who owned Speke Hotel, City House, and other properties along Buganda Road, also owned the new place, named Bagattele nightclub.

Black Cat was bought up by another Indian belonging to the Sayan group, who renamed it Laquinta and opened it up to Africans and Asians.

Regular members at Bagattele included Michael Kaggwa, son of the famous Sir Apollo Kaggwa. A magistrate at the time, Kaggwa later became a judge in the industrial court and was killed by Amin, in the 1970s. His charred body, doused with acid, hands tied behind the back with wire kandoya-style, was found in the burnt-out shell of his car, opposite Mengo Senior Secondary School. I will tell his story, and what cost him his life, another time. The other regular at Bagattele nightclub was Kintu, a CID officer.
We also opened Blue Sky night bar opposite Mengo Secondary School. Its ceiling was painted sky blue with stars, giving the impression of a star-studded night sky. We later sold it to Daudi Ochieng, a prominent politician in the 1960s.

Susana is born
In 1964, two years after Independence, we relocated from Norman Cinema to Nakulabye, where we hired a place called Kyeggunda, owned by one Katantazi. We renamed it Africa Club.

Just when the club was beginning to pick up, there was an economic slump, and business became slack. It was a difficult time, especially for African entrepreneurs, who were venturing into private business for the first time.

Short of cash to keep the club running, we approached Phan Ntende, the Lint Marketing Board chairman, who agreed to become a shareholder; and also brought along three friends: Roger Mukasa, who was Coffee Marketing Board chairman, Sam Mukasa, who was Shell BP manager, and foreign affairs minister Sam Odaka.

 After sinking in a lot of their money, it was only natural that the four take over ownership, while my brother Richard and I became managers.

We renamed the club Susana, which just happened to be a catchy name that took our fancy. To make it unique, we designed the club's interior to look like a tropical forest, with palm trees, grass-thatched canopies over the bar, mats and bark cloth on the bar shelves, and ndeku (gourds) for lamp shades.

We went to Kaazi, on the shores of Lake Victoria, and collected tree stumps washed ashore by the waves, which we designed into bar shelves.

We then fixed floodlights all around the dance floor, and some in the floor itself, to dazzle the dancers. The place became very popular, attracting a lot of local socialites and foreign tourists.

Once in a while the president, Dr. Apollo Milton Obote, would drop in with other big government officials. The club soon became the epitome of Kampala's nightlife. The dress code was formal. 

Dr. Obote Opening A Dance At A Function With Mrs. Amin, Wife To The Army Chief Of Staff, Col Idi Amin Dada 22.10.66

We played live music, and band members would change clothes several times to match the music. It was around this time that a very famous South African ballroom dancer named Luchanga came to Uganda accompanied by his wife, who was also his dancing partner.

It was through studying Luchanga in action that Uganda's dancing wizard Mzee Christopher Kato, learnt ballroom dancing, mastered it and then turned it into a career after Luchanga's eventual departure.

Although he enjoyed our music, Sir Edward Muteesa never stepped into the club. Instead, whenever he had a party in the Lubiri (palace), he would invite us to entertain his guests.

We would not charge him money, but of course at the end of our performance, he would give us a token fee, to show his appreciation.
Idi Amin was a frequent visitor at the club, where he would have fun drinking and dancing with friends.

While visiting Uganda, the famous Nigerian wrestler Power Mike dropped in at Susana. While there, he accidentally stepped on another patron's blue suede shoes. The patron, a dapper dresser, took offence, brushing aside Power Mike's apologies. He followed Mike around, pushing him. Fights were rare in Susana, as patrons were generally genteel.
Other patrons pleaded with the offended man to forgive Mike, since it was clear he was a visitor. Instead the man called Mike a stupid fool, which offended the wrestler.
Picking him up with one hand, Mike carried the offender to the dance floor and asked the band to play highlife music. We played, to the amusement of the rest of the patrons. Mike danced while holding the hapless man up in the air with one hand. 

After putting his victim back on the ground, Mike removed his jacket, and started flexing his muscles. Everyone in the club was amazed. They had never seen a man swell and look as fierce as a lion. Mike went on stage, introduced himself on the microphone and advised the people around not to insult strangers. Impressed revellers showered him with tips (okufuuwa).

Sunday in the 1960s was a day for fun. Asian businessmen would bring their families to the City Square (now Constitution Square) to fraternise with fellow Asians, and would drive up and down the streets to show off their latest wheeled acquisitions. The only African who used to join them was Kizito, the proprietor of Kizito Bakery, in his Zephyr Zodiac open roof.

Uganda then was such a peaceful country; one could beat up a government minister and get away with it, as it was all taken as a normal part of life. An army sergeant once beat up a government minister (it was actually John Kakonge), after the two collided in a bedsitter (muzigo) belonging to a sexy traditional dancer in Kikubamutwe slums. When asked what he had been doing in the slums, the minister claimed he had gone to dance Orunyege (a traditional dance from Bunyoro).

Shelton And Richard Perform The Zulu Dance As A Sideshow

Another time, a deputy minister of labour pulled a pistol on his permanent secretary, who had refused to sign the minister's allowance voucher. The PS stood his ground, and the minister, currently living in West Nile, missed the allowance.

It was local government minister Kalule Settala who saved Susana from a money-swindling racket by the ticket collectors manning the club entrance. For some time, we had noticed that while the club was always full, the cash collected by the end of business did not reflect the numbers.

Unknown to us, the ticket box cashier and the ticket collector had connived and were recycling tickets which had already been sold. After work, they would share the money.
Minister Kalule came to the club and bought six tickets, as he was expecting some friends to join him later. Kalule’s guests did not turn up, so he called me and asked for a refund for the five tickets.

I agreed to refund the money, but when I looked at the tickets, I noticed that they were not in serial order, yet they had been bought at the same time. I ambushed the ticket box, and found there a heap of sold tickets, which were being recycled.

The culprits were sacked, but it was too late; the ticket girl had already built a mansion out of the proceeds from the ticket racket. 

My band, the Shelton Quintet, used to play dinner music at the Imperial Hotel, mainly for businesspeople. At midnight I would move to Susana to play with the club band up to morning.

I was a very busy man, practising with two different bands, on top of managing Susana nightclub. The Susana band had two very good trumpeters: Twalib Mohammed and Haruna. Dick played the bass guitar, while Jimmy, from Tanzania, played the lead guitar. Richard Shonga, from Zambia, played the rhythm guitar. 

Martin Munyenga, (the father of Winnie Munyenga), from Zaire, played the tenor sax. Markass from Zaire played the bass sax. Toby from Kenya was also a lead guitarist. Magumba, a Ugandan, played the drums. Nsereko Mutooro played the tuba. Richard and I would sing the vocals in English high life and South African music, while Eclas Kawalya would sing Luganda vocals.

Martin Munyenga

Susana was a band in its own class, with two players for each instrument, just in case one was not available. As bandleader, I collected musicians from all over the region. With my and Richard's South African experience, we easily beat all the local bands.
The band could play music from anywhere especially the top 10 tunes. The band always had two lead guitarists, two rhythm guitarists, two bass guitarists, and two drummers. If one could not play a certain tune, the other would take over.

Once BAT organised a Sportsman band contest, which attracted about 10 bands, including one of Indian Goan origin. The master of ceremony was James Bwogi, a highly polished news presenter, whose father was a professor. The competition was stiff, as the bands had been well organised and well dressed and the songs to be played were supposed to be of international standard.

Susana Band was voted the best dressed, in evening suits. I sang a duet with Richard, called Hello Dolly by Louis Armstrong, which was among the top 10 on the world music chart then. We also played a Latin American tune, while dressed up in Mexican attire, complete with wide-brimmed sombreros.

While playing in Susana, the band would often stage some sideshows, like the Zulu dance perfumed by Richard and I. The patrons would be dressed in evening wear; suits and black shining shoes. The club also had some jackets and neckties to lend to inappropriately dressed patrons, so that they would not look out of place.

In 1969, during the preparations for the Pope's first visit to Uganda, an architect called Kaweesa contacted us to design the African hut on the island on the Martyrs' Lake at Namugongo.

Impressed by our work, Uganda Hotels' general manager Fred Irumba invited us to bid for the job of decorating all the government-owned hotels, which included Tropical Inn in Masaka, Lake Victoria in Entebbe, Crested Crane in Jinja and Mt. Elgon in Mbale.
Through Afro décor, another side company of ours specialising in decorating, we got it.

As first published in Sunday Vision, April 15, 2007. Vision Group Resource Centre
Tomorrow read about Shelton’s first-hand account of the 1964 Nakulabye massacre.