Kayiwa can give recitals from any Luganda novel

* Nketa mubizinga tells a story of how he narrowly escaped death while on a spying mission By Kizito Malumba Many people have seen him on television, admired him, and phoned in to the programme to congratulate him several times for being talented in the art of recital. Standing at about 5.2 feet, dark skinned, is Kayiwa Silver Busulwa, popularly known as Nketa mubizinga. The ever smiling Kayiwa with a gap between his two upper front teeth is the man on Wavamunno Broadcasting Station (WBS)Sunday programme Omubala. It is at this time that he recites parts of the Luganda novel Nketa mubizinga. The novel was written by Edward N. Kawere, the late and former headmaster of Kiira secondary school. The programme aired from 9:30pm to 10:30pm is so popular that men have started abandoning bars so as to be at home with their families, in order to watch the programme. Kayiwa narrates and acts like the main character Nketa mubizinga. Kawere's novel depicts problems faced by Africans who were conscripted into the whiteman's colonial army to fight on their side during the Second World War. Nketa mubizinga tells a story of how he narrowly escaped death while on a spying mission in the far East for the British. While on the mission in the Yugo Yugo islands, he was captured several times, tortured and shot at by the enemy. He however, miraculously survived to tell the tale. Kayiwa puts himself in the shoes of this 'super spy' and tells this story word by word, page by page without looking at the novel. Kayiwa's narration is so fascinating that several callers jam the phone lines as they try to call in to congratulate him for his great skill. Other viewers ring in to ask the the moderator to stop in-coming calls, so as to allow Kayiwa to continue with his story without disruptions. Kayiwa was born on January 2, 1964, at Kitebere village-Butayunja, Busunju county, Miyana sub district. He was born to the late Benjamin Musoke Mutumba, who was an ex-serviceman in the second world war. His mother is 55 year-old Anatolia Nakibuuka. Kayiwa is the first born of his mother, and the second born of his father in a family of four children of whom two are boys. Kayiwa is a man of many talented. He is a composer, singer and music trainer. He is a playwright, an actor and trains people aspiring to be actors. His other role is being a spokesman, upon request, at introduction ceremonies. Kayiwa explains that apart from being hired as a spokesman, he provides photography and video coverage at such ceremonies. Kayiwa perfected his skill in cramming and memorising things in 1992, while still in his home village. He says in order to compose a good song, one needs a quiet and secure place. So this forced him to go deep in the bushes, away from any village disturbance, to compose his songs. Without a book or pen to write down what he had composed, Kayiwa ended up cramming the entire song. This also applied to his plays. From then onwards, he started cramming every Luganda novel he would come across and later recite the novel word by word to friends. He says, that it took him a day to cram a chapter. In January 1994, he decided to come to the city (Kampala) in search of sponsors who could buy him musical instruments so as to enable him to stage shows. Kayiwa says his plans hit a dead end when a rich man from his village refused to sponsor him. He resorted to reading and reciting novels for a few shillings. He said he would give the novel to some people in the audience, then start reciting the novel word by word, page by page, as the audience followed from the novel. After discovering that he was able to do so without skipping a word, the crowd would cry out for more at the end of every chapter, thus paying more money for his talent. From then on, people started seeking him out to narrate to them different stories. Kayiwa says his fans nicknamed him Nketa mubizinga because it was the most interesting novel to them. He discovered that he had a talent which he could use to form a business without the need of anyone's capital and so he formed a company called Nketa mubizinga mobile. Kayiwa who refused to reveal his level of education, says he is not an academician, but a multi- talented messenger sent by God to deliver his message. Apart from reciting Luganda novels, he also recites the bible. Kayiwa who claims to be the only one in Africa, and the world, who can recite a novel word by word, says he has trained his 14 year old son, Fred Muwakanya, to take up after him. But life has not been rosy for him. His wife with whom he had five children, divorced him in 1993 and there were times when he had no money. He said he has been able to overcome suffering by paying more allegiance to God who has given him salvation. He is now an evangelist preaches about miracles and the times to come. He is opposed to calling evangelists "born again" and says they should be called Christians. Ends.