Lady Luck Smiles On Mugayehwenki

Jul 08, 2002

For an entire 30 years, Mugayehwenki woke up in the wee hours of the morning to begin a day of hard labour. He spent most of his time cultivating.

By Jovita Ajuna in KamwengeFor an entire 30 years, Mugayehwenki woke up in the wee hours of the morning to begin a day of hard labour. He spent most of his time cultivating. In between, he would rest to eat cassava and beans for lunch. He toiled all day to cater for his family and ageing mother.“I did not get enough education, so I could not get employment. I resorted to farming,” said Mugayehwenki.But he had not always had been a popular businessman in Kamwenge. He sold agricultural produce. He traded in agricultural products and owned a retail shop in the heart of the town. Besides, he ferried people on his motorcycle (bodaboda). Unfortunately, he had an accident. He became physically handicapped for sometime because he got head injuries. This was in January 2000.“What God keeps for the poor never rots,” the old adge goes. Mugayehwenki soon found out last year on October 21.On that eventful day, he first went to the garden as usual. In the evening, he paid his friend at trading centre a visit.While waiting for him, he decided to quench his thirst a long day’s work as he chatted away with other friends at Hurry Pot Inn, Kamwenge.“I was drinking for no clear reason. I decided to look at the inside of the bottle top. The sign in the lid was unique. I had never seen it. I was puzzled. I asked my friend about it. Nobody knew what it was,” he narrates. “But some people thought I had won a car. I carried my lid home and I confided in my wife. She could not believe I could win a car. She thought I was drunk and crazy.”The next day, his friend Benon Mwebembezi accompanied him to the Uganda Breweries depot in Fort-Portal. Luckily, the sales representative for UBL, Joseph K. Jjumba found them inquiring about the sign on the lid.“You have won yourself a car,” shouted the sales representative. You are the first to do so. None has won it so far,” he recalls. The sales representative asked Mugayehwenki where he lived. “I was stunned,” recalls Mugayehwenki. “Everybody looked at me strangely. I could hear people saying the man is lucky. Oba he was born on which day?” he says.The representative drove him back home 77 Km away from FortPortal.“I was still sceptical about winning a Pick-Up. I thought winners were from Kampala but the day came when I was the emperor of the region,” says Mugayehwenki.On reaching Kamwenge, they proceeded to the bar where the sales representative bought him a bottle of beer and assured him that the car was his. “I couldn’t believe it! It was like a dream,” he recounts.The revellers converged at the bar. Suddenly, Mugayehwenki became the talk of the town. Later, he was taken to UBL offices in Kampala, escorted by his area MP, Capt. Charles Byaruhanga. He was informed officially that he would receive his promotional award in Kamwenge.His pick up has enabled him to improve his welfare. “I use the pick up to first fetch water from the well, a long distance away from our home. My children would go to the well after school. Now that problem is solved,” he says . “My wife suffered from stress due to too much work. Now she can also rest and prepare three meals comfortably.”Ends

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