Ouma’s dream comes true
IT was all a manifestation of fate; the trying times Kassim “The Dream†Ouma went through to make it to international stardom today.
By Nigel Nassar and Pidson Kareire
IT was all a manifestation of fate; the trying times Kassim “The Dream†Ouma went through to make it to international stardom today.
Now with a colossal harvest from his sweat, the former International Boxing Federation junior middleweight champion can sit back and marvel at how far he has come. It could not have been a smooth road, of course.
Ouma returned to Uganda last week, after spending over 10 years in the US, where he is a professional boxer.
For a boy who grew up in severe poverty, only to sink further into a pit of desperation by forcing him into the National Resistance Army at the age of six, it took a strong will and determination for him to rise up against all odds.
It must have been tough for him in the army. That is probably why it was hard to get him to talk about his experience as a child soldier.
He preferred that his elder sister Christine Makhoha talked to us about it, while he sat back basking in the joy of homecoming.
“Talking about such things traumatises him,†Makhoha says of her younger brother.
“He was only a six-year-old pupil in Primary Three at Magamaga Army School in Eastern Uganda when he was forced into the army. Can you imagine how painful it might have been for the boy to spend five years without seeing his parents thereafter?†she asks.
This is when his woes began. But who knew fate would finally turn things around and make him a celebrity?
According to Makhoha, Ouma had a traumatic time as a child soldier but he just had to learn how to play by the rules rather than continuously condemning himself to self pity.
Just to cheer himself up, Ouma joined boxing in 1994 under the Bantam Weight. “I was no dreamer, so boxing wasn’t my dream at all. In fact I didn’t have a childhood dream,†he says when asked whether he had considered boxing as a career.
But the young boxer started exhibiting tremendous progress, which eventually saw him to championship in the National Open of the Uganda Amateur Boxing Federation.
The sport, that he took up leisurely, was to become his future career.
When he went on a trip to the US, with the Ugandan national amateur boxing federation team, Ouma chose not to return.
He had started dreaming of becoming a professional boxer. And true to his dream, he took on boxing as a career to support his family back home.
And much as he had issues to sort out in connection with deserting the army, nothing could stand between him and his dream – no wonder he eventually picked up The Dream for his alias.
“I knew I would have to concede a million punches and get bruises, but it would be for my family,†he says.
Since he started boxing in 1994, the 28-year-old boxer has ‘secured’ a professional record of 62 wins and three losses in one of which he lost the World Junior Middleweight International Boxing Federation title.
He has, however, defeated big boxing shots as Jason Papillion, Juan Carlos Candelo and Verno Phillips.
And much as he will not reveal his worth, he says he is still active in the Light Middleweight division and is dreaming bigger.
With such enormous success, Ouma’s income has grown, enabling him to fulfil what he promised to do 10 years ago – look after his family.
And his return to Uganda recently brought with it good news –– that he is now able to give his family financial stability.
Although Ouma is said to be quick to temper, he is a jolly and generous man who has a genuine love for people. Makhoha describes him as ‘a nice boy’
“Can you imagine he is looking after 50 people, paying tuition fees here and running people’s homes there?†Makhoha asks.
This explains why Ouma does not have many extraordinary assets.
“His most expensive asset is his residential house in Florida, Makhoha says.
Born on December 12, 1978 in Busia, eastern Uganda, Ouma is the seventh of 13 children, who include eight boys and five girls. Only four of his brothers are still alive. All the four boys are Muslim but their parents are Christians.
Ouma says it is by choice that they belong to different religions. “All of us are one. We love each other. See, I stay with my mother Rose Nakagwa at home in Florida,†he says.
Ouma’s father John Oundo Wandera was found dead at Magamaga Trading Centre during the bush war in the 1980s.
Like most sportsmen, Ouma is mobile. It is hard to keep the guy in one place for an interview.
Ouma loves his grin. He could not hide his excitement on seeing the frenzied crowd that turned up to welcome him back on his return recently.
The return comes after a successful plea by his American fiancée to the government for clemency towards Ouma over his earlier desertion of the army.
Cassie Jamison, the mother of his son Rahim Oundo, was in Uganda in September last year to plead for Ouma to be pardoned by the UPDF.
He gave a special thanksgiving message to President Yoweri Museveni for allowing him to return home. “I love Uganda and all Ugandans,†he said.
Jumpy, cheeky and occasionally childish, the baby-faced boxer, who walks with a swagger while throwing punches in the air, has a penchant for women. “I have no case to answer.
I am a Muslim, so I can have more than one wife,†he says.
Before leaving for the US, Ouma had impregnated his girlfriend, who later gave birth to a baby boy, Umar Ojambo, who is now about nine years old and staying with him in Florida.
However Ouma does not know the whereabouts of his son’s mother.
And just recently, his luck propelled him to one of the most sought-after ladies in town – songbird Juliana Kanyomozi. He confessed during a press conference at Centenary Park on April 28 that he is so in love with her.
Asked what he likes about her, he said, “She is beautiful, lovely and above all, a star like me.â€
So what more would Ouma cry for? Like renown international writer Jane Austen said, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a young man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
So do we see Ouma walk Juliana down the aisle one time? “Just watch this space,†he says. “I am still studying her,†he adds.
To Ouma, fate cannot have been unfair to him. Now that he knows he can come back home any time he feels like, life only gets better.
IT was all a manifestation of fate; the trying times Kassim “The Dream†Ouma went through to make it to international stardom today.
Now with a colossal harvest from his sweat, the former International Boxing Federation junior middleweight champion can sit back and marvel at how far he has come. It could not have been a smooth road, of course.
Ouma returned to Uganda last week, after spending over 10 years in the US, where he is a professional boxer.
For a boy who grew up in severe poverty, only to sink further into a pit of desperation by forcing him into the National Resistance Army at the age of six, it took a strong will and determination for him to rise up against all odds.
It must have been tough for him in the army. That is probably why it was hard to get him to talk about his experience as a child soldier.
He preferred that his elder sister Christine Makhoha talked to us about it, while he sat back basking in the joy of homecoming.
“Talking about such things traumatises him,†Makhoha says of her younger brother.
“He was only a six-year-old pupil in Primary Three at Magamaga Army School in Eastern Uganda when he was forced into the army. Can you imagine how painful it might have been for the boy to spend five years without seeing his parents thereafter?†she asks.
This is when his woes began. But who knew fate would finally turn things around and make him a celebrity?
According to Makhoha, Ouma had a traumatic time as a child soldier but he just had to learn how to play by the rules rather than continuously condemning himself to self pity.
Just to cheer himself up, Ouma joined boxing in 1994 under the Bantam Weight. “I was no dreamer, so boxing wasn’t my dream at all. In fact I didn’t have a childhood dream,†he says when asked whether he had considered boxing as a career.
But the young boxer started exhibiting tremendous progress, which eventually saw him to championship in the National Open of the Uganda Amateur Boxing Federation.
The sport, that he took up leisurely, was to become his future career.
When he went on a trip to the US, with the Ugandan national amateur boxing federation team, Ouma chose not to return.
He had started dreaming of becoming a professional boxer. And true to his dream, he took on boxing as a career to support his family back home.
And much as he had issues to sort out in connection with deserting the army, nothing could stand between him and his dream – no wonder he eventually picked up The Dream for his alias.
“I knew I would have to concede a million punches and get bruises, but it would be for my family,†he says.
Since he started boxing in 1994, the 28-year-old boxer has ‘secured’ a professional record of 62 wins and three losses in one of which he lost the World Junior Middleweight International Boxing Federation title.
He has, however, defeated big boxing shots as Jason Papillion, Juan Carlos Candelo and Verno Phillips.
And much as he will not reveal his worth, he says he is still active in the Light Middleweight division and is dreaming bigger.
With such enormous success, Ouma’s income has grown, enabling him to fulfil what he promised to do 10 years ago – look after his family.
And his return to Uganda recently brought with it good news –– that he is now able to give his family financial stability.
Although Ouma is said to be quick to temper, he is a jolly and generous man who has a genuine love for people. Makhoha describes him as ‘a nice boy’
“Can you imagine he is looking after 50 people, paying tuition fees here and running people’s homes there?†Makhoha asks.
This explains why Ouma does not have many extraordinary assets.
“His most expensive asset is his residential house in Florida, Makhoha says.
Born on December 12, 1978 in Busia, eastern Uganda, Ouma is the seventh of 13 children, who include eight boys and five girls. Only four of his brothers are still alive. All the four boys are Muslim but their parents are Christians.
Ouma says it is by choice that they belong to different religions. “All of us are one. We love each other. See, I stay with my mother Rose Nakagwa at home in Florida,†he says.
Ouma’s father John Oundo Wandera was found dead at Magamaga Trading Centre during the bush war in the 1980s.
Like most sportsmen, Ouma is mobile. It is hard to keep the guy in one place for an interview.
Ouma loves his grin. He could not hide his excitement on seeing the frenzied crowd that turned up to welcome him back on his return recently.
The return comes after a successful plea by his American fiancée to the government for clemency towards Ouma over his earlier desertion of the army.
Cassie Jamison, the mother of his son Rahim Oundo, was in Uganda in September last year to plead for Ouma to be pardoned by the UPDF.
He gave a special thanksgiving message to President Yoweri Museveni for allowing him to return home. “I love Uganda and all Ugandans,†he said.
Jumpy, cheeky and occasionally childish, the baby-faced boxer, who walks with a swagger while throwing punches in the air, has a penchant for women. “I have no case to answer.
I am a Muslim, so I can have more than one wife,†he says.
Before leaving for the US, Ouma had impregnated his girlfriend, who later gave birth to a baby boy, Umar Ojambo, who is now about nine years old and staying with him in Florida.
However Ouma does not know the whereabouts of his son’s mother.
And just recently, his luck propelled him to one of the most sought-after ladies in town – songbird Juliana Kanyomozi. He confessed during a press conference at Centenary Park on April 28 that he is so in love with her.
Asked what he likes about her, he said, “She is beautiful, lovely and above all, a star like me.â€
So what more would Ouma cry for? Like renown international writer Jane Austen said, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a young man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
So do we see Ouma walk Juliana down the aisle one time? “Just watch this space,†he says. “I am still studying her,†he adds.
To Ouma, fate cannot have been unfair to him. Now that he knows he can come back home any time he feels like, life only gets better.