Kibirige who dropped out of school in P.5 feeds over 100 people daily

Apr 01, 2007

DURING the party season, everyone looks for the best catering services. Sula ‘Pilawo’ Kibirige’s name is one of the several alternatives fronted at most preparatory meetings around Kampala.

By Anthony Bugembe

DURING the party season, everyone looks for the best catering services. Sula ‘Pilawo’ Kibirige’s name is one of the several alternatives fronted at most preparatory meetings around Kampala.

Although there is no signpost leading to Kibirige’s Excel Catering Services at Nakivubo Green, you cannot fail to find him. Mentioning the name Sula Pilawo around Kampala’s old taxi park or shops will soon get you the directions.

Born in 1958 to Sendi Hasilagi (RIP) and Sauda Namubiru of Mataaba village in Kayunga district, Kibirige is the third in a pecking order of two girls and four boys.

Kibirige dropped out of school in Primary Five after the death of his father in 1976. By then, he was pursuing studies in Islam and English language.

“I started living with my elder cousin Hajji Muhammad Takuba in Kawempe. In 1979 when my sister was getting married, I was asked to help the cooks. In just one day, I had learnt how to prepare pilawo (rice),” says Kibirige.

In 1980, Kibirige’s elder siblings started Sanyu, a factory for Vaseline, washing soap and insecticides. They took him on as an agent. “I was earning some good money, but unfortunately, the factory wound up,” he says with an air of resignation.

It was then that Kibirige started vending jackfruit. “I used to carry it around on my head three times a day,” he says. Out of the proceeds from the jackfruit business, Kibirige constructed a small two-room house.

In 1981 he was taken on as a pilawo chef by Tourist Hotel, which by then was under Indian management. Although the hotel management was treating him well, Kibirige felt that the remuneration was not proportional to his efforts.

He started thinking of better alternatives. “One day as I was moving around Kiyembe lane, I met some food vendors. They impressed me so much that I decided to set up my own food vending business. I started with only two kilogrammes of rice,” he recalls.

In 1984, Kibirige left Kiyembe for the old taxi park. “I was stationed under the mango tree (where Babirye Towers is located). I used to feed about 100 people a day on pilawo.

“When the Babiryes bought the place in 1986, I shifted to William Street and that was when people started hiring me for functions. By then I only owned plastic plates and metallic trays. I was also employing only 15 people.” With time Kibirige’s business expanded.

In 1989, he moved to his current base at Nakivubo Green, opposite Cooper Complex. Today Kibirige employs 100 people and feeds close to 200 people around town daily. “Some come from as far as Garden City and the Electoral Commission,” he says.

“It is these people who recommend me to their colleagues. During functions, I have the capacity to feed up to 10,000 people.” Kibirige’s prices range from sh3,500 to sh5,000 per plate depending on the location and nature of function.

Some of the memorable functions at which he has been hired to provide catering services included Zimula Mugwanya’s funeral, Omega Healing Centre’s mass wedding and Mutaasa Kafeero’s introduction ceremony.

Most of Kibirige’s employees are S4 and S6 leavers with no prior catering knowledge. He takes them on after six months intensive training. Kibirige is a workaholic. “I have no free time.

From Monday to Friday, I feed Kampala’s working folk while on weekends I am in different parts of the country attending functions,” he says. “When I am not in the field, I am attending preparatory meetings for functions.”

He has instilled this spirit into some members of his family. Sarah Nanono, his wife, is a director at Excel Catering Services while his son, Abdul Twaha Kasule, is the chief chef.

Kibirige has 12 children. From the catering business, he has managed to put up a house and pay the school fees of his children.

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