RETIRED BUT NOT TIRED â€" kololo sports master still active at 70
MY first glimpse of Alex Hamala was in July 2005. I was at Kololo Senior Secondary School in Kampala to cover a students’ debate during a mock referendum on political parties. The exercise was organised by The New Vision to gauge the political views of students from selected schools countrywide ah
By Denis Ocwich
MY first glimpse of Alex Hamala was in July 2005. I was at Kololo Senior Secondary School in Kampala to cover a students’ debate during a mock referendum on political parties. The exercise was organised by The New Vision to gauge the political views of students from selected schools countrywide ahead of the July 28, 2005 referendum on multiparty politics.
On the stairs to the headmistress’ office, I met an elderly man who looked more of a grandpa dropping by to check on his grandkid at school. But I was surprised to learn that the grey-haired senior citizen was not only the longest-serving teacher at the school, but also the games master for decades.
Three years later, Hamala has clocked 43 years of service at Kololo, and is still going strong. “I feel as if I just started teaching at Kololo yesterday,†he told me in a laughter-filled interview recently.
At 70, Hamala has put to practice the English idiom that “a rolling stone gathers no moss.†To work in one place for over 40 years is ‘bravery’ enough, but to be a secondary school games master when you are this old is not far from heroism.
Since 1965 when he joined the school on transfer from Nyakasura School in Fort Portal, Hamala has gathered lots of moss at the hillside school located on Lugogo by-pass. In fact, some of the people acquainted with him have now branded him “the dictionary of Kololo.â€
“I don’t think there is any games master in Uganda who has served as many years as I have in the same position,†he says, with the aura and smile of a man contented with a job well-done. For the four decades that he has been at the helm of games and sports at Kololo, the school has become one of the sporting giants in the country. Whether it is to do with football, hockey, cricket or any other competitions, the school has been the national champs at some point under Hamala’s tutelage.
“Kololo is the only school which has won the Coca-Cola national (post-primary) football trophy for keeps. We won it for three consecutive times in 1986, 1987 and 1988,†he narrates. When a school wins the trophy three times in a row, it keeps it for good.
Besides excelling in football, Kololo SS are the current national champs in hockey and cricket, whose trophies they have also won for keeps. Because of its national heroics, the school has often been selected for international tournaments, but financial hardships have barred their teams from participating on some occasions.
“If you come to the headmistress’s office, you will be amazed by the number of trophies we have won,†Hamala narrates. “We are thinking of putting the trophies in a cabinet in the waiting room because not everyone can see them in her office.â€
When Hamala joined Kololo SS in 1965, he neither thought he would spend this long at the school, nor did he know how much sporting glory he would bring to the school. But one thing he was sure of was his love for sports. As a student, he partook in a number of sports including football, hockey, athletics and boxing. “I participated in boxing up to the national level,†he says. In the late 1950s as a student at Elgon Technical School in Mbale, he lost a “ring fight†to his course-mate and housemate, Malia Mungu who went on to become a sports minister under Idi Amin in the 1970s.
“In 1965, Kololo SS was an Asian school and most teachers were English or Asian. I was the second black teacher to join the school. The first was Victor Obyelo who was also a TD teacher,†says Hamala.
He retired from government payroll in the late 1990s but the management of Kololo SS decided to retain him on contract, thanks to his talents. These days his duty is only games tutoring and coaching. But he is planning to hang his boots as soon as he finds someone to carry on his mantle and keep Kololo SS on Uganda’s sporting map. He is already grooming someone to replace him.
His appeal goes out to the old boys and girls of the school to support it financially, morally and materially. He is happy that two former students, Kennedy Mutenyo (Coca-Cola promotions manager) and Maureen Wavamunno (the executive director of Spear Group) have been giving logistical and other support to the school’s games teams. The two are on the school’s board of governors.
Hamala attributes his long stay at Kololo to the good reception he was accorded when he joined the school, and the administration’s continued support for sports. “I was happy at Kololo, and I am still happy there. The school is now part of me,†quips the father of 12, the youngest (a girl) now a second-year student of computing at Makerere University Business School. The eldest son, Ronald Wafula, is a Makerere University graduate of agriculture and used to work with BAT in West Nile before retiring to private business.
“I almost broke my mother’s record of producing 14 children,†he jokes, breaking into laughter. His mom gave birth to 14 of them, although only four are still alive. His wife, Rose – one of those who motivated him in sports – passed away in 1996.
“I feel proud of my contribution to Kololo’s sporting achievements. In most of the national and club sports teams – whether it is hockey, football, cricket or boxing – you will find a ‘Kololoan’ who has passed through my hands,†boasts Hamala. He started off his sporting career as a do-it-yourself sportsman as a teenager, but is now a professional sports tutor.
Among his mentors and friends, he singles out ex-minister Bidandi Ssali for contributing to grooming Kololo’s young sporting talents, especially in football. Before he joined politics, Bidandi was a soccer tactician at Kampala City Council (KCC). Hamala recalls: “We used to coordinate with him and he would get players for KCC from me. They (KCC players) also used to train on our school pitch.â€
Although he is very old, Hamala believes that being a sports coach has kept him physically fit. “When I retire I will be a very happy person if Kololo keeps shining in sports. I shall be there as a consultant,†he pledges.
About Hamala
Hamala was born in 1938 to Zepaniya Fuho and Ludiya Nambudye of Mawanga village, Samia Bugwe county in Busia district.
He attended Busia and Busikho primary schools in the late 1940s and early 1950s before joining Nabumali High School in Mbale.
He obtained certificates in motor vehicle mechanics from both Elgon Technical School (1957-59) and Uganda Polytechnic, Kyambogo (1960-61). He was one of the pioneer trainees of technical education in Uganda.
His first posting as a teacher was to Nyakasura School in 1963, about a year after Uganda got independence from Britain. Shortly after, he won a scholarship for further training in Yugoslavia, where he obtained a diploma in technical education. On his return from Yugoslavia, he was posted to Kololo SS, where he became a teacher of Technical Drawing and science subjects.
MY first glimpse of Alex Hamala was in July 2005. I was at Kololo Senior Secondary School in Kampala to cover a students’ debate during a mock referendum on political parties. The exercise was organised by The New Vision to gauge the political views of students from selected schools countrywide ahead of the July 28, 2005 referendum on multiparty politics.
On the stairs to the headmistress’ office, I met an elderly man who looked more of a grandpa dropping by to check on his grandkid at school. But I was surprised to learn that the grey-haired senior citizen was not only the longest-serving teacher at the school, but also the games master for decades.
Three years later, Hamala has clocked 43 years of service at Kololo, and is still going strong. “I feel as if I just started teaching at Kololo yesterday,†he told me in a laughter-filled interview recently.
At 70, Hamala has put to practice the English idiom that “a rolling stone gathers no moss.†To work in one place for over 40 years is ‘bravery’ enough, but to be a secondary school games master when you are this old is not far from heroism.
Since 1965 when he joined the school on transfer from Nyakasura School in Fort Portal, Hamala has gathered lots of moss at the hillside school located on Lugogo by-pass. In fact, some of the people acquainted with him have now branded him “the dictionary of Kololo.â€
“I don’t think there is any games master in Uganda who has served as many years as I have in the same position,†he says, with the aura and smile of a man contented with a job well-done. For the four decades that he has been at the helm of games and sports at Kololo, the school has become one of the sporting giants in the country. Whether it is to do with football, hockey, cricket or any other competitions, the school has been the national champs at some point under Hamala’s tutelage.
“Kololo is the only school which has won the Coca-Cola national (post-primary) football trophy for keeps. We won it for three consecutive times in 1986, 1987 and 1988,†he narrates. When a school wins the trophy three times in a row, it keeps it for good.
Besides excelling in football, Kololo SS are the current national champs in hockey and cricket, whose trophies they have also won for keeps. Because of its national heroics, the school has often been selected for international tournaments, but financial hardships have barred their teams from participating on some occasions.
“If you come to the headmistress’s office, you will be amazed by the number of trophies we have won,†Hamala narrates. “We are thinking of putting the trophies in a cabinet in the waiting room because not everyone can see them in her office.â€
When Hamala joined Kololo SS in 1965, he neither thought he would spend this long at the school, nor did he know how much sporting glory he would bring to the school. But one thing he was sure of was his love for sports. As a student, he partook in a number of sports including football, hockey, athletics and boxing. “I participated in boxing up to the national level,†he says. In the late 1950s as a student at Elgon Technical School in Mbale, he lost a “ring fight†to his course-mate and housemate, Malia Mungu who went on to become a sports minister under Idi Amin in the 1970s.
“In 1965, Kololo SS was an Asian school and most teachers were English or Asian. I was the second black teacher to join the school. The first was Victor Obyelo who was also a TD teacher,†says Hamala.
He retired from government payroll in the late 1990s but the management of Kololo SS decided to retain him on contract, thanks to his talents. These days his duty is only games tutoring and coaching. But he is planning to hang his boots as soon as he finds someone to carry on his mantle and keep Kololo SS on Uganda’s sporting map. He is already grooming someone to replace him.
His appeal goes out to the old boys and girls of the school to support it financially, morally and materially. He is happy that two former students, Kennedy Mutenyo (Coca-Cola promotions manager) and Maureen Wavamunno (the executive director of Spear Group) have been giving logistical and other support to the school’s games teams. The two are on the school’s board of governors.
Hamala attributes his long stay at Kololo to the good reception he was accorded when he joined the school, and the administration’s continued support for sports. “I was happy at Kololo, and I am still happy there. The school is now part of me,†quips the father of 12, the youngest (a girl) now a second-year student of computing at Makerere University Business School. The eldest son, Ronald Wafula, is a Makerere University graduate of agriculture and used to work with BAT in West Nile before retiring to private business.
“I almost broke my mother’s record of producing 14 children,†he jokes, breaking into laughter. His mom gave birth to 14 of them, although only four are still alive. His wife, Rose – one of those who motivated him in sports – passed away in 1996.
“I feel proud of my contribution to Kololo’s sporting achievements. In most of the national and club sports teams – whether it is hockey, football, cricket or boxing – you will find a ‘Kololoan’ who has passed through my hands,†boasts Hamala. He started off his sporting career as a do-it-yourself sportsman as a teenager, but is now a professional sports tutor.
Among his mentors and friends, he singles out ex-minister Bidandi Ssali for contributing to grooming Kololo’s young sporting talents, especially in football. Before he joined politics, Bidandi was a soccer tactician at Kampala City Council (KCC). Hamala recalls: “We used to coordinate with him and he would get players for KCC from me. They (KCC players) also used to train on our school pitch.â€
Although he is very old, Hamala believes that being a sports coach has kept him physically fit. “When I retire I will be a very happy person if Kololo keeps shining in sports. I shall be there as a consultant,†he pledges.
About Hamala
Hamala was born in 1938 to Zepaniya Fuho and Ludiya Nambudye of Mawanga village, Samia Bugwe county in Busia district.
He attended Busia and Busikho primary schools in the late 1940s and early 1950s before joining Nabumali High School in Mbale.
He obtained certificates in motor vehicle mechanics from both Elgon Technical School (1957-59) and Uganda Polytechnic, Kyambogo (1960-61). He was one of the pioneer trainees of technical education in Uganda.
His first posting as a teacher was to Nyakasura School in 1963, about a year after Uganda got independence from Britain. Shortly after, he won a scholarship for further training in Yugoslavia, where he obtained a diploma in technical education. On his return from Yugoslavia, he was posted to Kololo SS, where he became a teacher of Technical Drawing and science subjects.