My first job: Andrew Benon Kibuuka
Oct 17, 2009
MY first job was working as crafts assistant in the Uganda Prison’s factory during my senior four vacation in 1978. I was earning sh6oo per week. Two years later, I joined the theatre industry with the Kampala Theatre Dramactors.
Presenter, Radio Simba
What was your first job? Where and when was it? How much did you earn then?
My first job was working as crafts assistant in the Uganda Prison’s factory during my senior four vacation in 1978. I was earning sh6oo per week. Two years later, I joined the theatre industry with the Kampala Theatre Dramactors.
What is the most enduring memory of your first job?
The most enduring memory of my very first job came when I gave my weekly salary to my guardian uncle to keep it and used it to buy family essentials against my will.
Another enduring memory came at the height of the bush war in 1985. We had staged an exciting play and it was a full-house. As the play was climaxing, the earlier audience was reducing and we saw new faces entering. We had no idea that they were NRA rebels until later when the play ended.
What did you learn from it that makes you a better boss?
I realised that to be the best in acting you have to give out all your best. Much as I was young in 1982, I took on the mantle of leadership when our founder left the country for self-exile and left a leadership vacuum. This shaped my life because I had to be disciplined in order to lead effectively by example. I learnt to be very creative to fit situations.
Did the first job change your career path or perspective of life?
Yes it did. I began acting as a vocational occupation, but it turned out to be my life-time job. To me, I feel I am married to acting. Besides my family, acting is my other love. In acting I have learnt to give things that add value first priority. I can’t attend a social event when I have to act. I have also learnt to balance my role as a family man and an actor.
CAREER PROFILE
Kampala Theatre Dramactors, actor (1981-1982)
Went to America to pursue a diploma in play writing and directing (1988/89)
Bakayimbira Theatricals director and president of the Federation of Performing Artistes in Uganda (1982 to date)
What was your first job? Where and when was it? How much did you earn then?
My first job was working as crafts assistant in the Uganda Prison’s factory during my senior four vacation in 1978. I was earning sh6oo per week. Two years later, I joined the theatre industry with the Kampala Theatre Dramactors.
What is the most enduring memory of your first job?
The most enduring memory of my very first job came when I gave my weekly salary to my guardian uncle to keep it and used it to buy family essentials against my will.
Another enduring memory came at the height of the bush war in 1985. We had staged an exciting play and it was a full-house. As the play was climaxing, the earlier audience was reducing and we saw new faces entering. We had no idea that they were NRA rebels until later when the play ended.
What did you learn from it that makes you a better boss?
I realised that to be the best in acting you have to give out all your best. Much as I was young in 1982, I took on the mantle of leadership when our founder left the country for self-exile and left a leadership vacuum. This shaped my life because I had to be disciplined in order to lead effectively by example. I learnt to be very creative to fit situations.
Did the first job change your career path or perspective of life?
Yes it did. I began acting as a vocational occupation, but it turned out to be my life-time job. To me, I feel I am married to acting. Besides my family, acting is my other love. In acting I have learnt to give things that add value first priority. I can’t attend a social event when I have to act. I have also learnt to balance my role as a family man and an actor.
CAREER PROFILE