YMCA-Uganda started in response to a letter I wrote
Nov 18, 2009
AT 77, he still does everything with zeal. If it were not for his gray hair, he could pass for a 40-year-old.
By Chris Kiwawulo
AT 77, he still does everything with zeal. If it were not for his gray hair, he could pass for a 40-year-old.
John Wasswa Kaddu is attached to several developmental and historical activities. He formed the Youth Groups’ Club (YGC), an association he says was the first youth movement in Uganda. Through YGC, important government officials, including Kabaka Frederick Muteesa II got to know him. As a leader of the only youth association in the country then, Kaddu would be invited to many high-profile functions.
Among those he attended was the visit of the then Rwandese King Umwami Ridahigwa Kigeri to Uganda in 1957 and the banquet organised at Government House Entebbe (now State House) for the visiting Queen Elizabeth of England (mother to the current Queen) on February 21, 1959. It was during the party for Kigeri organised by Muteesa II at Uganda Club in Nakasero that Kaddu seized the opportunity to capture the Kabaka’s attention.
In the middle of the celebrations, Kaddu says he spotted the Kabaka in a relaxed mood talking to his guests at the open space of Uganda Club. Like a cunning thief, Kaddu remembers moving slowly towards the Kabaka and when he was only a few metres near him, he grabbed Kabaka Muteesa II’s leg and clung onto it.
“All I wanted was his attention. His security detail swung into action to bundle me up and throw me out, but he restrained them and asked me to present my case,†he narrates.
Kaddu says he was able to win the Kabaka’s attention when he shouted: “Ssebo Ssabasajja, ngezezaako okusisinkana emirundi mingi naye abakungubo banemesezza.†(Your Highness, I have made several attempts to meet you but your officials have failed me).
Kaddu told Muteesa II how he had for two years tried in vain to have a meeting with him through the then Katikiro (prime minister) Michael Kintu (RIP). He told the Kabaka how his association was widely entrenched in the communities and prominent schools like Budo, Namilyango, Gayaza and others countrywide. He says the Kabaka got convinced and ordered his private secretary, George William Kabugo, to arrange a meeting with him. In a few days, Kaddu says he met the Kabaka together with 36 members of his association.
“During the meeting attended by the Kabaka’s adviser, Prince Badru Kakungulu (RIP), I asked for a piece of land in Katwe for construction of a youth centre. Without hesitation, the Kabaka gave it to me and asked me to survey it. I had already done research about the one-acre piece of land and within no time, I had produced a survey done by a company called Mabira and Knudsen Surveyors, then based in Mengo,†he remembers.
Kaddu says Kakungulu objected to the Kabaka’s decision on grounds that it needed the consent of the Lukiiko (Buganda parliament). But the Kabaka overruled him. Consequently, on February 16, 1960, in a letter signed by Kabaka Muteesa’s secretary, Kaddu was given the land near the rear gate to Bulange called Kalaala.
But before he could process the title deed and put up the youth centre and two tennis courts, Kaddu won a British Council scholarship to study social work at Westhill College, Birmingham, UK, in 1961.
“It was within this period that Kakungulu and Katikiro Kintu gave my land to the youth from Namirembe. At the time the youth were synonymous with Sunday school, which is why the Katikiro had earlier blocked my meeting with the Kabaka thinking I was a Sunday school leader,†he says. Currently, the land is occupied by the Church of Uganda, Kibuye.
Then in his late 20s, Kaddu was an enterprising young man. He would write to a number of addresses that he used to come across seeking support for YGC, among which was Young Men Christian Association (YMCA). Copies of his correspondences with the then secretary for YMCA UK, Daniel Tyler, are bound in his records file. Kaddu says in response to his letter, an official called Marine Bishop, who had been operating in Ethiopia, visited Uganda.
“It is Bishop who helped start YMCA Uganda.â€
Kaddu says he attempted to ask Bishop to integrate YMCA into his association, YGC, but his attempts were futile.
“Bishop told me there was no way I could merge YMCA, an international youth association, into my small YGC,†Kaddu narrates.
But as paperwork for YMCA Uganda was underway, Kaddu left for his social work course in the UK.
“Midway into my course, the YMCA leadership called me for a degree in North America and I had to come back to Kampala first. I abandoned my diploma course in the UK. But on reaching Kampala to pick my papers, I was informed that my scholarship had been cancelled because I was a Catholic. I felt so bad that I contemplated suicide. I hated social work for a long time,†he narrates. He went into the private sector.
It was until the death of his mother in 1984 that Kaddu found a reason to revive his in-born love for social work. When he found no food in Mayirikiti where he was to hold his mother’s last funeral rites, he started mobilising people into better farming practices.
“When I came to the village from Jinja, I found no matooke. There were only sweet bananas locally known as kayinja, which people had comfortably substituted for matooke. I told them that this was a parasitic plant that had killed matooke. So, we had to restart planting matooke,†he observes.
Besides founding YGC, Kaddu formed many other organisations including Turn-to-tea, an NGO that fights the spread of HIV through discouraging alcohol consumption during parties. Kaddu is also the director of Homeneeds services, a cleaning and odd jobs’ service company based in Jinja town. He formed this company after quitting a clerkship job in 1972.
Kaddu’s only shortcoming is that he gives up so easily in life. He has formed several other organisations which he claims have been taken over by other people.
“I do all the paper work but some people come and take up my ideas. I do not fight with people. That is possibly my biggest weakness,†he admits.
He cites the Joint Energy and Environment Project (JEEP) that initially had its activities in Mayirikiti but was hijacked by other people. He also boasts of the Global 500 environment award between 1987 and 1992 that he won under the auspices of this project. The other Ugandan who has won this award is former Lubaga South MP Ken Lukyamuzi.
As I speak now the project is being handled by other people whom I started it with,†he says. He also names several primary schools and orphanages in Jinja and Mukono that he claims to have founded but were hijacked by other people.
Born an only child on June 5, 1933, Kaddu grew up with an uncle in Mayirikiti who raised him in a staunch Catholic family setting. His mother Matilda Boolamubiri and father Maurice Kaddu-Musindye of Mayirikiti, Nkokonjeru, both passed on.
Kaddu had four wives and 18 children. However, 11 of his children have since died, 10 of them to HIV/AIDS.
Kaddu went to St. Peter Clever Primary School Namilyango and St. Paul ’s Primary School in Nkokonjeru. He then joined St. Peter’s Senior Secondary School where he completed Junior Two (now S.2) in 1951. He dropped out of school due to lack of fees and worked at Entebbe Botanical Gardens as an apprentice in horticulture.
He also worked for the Standard Bank of South Africa (Uganda branch) as a clerk. He worked for ESSO petroleum company (now Gapco) as a depot clerk in Jinja town in 1963.
Kaddu’s relentless work is recognised on Page 1125 in the sixth edition of US celebrities’ book Who’s Who in the World. He has written eight books in Luganda and English though only one is due for publication — the rest are still in manuscript form.
AT 77, he still does everything with zeal. If it were not for his gray hair, he could pass for a 40-year-old.
John Wasswa Kaddu is attached to several developmental and historical activities. He formed the Youth Groups’ Club (YGC), an association he says was the first youth movement in Uganda. Through YGC, important government officials, including Kabaka Frederick Muteesa II got to know him. As a leader of the only youth association in the country then, Kaddu would be invited to many high-profile functions.
Among those he attended was the visit of the then Rwandese King Umwami Ridahigwa Kigeri to Uganda in 1957 and the banquet organised at Government House Entebbe (now State House) for the visiting Queen Elizabeth of England (mother to the current Queen) on February 21, 1959. It was during the party for Kigeri organised by Muteesa II at Uganda Club in Nakasero that Kaddu seized the opportunity to capture the Kabaka’s attention.
In the middle of the celebrations, Kaddu says he spotted the Kabaka in a relaxed mood talking to his guests at the open space of Uganda Club. Like a cunning thief, Kaddu remembers moving slowly towards the Kabaka and when he was only a few metres near him, he grabbed Kabaka Muteesa II’s leg and clung onto it.
“All I wanted was his attention. His security detail swung into action to bundle me up and throw me out, but he restrained them and asked me to present my case,†he narrates.
Kaddu says he was able to win the Kabaka’s attention when he shouted: “Ssebo Ssabasajja, ngezezaako okusisinkana emirundi mingi naye abakungubo banemesezza.†(Your Highness, I have made several attempts to meet you but your officials have failed me).
Kaddu told Muteesa II how he had for two years tried in vain to have a meeting with him through the then Katikiro (prime minister) Michael Kintu (RIP). He told the Kabaka how his association was widely entrenched in the communities and prominent schools like Budo, Namilyango, Gayaza and others countrywide. He says the Kabaka got convinced and ordered his private secretary, George William Kabugo, to arrange a meeting with him. In a few days, Kaddu says he met the Kabaka together with 36 members of his association.
“During the meeting attended by the Kabaka’s adviser, Prince Badru Kakungulu (RIP), I asked for a piece of land in Katwe for construction of a youth centre. Without hesitation, the Kabaka gave it to me and asked me to survey it. I had already done research about the one-acre piece of land and within no time, I had produced a survey done by a company called Mabira and Knudsen Surveyors, then based in Mengo,†he remembers.
Kaddu says Kakungulu objected to the Kabaka’s decision on grounds that it needed the consent of the Lukiiko (Buganda parliament). But the Kabaka overruled him. Consequently, on February 16, 1960, in a letter signed by Kabaka Muteesa’s secretary, Kaddu was given the land near the rear gate to Bulange called Kalaala.
But before he could process the title deed and put up the youth centre and two tennis courts, Kaddu won a British Council scholarship to study social work at Westhill College, Birmingham, UK, in 1961.
“It was within this period that Kakungulu and Katikiro Kintu gave my land to the youth from Namirembe. At the time the youth were synonymous with Sunday school, which is why the Katikiro had earlier blocked my meeting with the Kabaka thinking I was a Sunday school leader,†he says. Currently, the land is occupied by the Church of Uganda, Kibuye.
Then in his late 20s, Kaddu was an enterprising young man. He would write to a number of addresses that he used to come across seeking support for YGC, among which was Young Men Christian Association (YMCA). Copies of his correspondences with the then secretary for YMCA UK, Daniel Tyler, are bound in his records file. Kaddu says in response to his letter, an official called Marine Bishop, who had been operating in Ethiopia, visited Uganda.
“It is Bishop who helped start YMCA Uganda.â€
Kaddu says he attempted to ask Bishop to integrate YMCA into his association, YGC, but his attempts were futile.
“Bishop told me there was no way I could merge YMCA, an international youth association, into my small YGC,†Kaddu narrates.
But as paperwork for YMCA Uganda was underway, Kaddu left for his social work course in the UK.
“Midway into my course, the YMCA leadership called me for a degree in North America and I had to come back to Kampala first. I abandoned my diploma course in the UK. But on reaching Kampala to pick my papers, I was informed that my scholarship had been cancelled because I was a Catholic. I felt so bad that I contemplated suicide. I hated social work for a long time,†he narrates. He went into the private sector.
It was until the death of his mother in 1984 that Kaddu found a reason to revive his in-born love for social work. When he found no food in Mayirikiti where he was to hold his mother’s last funeral rites, he started mobilising people into better farming practices.
“When I came to the village from Jinja, I found no matooke. There were only sweet bananas locally known as kayinja, which people had comfortably substituted for matooke. I told them that this was a parasitic plant that had killed matooke. So, we had to restart planting matooke,†he observes.
Besides founding YGC, Kaddu formed many other organisations including Turn-to-tea, an NGO that fights the spread of HIV through discouraging alcohol consumption during parties. Kaddu is also the director of Homeneeds services, a cleaning and odd jobs’ service company based in Jinja town. He formed this company after quitting a clerkship job in 1972.
Kaddu’s only shortcoming is that he gives up so easily in life. He has formed several other organisations which he claims have been taken over by other people.
“I do all the paper work but some people come and take up my ideas. I do not fight with people. That is possibly my biggest weakness,†he admits.
He cites the Joint Energy and Environment Project (JEEP) that initially had its activities in Mayirikiti but was hijacked by other people. He also boasts of the Global 500 environment award between 1987 and 1992 that he won under the auspices of this project. The other Ugandan who has won this award is former Lubaga South MP Ken Lukyamuzi.
As I speak now the project is being handled by other people whom I started it with,†he says. He also names several primary schools and orphanages in Jinja and Mukono that he claims to have founded but were hijacked by other people.
Born an only child on June 5, 1933, Kaddu grew up with an uncle in Mayirikiti who raised him in a staunch Catholic family setting. His mother Matilda Boolamubiri and father Maurice Kaddu-Musindye of Mayirikiti, Nkokonjeru, both passed on.
Kaddu had four wives and 18 children. However, 11 of his children have since died, 10 of them to HIV/AIDS.
Kaddu went to St. Peter Clever Primary School Namilyango and St. Paul ’s Primary School in Nkokonjeru. He then joined St. Peter’s Senior Secondary School where he completed Junior Two (now S.2) in 1951. He dropped out of school due to lack of fees and worked at Entebbe Botanical Gardens as an apprentice in horticulture.
He also worked for the Standard Bank of South Africa (Uganda branch) as a clerk. He worked for ESSO petroleum company (now Gapco) as a depot clerk in Jinja town in 1963.
Kaddu’s relentless work is recognised on Page 1125 in the sixth edition of US celebrities’ book Who’s Who in the World. He has written eight books in Luganda and English though only one is due for publication — the rest are still in manuscript form.