She Risked Life For Bush
Aug 07, 2003
PICTURE THIS: you are an acclaimed entertainer, you have just recovered from a serious illness and your doctor has advised you to stop performing if you must stay healthy and alive.
By Elvis Basudde
Picture this: you are an acclaimed entertainer, you have just recovered from a serious illness and your doctor has advised you to stop performing if you must stay healthy and alive.
Suddenly, you are asked to perform for the US president, George Bush. What do you do? You need your precious life yet you cannot forfeit the esteem you would get by performing for such a powerful man.
Well, for Annet Nandujja stopping her from performing for Bush, is the last thing she would love to hear. For singing and dancing is everything to her. It is her life.
“Here was a rare and golden opportunity I would not lose. I had been chosen in the whole country by the government to entertain a high profile person in the world. That was no mean achievement,†she said.
An official from the Ministry of Gender had asked her to perform for Bush a week before his visit.
“With my back-up group, The Planets, we embarked on gruelling rehearsals for 20 hours a day. We had never had such intensive rehearsals in all our lives,†she said.
On D-Day (July 11), by the time Airforce One landed on the Entebbe runway the group was already entertaining hosts with bakisimba, nankasa and muwogola.
When Bush disembarked from the plane, they performed a special song they had composed for him –– Atuuse, meaning he has arrived. “I danced nankasa like never before. Then I saw Bush advancing towards me. I gave him a shy smile while going down on my knees. He held me and made a remark, which I could not make out in a heavy accent. He shook my hand and gave me a big hug. That was a turning point in my life,†Nandujja said.
Meanwhile, the group members burst out in an ear-piercing ululation while dancing to the sound of the drums. It was a moment of great joy for all the people around. “I gazed at Bush’s face. His expressive eyes were full of gratitude. He was smart,†Nandujja gasped. Bush must have been fascinated by the group’s infectious nankasa and bakisimba dances. In appreciation, he shook hands with all the 30 members of the group.
The planets are renowned for their spectacular performances even beyond Ugandan borders, which explains why the government commissioned them to perform for Bush.
Kiyimba Musisi, one of the group’s founder members says Nandujja is a very big asset to the group. He describes her as an all-round entertainer, a traditional dance wizard, an actress, percussionist and dance trainer. She has iron-will determination and a powerful and attractive voice,†says Kiyimba.
He says Nandujja is a role model for Uganda’s women artistes wishing to maintain a hold on their own destiny.
Most people here know Nandujja for her striking traditional Kiganda vibrato (eggono). Her Etooke has become a household folk song and the message in the song has endeared her to many. She also sang Akalombolombo, with Hope Mukasa, a song commissioned by Kabaka Ronald Mutebi as a campaign against environmental destruction.
Her fame has spread beyond Uganda’s boarders. She won the love and recognition of millions of Swedes when she taught and performed cultural dances and music in Sweden for two years (1996-1998), courtesy of African Promoters and Supporters Abroad, an NGO based in Sweden for a cultural exchange programme.
For the two years, she taught in various schools, institutions, colleges and universities. She admits it was such an experience.
“I taught dances like bakisimba, nankasa and muwogola from Buganda, entogoro and lunyege from Western Uganda and Mwaga from Bugisu,†Nandujja boasts.
She also taught Swedes how to play traditional instruments like the xylophone, tube-fiddle, lyre, harp, long drum and bakisimba drums.
Nandujja, a single mother with one daughter, was born in Gomba, Mpigi, in a family of 40 to Israel Jjagwe and Jocye Nabatanzi. “It is bad manners to ask a woman her age,†she answers when asked how old she is.
Nandujja started singing at a tender age while in primary school in Buyoya Masaka. She started performing with the Kezimbira Dramactors in 1983.
Her maiden folk composition Engo yakuno thrust her into the limelight. “I composed that song after the brutal death of my brother, Nsimbe. Many innocent people were killed by the notorious regime of that time. So I composed Engo yakuno, meaning the killer was in our midst,†she says.
In 1990, Nandujja and Kiyimba formed The Planets. Here she released her second album Ettooke that has six tracks. She has since composed a number of songs, which have sold huge. The Planets is famous for entertaining visiting dignitaries and performing at weddings. The group boasts of seven original plays including the popular Si ka Beere, Bilabwa and Office ya Minista, among others. Kiyimba writes and directs most of the plays and Nandujja composes all the sound tracks in the plays. “My wish is to become a star,†she brags. About how much the group was paid for performing for Bush is their big secret.
Ends
Picture this: you are an acclaimed entertainer, you have just recovered from a serious illness and your doctor has advised you to stop performing if you must stay healthy and alive.
Suddenly, you are asked to perform for the US president, George Bush. What do you do? You need your precious life yet you cannot forfeit the esteem you would get by performing for such a powerful man.
Well, for Annet Nandujja stopping her from performing for Bush, is the last thing she would love to hear. For singing and dancing is everything to her. It is her life.
“Here was a rare and golden opportunity I would not lose. I had been chosen in the whole country by the government to entertain a high profile person in the world. That was no mean achievement,†she said.
An official from the Ministry of Gender had asked her to perform for Bush a week before his visit.
“With my back-up group, The Planets, we embarked on gruelling rehearsals for 20 hours a day. We had never had such intensive rehearsals in all our lives,†she said.
On D-Day (July 11), by the time Airforce One landed on the Entebbe runway the group was already entertaining hosts with bakisimba, nankasa and muwogola.
When Bush disembarked from the plane, they performed a special song they had composed for him –– Atuuse, meaning he has arrived. “I danced nankasa like never before. Then I saw Bush advancing towards me. I gave him a shy smile while going down on my knees. He held me and made a remark, which I could not make out in a heavy accent. He shook my hand and gave me a big hug. That was a turning point in my life,†Nandujja said.
Meanwhile, the group members burst out in an ear-piercing ululation while dancing to the sound of the drums. It was a moment of great joy for all the people around. “I gazed at Bush’s face. His expressive eyes were full of gratitude. He was smart,†Nandujja gasped. Bush must have been fascinated by the group’s infectious nankasa and bakisimba dances. In appreciation, he shook hands with all the 30 members of the group.
The planets are renowned for their spectacular performances even beyond Ugandan borders, which explains why the government commissioned them to perform for Bush.
Kiyimba Musisi, one of the group’s founder members says Nandujja is a very big asset to the group. He describes her as an all-round entertainer, a traditional dance wizard, an actress, percussionist and dance trainer. She has iron-will determination and a powerful and attractive voice,†says Kiyimba.
He says Nandujja is a role model for Uganda’s women artistes wishing to maintain a hold on their own destiny.
Most people here know Nandujja for her striking traditional Kiganda vibrato (eggono). Her Etooke has become a household folk song and the message in the song has endeared her to many. She also sang Akalombolombo, with Hope Mukasa, a song commissioned by Kabaka Ronald Mutebi as a campaign against environmental destruction.
Her fame has spread beyond Uganda’s boarders. She won the love and recognition of millions of Swedes when she taught and performed cultural dances and music in Sweden for two years (1996-1998), courtesy of African Promoters and Supporters Abroad, an NGO based in Sweden for a cultural exchange programme.
For the two years, she taught in various schools, institutions, colleges and universities. She admits it was such an experience.
“I taught dances like bakisimba, nankasa and muwogola from Buganda, entogoro and lunyege from Western Uganda and Mwaga from Bugisu,†Nandujja boasts.
She also taught Swedes how to play traditional instruments like the xylophone, tube-fiddle, lyre, harp, long drum and bakisimba drums.
Nandujja, a single mother with one daughter, was born in Gomba, Mpigi, in a family of 40 to Israel Jjagwe and Jocye Nabatanzi. “It is bad manners to ask a woman her age,†she answers when asked how old she is.
Nandujja started singing at a tender age while in primary school in Buyoya Masaka. She started performing with the Kezimbira Dramactors in 1983.
Her maiden folk composition Engo yakuno thrust her into the limelight. “I composed that song after the brutal death of my brother, Nsimbe. Many innocent people were killed by the notorious regime of that time. So I composed Engo yakuno, meaning the killer was in our midst,†she says.
In 1990, Nandujja and Kiyimba formed The Planets. Here she released her second album Ettooke that has six tracks. She has since composed a number of songs, which have sold huge. The Planets is famous for entertaining visiting dignitaries and performing at weddings. The group boasts of seven original plays including the popular Si ka Beere, Bilabwa and Office ya Minista, among others. Kiyimba writes and directs most of the plays and Nandujja composes all the sound tracks in the plays. “My wish is to become a star,†she brags. About how much the group was paid for performing for Bush is their big secret.
Ends