The cantankerous one is born-again

By Denis Jjuuko

Remember the Funky Jazz Connection presented by the deep voiced Dr Jazz on Radio Sanyu?

Want to know why he was fired? Well, the celebrated radio presenter — Dr Jazz was fired due to ‘insubordination.’ He purportedly refused to play a Lingala non-jazz song on his show as he had been instructed by his boss. Presenters at the defunct Radio Sanyu were allegedly forced to play songs that were not good for their listeners, but for their boss.

His untold humour, however, got Dr Jazz a job easily at Capital FM. Management was not interested in jazz and so their new catch had to take on the Coca Cola Hot Seven. He subsequently changed his name to Allan The Cantankerous Mugisa. At Makerere University where he was Food Science student, he was a cult figure.

His career continued and his popularity soared high, but The Cantankerous became an alcoholic. Spending most of his time in bars guzzling bottles of the ‘king’s’ beer. “He is the best radio presenter. He will choke you down with humour, but he got wasted on booze. Allan is the most humourous presenter in the land,” one of his former colleagues says. To this colleague, Cantankerous is better than Alex Ndawula and Peter Ssematimba.

Well, now that word ‘drunkard’, that had become a prefix to his name could be history. Allan The Cantankerous Mugisa has finally followed Roger Mugisha hitherto The Shadow, his former co-presenter at Capital to church. The Cantankerous who claims to be ‘the most handsome Munyoro’ is said to have gotten saved two weeks ago.

On a Tuesday afternoon, I dial him up and we set an appointment for this interview. I emphasise that we meet in a place of his convenience. We agree to meet at Rock Catalina, one of the popular bars in Ntinda. He is seated next to his wife Maggie who is carrying their son Albert Jason Mugisa.

The couple is sipping Coca Colas. The table is covered with a Nile Special branded cloth and surprisingly, there is a packet of Sportsman cigarettes and a lighter. I am a little bit perturbed. Is this the man of God? I ask myself.

“I had been sick for about three days. I was really down with malaria and had not been able to report at my place of work for three days. I was at home in Kireka, while my wife had gone to see my mother,” he says. “Then something told me to start reflecting on my life. I started praying so that my health gets back to normal...” he pauses and looks at the ceiling.

“You know I had been saved before, while at campus for a few weeks. I started feeling the same again and I knew this was the Holy Spirit. I prayed again and asked God to help me stop drinking,” he reveals.

“After my prayer, I was thirsty. For the first time in three days, I managed to stand up. I walked to my favourite bar called New Shoppers Spot near home and I ended up ordering for a Coca Cola,” he says. “Beer was part of me. Even when I were sick I would ask for one. This time I did not and this was the power of God. He is so loving.”

Throughout this interview, The Cantankerous looked serious with every sentence. Previously, he would throw jokes about.

“I used to take over 15 bottles of Pilsner Lager everyday. They are not many because I am a slow drinker and I have a weak head,” he reveals. “Even at seven in the morning I would ask for a beer. My breakfast was beer and so were lunch and supper,” he continues.

The 34-year-old radioman has been a victim of over drinking. Booze is responsible for his failure to finish up his Food Science course at Makerere. It is again booze that has seen him being fired six times from Capital. And it is again overdrinking the frothy stuff that saw him spend months in a Nairobi rehabilitation centre.

“William (Pike, the joint MD Capital FM) is a very good man. He paid the money for the rehab and he always wanted to see me stop drinking. I am grateful to him. He always employed me back whenever I was sacked,” he says.

But at this time of the interview, he is still in a bar. He would have been at his workplace preparing for his show. I finally ask him whether he is on leave. He looks me straight in the eye.

“I was fired on Friday. I received my letter of dismissal. Chris (Capital’s programmes manager) said the station was restructuring so my services were no longer needed and that they did not have the money to pay me anymore,” he says.

He pauses for a while, before picking a stick of cigarette from the packet. He puts it on his mouth and lights it. He puffs away. Maggie walks away with the baby. I am totally taken aback. Do saved people smoke?

“He also fired Zizinga and Jane but I do not care. I do not have to kiss my boss to get employed. Since I no longer drink, God will take care of me and by the way, I have already found a job. I will let you know soon when everything is ready,” he furiously reacts.

The presenter who has since trimmed his former trademark of a rough Bebe Cool-like beard says he would love to do sales and marketing.

Back to God, Mugisa says he will not denounce his The Cantankerous identity, because it has nothing to do with the devil. He, however, says, he has already gained a lot from his salvation.

“My mother has been cheerless with my lifestyle. When Maggie told her I was saved, she was so overwhelmed, she broke down and cried. She told me she is so happy with me,” he reveals. “My appetite is back, my skin has improved and I have already put on some weight,” he adds.

Mugisa says he is now embarking on re-establishing his relationship with his father, Tom Rush, whom he has not talked to for over four years. Maggie interrupts and says before, the two could only say ‘hi-hi’ to each other. “I am a better father now and I should be a better child. We have to make up. My new life does not allow me to hold grudges against people,” he says.

He says his salvation has got nothing to do with his erstwhile colleague Roger Mugisha. “Roger and I never discussed religion. He could not believe I had got saved and now he is so happy for me,” says the man who introduced the Wacky World slot at Sanyu FM 2000 about a year ago. (Yes he worked at Sanyu again when Capital had fired him for the sixth time).

On worshipping the devil, practising witchcraft and occult, the big time entertainer says he never did so. “Beer was too much on my mind to think about such. I did not even believe devil worshipping existed until Roger’s confessions,” he says.

He clearly states he is not even targeting money as some people are saying. He insists he does not think he has got the gift to preach. “I am even young in faith,” he asserts.

But smoking is never for the born again. Is it? I ask. “I am praying that I quit smoking. A few days ago I spent six hours without smoking but I found myself smoking all over again,” he confesses. He is still a chain smoker and there have been jokes before that his house needs a chimney to let out the smoke.

“Salvation is a process. It is between the Lord and me. I do not have to abandon sitting (in a bar) here because I am saved, that is pretence. It is only God who can judge me. And I have to help friends discover the love of the Lord.

The only book that Mugisa reads is the Bible and another book called Saved and Sober authored by Hugh Graham. “It is a fantastic gift from my mother (Zelda Kwamya). It will help me to cope.”

Mugisa says he is happy to be with his wife whom he married on May 6, 1998 at the registrar of marriages offices. “When we met, she was saved. She does not drink anymore, so we do not have beer in the house. That has helped as well.”

And finally the name The Cantankerous. Where did he get it? “From my mother. She used to utter that word over and over. So I picked it to establish my own identity.”