With One Arm, He Has Lifted Himself To Success
May 26, 2003
TO drop out of school at a tender age and have a limb amputated is one of the worst spells fate can dispel on a mortal man.
By Arthur Baguma
--After the accident, I got what I had not acquired with two hands –– Bakesigaki
TO drop out of school at a tender age and have a limb amputated is one of the worst spells fate can dispel on a mortal man.
But to rise from ashes and become a proprietor of a fleet of buses is an achievement surpassing ordinary imagination.
This description befits Charles Karoli Bakesigaki a.k.a. Mukono Gumwe (one limbed man) — the owner and proprietor of Kasaba Investments and Bus Company.
He dropped out of school at 19 years in 1960 due to lack of school fees, despite being one of the brightest students in class.
In 1967, he lost his arm while on a mission to liberate himself from the throes of poverty.
However, Bakesigaki did not lose hope. He endured and struggled on with life taking on several challenges until he became an achiever.
In Rukungiri, he has coined himself a household name in the transport industry and many look up to him as a role model.
“It’s politicians who help in return for political favours. Bakesigaki is not a politician but a man who cares for the ordinary person,†Fred Kakulu, a frequent traveller on Kasaba buses says.
“I love helping people, when some one comes to me with a problem and I am able to help, I do so. To me that is the most interesting moment,†Bakesigaki reveals.
“When you don’t have money, they transport you on credit and for some with serious problems, it is done free of charge,†says an elderly woman as she boards the Kasaba bus for Rukungiri.
One time a passenger died of natural causes while aboard a Kasaba bus enroute to Rukungiri. The passenger had travelled alone but Bakesigaki, who was on board at that time searched the body and got the identifications of the passenger. He took the body for a post-moterm and personally organised a vehicle to take the body to the relatives with some condolences.
With a fleet of four buses and over 40 employees, Bakesigaki’s life has not been all rosy.
Problems in his life besieged him when still a child.
After passing his junior level exams in division one at Nyakibare Primary School, Rukungiri, he envisioned a bright academic career and he was not wrong because Namilyango College admitted him for his secondary education. However, after one year at Namilyango, his life took a U-turn.
He was sent home to collect school fees and that was the last he saw of the blackboard. On reaching home, his father told him, he could not afford fees any more.
With the future proving uncertain, in 1961 he joined his brother, John Muzala to repair bicycles at the then Rukungiri Trading centre.
A genius that he was, it took Bakesigaki short stint to master the art of repairing bicycles.
He recalls that at that time there were only eight cars in the whole of Rukungiri owned by Asians.
At 19, Asians employed Bakesigaki as a casual labourer, but his determination, courage, honesty and hard work won him a chance to take on driving skills.
After getting a driving permit he was formally employed as a driver for one year and in 1965, he retu-rned to bicycle repairing.
While on a mission to buy spare parts in Mbarara, he met a man called Jamil Kalanyire, who had made it big in the transport business.
“After a discussion with Jamil, I was inspired and started plotting ways of running a transport business,†Bakesigaki reveals.
Between 1961-1964, Bakesigaki had saved sh5,000.
A Good Samaritan called Moses Kifefe, a prominent businessman then, gave him sh1,000.
After all efforts to raise the balance of sh2,500 proved futile, he turned to the Asians for help. They topped up the money and arranged for the delivery of the car from Kampala to Rukungiri.
In 1965, Bakesigaki began transporting passengers in his seven-seater white Peugeot 404. He travelled between Mbarara and Rukungiri. While his life seemed to be getting back on course, disaster struck again in 1967.
On July 14, 1967, he was involved in a fatal road accident which left him with one arm.
“A trailer lost control and hit my car cutting off my right hand instantly. I remember they managed to trace the hand and bring it to hospital after four days,†he says.
Bakesigaki was admitted at Mbarara hospital for 16 days which he says were the most trying moments of his life. with no wife and family to comfort him, he went through 16 days of intense pain, but says it was God’s wish.
“Like God tested Job, he was also testing me because after the accident I got everything that I had not acquired with two normal hands. Three months after the accident I married Daria Bamucungura in November 1967 with whom I now have nine children, but one has since passed away.â€
He sold some of his property to acquire the first bus and subsequently expanded his business to a magnitude of five buses, but four are on the road.
Bakesigaki is a religious man; he never misses a single day without saying a prayer. He is always punctual for Sunday prayers. At the wedding of his son in May 2003, he touched the hearts of over 600 guests with a moving speech.
“All the expensive things and gifts you have received today are not worth this Bible we are giving you. If you follow and practise its teachings, you’re guaranteed of a happy and successful marriage,†he said flanked by Daria, after giving Martin and wife Abia a Bible.
He is a devoted Catholic and has been to Rome three times on holy pilgrimage.
“My wife and I don’t miss church. God is the foundation and pillar of our family,†the humble and soft-spoken man adds. During his free time, he likes reading newspapers, but adds that at school he was a star at swimming before losing his arm.
The ideal gift for a man who missed to prove his academic potential for reasons beyond his reach, is to see his children graduate. So far he has three graduates.
He lives a simple lifestyle despite his riches. His favourite food is matooke and beans. No alcohol for him but milk tea passes for his favourite drink.
Bakesigaki was born in 1941 to the late Dezerio Sabakaki and Teresa Kinabwine in Rwakabengo Rukungiri District.
He also practises farming and owns several heads of cattle at his farm in Rukungiri.
Ends
--After the accident, I got what I had not acquired with two hands –– Bakesigaki
TO drop out of school at a tender age and have a limb amputated is one of the worst spells fate can dispel on a mortal man.
But to rise from ashes and become a proprietor of a fleet of buses is an achievement surpassing ordinary imagination.
This description befits Charles Karoli Bakesigaki a.k.a. Mukono Gumwe (one limbed man) — the owner and proprietor of Kasaba Investments and Bus Company.
He dropped out of school at 19 years in 1960 due to lack of school fees, despite being one of the brightest students in class.
In 1967, he lost his arm while on a mission to liberate himself from the throes of poverty.
However, Bakesigaki did not lose hope. He endured and struggled on with life taking on several challenges until he became an achiever.
In Rukungiri, he has coined himself a household name in the transport industry and many look up to him as a role model.
“It’s politicians who help in return for political favours. Bakesigaki is not a politician but a man who cares for the ordinary person,†Fred Kakulu, a frequent traveller on Kasaba buses says.
“I love helping people, when some one comes to me with a problem and I am able to help, I do so. To me that is the most interesting moment,†Bakesigaki reveals.
“When you don’t have money, they transport you on credit and for some with serious problems, it is done free of charge,†says an elderly woman as she boards the Kasaba bus for Rukungiri.
One time a passenger died of natural causes while aboard a Kasaba bus enroute to Rukungiri. The passenger had travelled alone but Bakesigaki, who was on board at that time searched the body and got the identifications of the passenger. He took the body for a post-moterm and personally organised a vehicle to take the body to the relatives with some condolences.
With a fleet of four buses and over 40 employees, Bakesigaki’s life has not been all rosy.
Problems in his life besieged him when still a child.
After passing his junior level exams in division one at Nyakibare Primary School, Rukungiri, he envisioned a bright academic career and he was not wrong because Namilyango College admitted him for his secondary education. However, after one year at Namilyango, his life took a U-turn.
He was sent home to collect school fees and that was the last he saw of the blackboard. On reaching home, his father told him, he could not afford fees any more.
With the future proving uncertain, in 1961 he joined his brother, John Muzala to repair bicycles at the then Rukungiri Trading centre.
A genius that he was, it took Bakesigaki short stint to master the art of repairing bicycles.
He recalls that at that time there were only eight cars in the whole of Rukungiri owned by Asians.
At 19, Asians employed Bakesigaki as a casual labourer, but his determination, courage, honesty and hard work won him a chance to take on driving skills.
After getting a driving permit he was formally employed as a driver for one year and in 1965, he retu-rned to bicycle repairing.
While on a mission to buy spare parts in Mbarara, he met a man called Jamil Kalanyire, who had made it big in the transport business.
“After a discussion with Jamil, I was inspired and started plotting ways of running a transport business,†Bakesigaki reveals.
Between 1961-1964, Bakesigaki had saved sh5,000.
A Good Samaritan called Moses Kifefe, a prominent businessman then, gave him sh1,000.
After all efforts to raise the balance of sh2,500 proved futile, he turned to the Asians for help. They topped up the money and arranged for the delivery of the car from Kampala to Rukungiri.
In 1965, Bakesigaki began transporting passengers in his seven-seater white Peugeot 404. He travelled between Mbarara and Rukungiri. While his life seemed to be getting back on course, disaster struck again in 1967.
On July 14, 1967, he was involved in a fatal road accident which left him with one arm.
“A trailer lost control and hit my car cutting off my right hand instantly. I remember they managed to trace the hand and bring it to hospital after four days,†he says.
Bakesigaki was admitted at Mbarara hospital for 16 days which he says were the most trying moments of his life. with no wife and family to comfort him, he went through 16 days of intense pain, but says it was God’s wish.
“Like God tested Job, he was also testing me because after the accident I got everything that I had not acquired with two normal hands. Three months after the accident I married Daria Bamucungura in November 1967 with whom I now have nine children, but one has since passed away.â€
He sold some of his property to acquire the first bus and subsequently expanded his business to a magnitude of five buses, but four are on the road.
Bakesigaki is a religious man; he never misses a single day without saying a prayer. He is always punctual for Sunday prayers. At the wedding of his son in May 2003, he touched the hearts of over 600 guests with a moving speech.
“All the expensive things and gifts you have received today are not worth this Bible we are giving you. If you follow and practise its teachings, you’re guaranteed of a happy and successful marriage,†he said flanked by Daria, after giving Martin and wife Abia a Bible.
He is a devoted Catholic and has been to Rome three times on holy pilgrimage.
“My wife and I don’t miss church. God is the foundation and pillar of our family,†the humble and soft-spoken man adds. During his free time, he likes reading newspapers, but adds that at school he was a star at swimming before losing his arm.
The ideal gift for a man who missed to prove his academic potential for reasons beyond his reach, is to see his children graduate. So far he has three graduates.
He lives a simple lifestyle despite his riches. His favourite food is matooke and beans. No alcohol for him but milk tea passes for his favourite drink.
Bakesigaki was born in 1941 to the late Dezerio Sabakaki and Teresa Kinabwine in Rwakabengo Rukungiri District.
He also practises farming and owns several heads of cattle at his farm in Rukungiri.
Ends