BIG READ: How Seya's success got him in trouble with Amin soldiers
Sep 27, 2020
"On several occasions Amin’s soldiers paraded Sebaggala on the streets of Kampala, clad in shorts with his hair shaven with what seemed like broken glass."
When asked on a local radio station in 2016 what he would take with him if he were to be thrown away on a desert island, Nasser Ntege Sebaggala responded: "I would go with my brain."
This was the value that the once mayor of Kampala City and an astute businessman placed on the one asset that has taken him places and made him what he was.
Following the expulsion of Asian businesspeople from Uganda by then president Idi Amin in the early 1970s, Sebaggala acquired a shop on Kampala Road, at the current location of Cairo Bank International. There he set up the New Fabricano, a boutique that sold imported clothes.
David Ssegawa Mukasa, an old friend, who watched Sebaggala grow into success recalls that the New Fabricano was a unique setup. "This is a shop which would favourably compete even today in 2020 because its design and set up was well thought out. He was a man of taste from how he set that shop to the kind of clothes that he sold," Ssegawa says.
During an interview with Urban Television recently, Sebaggala said in New Fabricano he sold clothes that were trending. Being a man of fashion himself who openly spoke about his choice of clothes, he was best placed to import clothes.
However, as time went by and because of his success in running New Fabricano, Amin's soldiers led by the infamous commander Nasur soon took issues with the young man that was making a lot of money selling clothes. Ssegawa recalls that the government ordered traders to reduce the prices of their goods because of the inflation that had hit the country hard.
"We heard stories that one time, Nasur went to New Fabricano and asked for the price of a pair of shoes, He was told it cost sh120 (about sh120,000), which he said was too much. His soldiers then started to manhandle Sebaggala, telling him he was one of the traders that were cheating Ugandans. He was forced to reduce the price, which he did several times.
Out of duress, he was forced to say that he would sell the shoes to Nasur at sh20 (about sh20,000 today). Rather than accept to take the shoes at this low price, Nasur then said that Sebaggala had insulted him by selling to him at such a low price. He then ordered his soldiers to arrest Sebaggala and he was taken into custody in Naguru," Ssegawa recalls.
In several interviews later, Sebaggala narrated how they were tortured while in detention.
"On several occasions Amin's soldiers paraded Sebaggala on the streets of Kampala, clad in shorts with his hair shaven with what seemed like broken glass. This was a common torture technique the soldiers used," Ssegawa told New Vision, adding that the purpose was to humiliate the businessman who at a very young age had become popular among Kampala dwellers.
A meeting was called by Kampala traders who were concerned for their colleagues that had been incarcerated, while more were being picked up daily.
The meeting, chaired by then trade minister Noah Muhammed, agreed on the release of the traders. Sebaggala then left Uganda for exile, only returning much later after the overthrow of Amin to set up Ugantico Supermarket in 1979.
Ugantico, in Kampala, only competed with the government-owned Foods and Beverages store.
While running his Fabricano store, Sebaggala made enough money to buy the first and only Datsun 240Z.
I recall it was a yellow car, the only one of its kind in Kampala. The Datsun 200 models had first been introduced during the East African Safari Rally. So, Sebaggala bought the only one in Kampala," Ssegawa tells the New Vision.
During his interview with Urban Television, Sebaggala stated that he chose the particular car because it was a strong car. He narrated that it had an eight Cylinder engine, something that is rare even in SUVs in Uganda today.
Ssegawa remembers Sebaggala as a very kind man, who cared to assist anyone that tried to reach out. It is in the same spirit of kindness that Sebaggala cared to ensure that Kampala dwellers lived a better life. According to Ssegawa, the choice to join politics and vie for the position of mayor for Kampala was out of his desire for people to live a better life.
"There was never a more deserving person to be the mayor of Kampala than Sebaggala. He understood Kampala like the back of his hand," Ssegawa says of the businessman who grew up in Kisaasi on the outskirts of Kampala.
According to Ssegawa, Sebaggala was one of the two remaining icons in Kampala.
He says the other Kampala icon is tycoon Gordon Wavamunno. Other icons that Segawa names in the caliber of Ssebaggala are Tom Kato, Yafesi Mpanga Walusimbi, who was once mayor of Kampala, Mathew Odoki Opoka and John Ssebana Kizito who was also once mayor.
Besides remodeling politics in Kampala, Sebaggala is also remembered for introducing the first Take Away business with his wife Gera Mosha. Kisaasi Forex Bureau was also one of the first and most notable forex bureaus in Kampala.
Sebaggala died on Saturday at International Hospital Kampala. RIP Seya