Absolute Kiwani

Crazy Whispers

In Uganda, everyone knows or has ever heard of a place called Kakuku, a slum within the city of Fort Portal, nestled in the western reaches of the country. If Kakuku is unfamiliar to you, relax, for you’re about to be acquainted with its remarkable, amazing and intriguing mysteries.

Kakuku’s claim to fame is its association with the renowned Mr. John Paul Kyomya, akin to Kamwokya’s connection to the celebrated Robert Ssentamu, Bobi Wine. Those who dwell near Mr. Kyomya consider themselves fortunate for they don’t merely hear tales or pay for glimpses of him but often witness his evening strolls to the local centre.

Spotting him walk donning his distinctive mean hat, one might wager he’s a man before his 50 but when he doffs it, would have lost! The John Paul I am talking about is now 70 years old but carries a vigour of someone twenty years his junior, though his head is ever silver grey covered. Whenever he walks, at least two people always escort him, guarding him!
But let me not reveal too much too soon. Instead, journey with me to a pivotal time in his life that you’ll clearly understand him.

In his golden age, the year 1999, Mr John Paul Kyomya was 48 years old, the same tall dark-skinned muscular man he is today. He was an eminent noble figure in the whole of Kakuku for he was the chairperson of the local council, a post he secured in 1996, as well as the leader of his clan, the Kaiso clan, and the former famous headteacher of Kakuku Primary School, which was 2 kilometres from his home.

Married with two sons, John Paul’s wealth spanned goats, cows, land, and various other assets. His residence was well situated atop a modest hill that from the front yard the view swept through most of Kakuku’s heart.

Locally, he was simply ‘Chairman’. People loved him so much that he had won the elections by far, back then when the folk voted their leaders. However, like any other leader in his area, he was corrupt, a practice so ingrained it had become customary. For every case he settled or folk meetings and callings he attended, he always solicited some amounts and commissions he called ‘Allowances’. Even for the parish stamp or his signature on your papers, you’d have to pay him some allowances, and the people were used to it as it had become a tradition, a tradition that had met his hunger and greediness!

Life progressed smoothly until alcohol took hold, consuming him as vigorously as he consumed it, drinking like fish, day and night. His addiction became so insidious and severe that one time he suffered an acute intoxication, lost his dignity and almost his role as a chairperson!

Addiction deepened exhuming his previous griefs. He began selling his property with all the money perishing in the bars, becoming bankrupt. As time went on, he advanced to getting debits from friends but he never invested nor refunded any only perished it drinking, and financial and family problems evolved.

The only income they depended on hinged on their son Johnson Wadde’s wages, a modest goat enterprise, and a small garden that barely sufficed for their subsistence needs.

Life grew increasingly difficult as Mary Kyomya, overwhelmed by her husband’s decline, abandoned household duties, including digging, in favour of daily church prayers. She sought divine intervention for her husband’s redemption and her family’s salvation. This shift burdened John Paul with resentments, viewing her piousness with scepticism.

The family had endured lots of terrifying hardships but none was more harrowing as the robbery on Christmas Eve of 1998 where the modest money they had gotten from the sales of a piece of land and a motorcycle John Paul cherished so much were all stolen, followed by the tragic loss of his second son in late January 1999.

The subsequent periods of their lives were marked by relentless cycles of attempts and failure. John Paul Kyomya succumbed to depression, exacerbated by grief. His health deteriorated as he sought solace in alcohol, drinking intensively, profusely, and relentlessly.