To my astonishment, he had never been to several shopping centres and supermarkets, which are the staple of the average Ugandan ‘middle class’ existence.
We had just flown in from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where we had spent two years.
This was in 1989, when we lived at the Fairway Hotel in Kampala as my father, Ben Matogo, awaited redeployment as ambassador. And that was when I met John Nagenda.
“What a bad-tempered Jack Russell!” Nagenda then exclaimed when confronted by our Coke-bottle-sized family dog, Lucy.
Those were good times. But now, Senior Presidential Advisor on Media and Public Relations, John Nagenda is dead, at 84 years.
Mr Nagenda was a friend, who as guest of honour, graced my book launch in Naalya, a Kampala city suburb, in 2014.
Before we arrived at the venue for my book launch, I took Nagenda, the eminent writer, poet, columnist, panjandrum (I always wanted to use that word), and senior media adviser to the Ugandan President, on a small joyride.
it was a Friday.
To my astonishment, he had never been to several shopping centres and supermarkets, which are the staple of the average Ugandan ‘middle class’ existence.
More, beyond his sheltered life, we ended up in a so-called public toilet at one of these ‘upscale’ supermarkets and had to fork out Shs200, just to take a leak.
Mr Nagenda had never experienced that before.
He thus directed his body-guy to pay the money. But the man seemed broke and so did the Amen Corner of Lookers-on.
So, I paid instead.
“Take it as a loan,” said the tone of my smile.
Nagenda was amused; he considered himself a typical Budonian and so loved some good-natured teasing.
Back to Nagenda’s speech at my book launch, he regretfully informed the assembled guests that he would be leaving at 11pm, yet we had arrived at 8pm.
That’s because he had a flight to South Africa at 7am the following Saturday morning.
In South Africa, he was to appear in a cameo for Oscar-winning Mexican-Kenyan actress Lupita Nyongo’s movie, Queen of Katwe.
However, after his rip-roaring speech, a delicious meal was served up with some rather pricey booze, bought earlier at the supermarket where Nagenda and I went, and so Nagenda got comfortable.
Again, youthful and lovely ladies sidled up to him with admiration and struck up conversation and Nagenda got so engrossed in the event that he ended up leaving at 2am!
He delighted the audience with cheerful anecdotes about his days as a young writer.
In June 1962, Nagenda was a student of English at Makerere University College (as it was known then). He then attended a conference of African literature in the English language, the first African Writers Conference, held at Makerere University College in Kampala, Uganda.
Dubbed a ‘Conference of African Writers of English Expression’, it was sponsored by the Congress for Cultural Freedom, a possible Central Intelligence Agency front, and the Mbari Club in association with the Department of Extra-Mural Studies of Makerere.
The conference was attended by such literary luminaries as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, John Pepper Clark, Obi Wali, Gabriel Okara, Christopher Okigbo, Bernard Fonlon, Frances Ademola, Cameron Duodu, and Kofi Awoonor from West Africa.
Other literati were Ezekiel Mphahlele, Bloke Modisane, Lewis Nkosi, Dennis Brutus, Arthur Maimane, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (at that time known as James Ngugi), Robert Serumaga, Rajat Neogy (founder of Transition Magazine), Okot p’Bitek, Pio Zirimu (credited with coining the term “orature”), Grace Ogot, Rebecca Njau, David Rubadiri, Jonathan Kariara; and from the African diaspora: Langston Hughes.
Nagenda said all these writers regaled the conference with stories of their heroism which involved being shot at, beaten, jailed and intimidated as they chose to trade in words instead violence.
He felt left out and asked, “I, who has never been beaten, shot at or jailed…does this leave me with no voice at this prestigious conference?”
Nagenda knew early on that to be considered a great writer; one must stick their neck out for their craft. This was something a little too rich for his blood.
Nevertheless, Nagenda was to join the celebrated list of African Writers Series with his book, The Seasons of Thomas Tebo: A Vivid Allegory of Modern Uganda.
This was vintage Nagenda: a fun-loving wit and wag whose words shaped the glass ceiling of Ugandan literature.
I shall surely miss him.
About John Nagenda
- Nagenda, a veteran journalist, was born in Rwanda on April 25, 1938
- He attended Namutamba Primary School, King’s College Budo and Kigezi High School before joining Makerere University to study English.
- He started writing as a student at Budo in the 1950s.
- He was also a sportsman and played cricket for Uganda
- Nagenda also served time in exile and worked with Oxford University Press in Nairobi
- He also lived in exile in the United States of America before returning to Uganda in 1986
- He worked as Senior Presidential Advisor on Media and Public Relations
- He also wrote the popular column, One Man’s Week, in The New Vision newspaper
- Nagenda passed on at the Medipal International Hospital in Kampala, Friday, March 4, 2023.
- He was 84 years old.
