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ANDREW KAGGWA
& JANE JUSTINE MIREMBE

THE OBSERVER | Monday, October 26 - 27, 2015

THE OBSERVER | Monday, October 26 - 27, 2015

rowing up in an era where


TV was a luxury, radio
was such a big tool of
communication.
At that time, there was only one
TV station, which operated for
barely six hours. There were only
two known newspapers that were
inaccessible, and lets face it, only
bits of the country had electricity.
Almost everything started and
ended on Radio Uganda, the only
radio station then.
The government radio, which
was started in 1963 together with
the Uganda Television, had to
cater for everyones needs; music,
news, company adverts and death
announcements. And so were the
radio dramas that kept Ugandans
glued to the station.
There was a vast repertoire of
them, among which was Muduuma
Kwekwafe, Lugejja, Obwavu Musolo
starring the late Dan Zirimwenya,
and Muserebende starring Kalailai,
Sungula and Kadiidi, who was
loved for his infectious smile.
At the time, these plays and
many more were known by most
Ugandans because there was only
one radio.
Even with the arrival of FM
stations in the 90s, Radio Uganda
still enjoyed its niche of radio
dramas as the first three stations:
Sanyu, Capital and CBS were yet
to prove their power. Yes CBS had
Kaliisoliiso, but it was more of a
satire of sorts.
It is the arrival of Radio Simba
with Kooti Lutikko in 1999 that
revolutionalised radio dramas in
Uganda.
A product of a group of eight
Makerere University graduates of
Music, Dance and Drama (MDD),
Kooti Lutikko won peoples hearts
presenting political, social and
economic issues of the day through
a court setting.
Starring Jimmy Ssemanda as
Muzei Mutini, John Bosco Mukiibi
as Kaswigiri, Michael Kisenyi (now
with Akaboozi) as Kasambula,
Evans Walusimbi as Luboyera,
Henry Mpinga Ssempijja (now
with CBS), Hadijjah Kinobe (now
with CBS), Hope Turyasingura
(RIP) and Herbert Kabanda (now
with Bukedde radio), it was a
peoples court that dramatised
even serious cases before courts of
law.
The one-hour drama that aired
between 9pm and 10pm would set
the background to the conflict, get
to hear from both the accuser and
the accused before opening it to
the listeners, who would assume
the role of lawyers. The last caller
would pass the judgment and fine
the loser.
Kooti Lutikko became so popular
that it was emulated by other radio
stations.
According to Ssemanda, who is
currently Radio Simbas creative

What happened
to radio dramas?

Jimmy Ssemanda (R), John Bosco Mukiibi (C) and Michael Kisenyi at the National
theatre in 2002

Evans Walusimbi carries a baby

director, the drama was copied by


almost all Luganda radio stations,
including CBS, which started
Akiika Embuga in 2000.
Others, according to Ssemanda,
went short versions of the drama
where they would end up by posing
a question Ki Ekikunyiizizza?
You evaluate the strength of a
radio programme by the number
of copycats it gets, Ssemanda
says.
We stopped airing Kooti
Lutikko in 2006 but because of its
popularity, it is one of the highlydemanded shows to-date.
Ssemanda, who was one of
the script writers together with
Mukiibi under the guidance of
Alex Mukulu, the station creative
director at the time, says they
shelved the drama because the
dynamics of the market had
changed.

In the beginning, people were


loyal and would listen to one radio
station, but they started listening
to particular programmes on
different radios, Ssemanda notes.
So, it became increasingly hard
to keep listeners tuned in to a onehour radio drama. The new trend
demanded short programmes,
which they went for. But above all,
it was costly and labour-intensive
to produce such a long drama
daily, Ssemanda says.
Writing a script for a one-hour
show isnt a simple task. You see,
writing a 15-minute radio drama
takes a good writer four to six
hours about eight handwritten
pages, Ssemanda notes.
You would have a riot in the city
in the morning, and people would
expect it to be the drama of the
day.
As a result, Ssemanda says, there

was need for the station to upgrade


to short bits of drama that are more
suitable to the time available to
listeners. This gave rise to Bonna
Baseke, which is a one-minute
drama that is spread across the day
at different intervals.
Julius Lugaaya, a radio critic who
has featured in one of the radios
dramas, says commercialism has
won over radios in that radio
today find it easy to play music all
the time than hiring a cast to do a
production.
Theatre Factorys Philip Luswata,
who has written a number of radio
plays for stations in South Sudan,
says radio dramas have died
because radios are today run by
young boys who are more profitoriented.
He says that unlike before
when radios had trained content
managers, today, the story is
different. Some radios dont even
have content managers. This has
resulted in poor programming
with no creativity at all as every
station resorts to playing music as
the easiest way out.
Of recent, there has been growing
concern over the declining
standards in radio programming.
Luswata attributes this to the
gamblers, who have taken over
radio, and working towards filling
up the time slots than have wellthought programmes.
Many of these guys have failed
to distinguish themselves from the
crowd. They have failed to develop
a niche for themselves, Luswata
says.
Joseph Ssemukuye, once a big
fan of Kooti Lutikko, blames the
death of radio dramas on Uganda
Communications
Commission
(UCC), which has failed to play
its role of enforcing laws on local
content.
If the body can order TV to have
70 per cent local content, it would
be wise if they reined in audio too,
Ssemukuye says.
We have radio stations that
dont even have a news bulletin of
five minutes, and worse still, all the
music they play is foreign.
Ssemukuye argues that if
UCC could demand that radios
broadcast 40 per cent local content,
dramas would find their way back
on radio.
Many theories suggest that radio
dramas may have been failed by
the emergence of TV and social
media. However, Lugaaya and
Luswata dismiss the claim.
More Ugandans have access to
radio than TV. Almost all handsets
can grab at least ten stations, and
no one can watch TV while they
are in traffic, Luswata says.
Much as TV applications for
android phones have been released,

One-man show
exposes Kapale
JANE JUSTINE MIREMBE

John Bosco Mukiibi (L) receives a gift from Gordon Wavamunno at the radio stations end-of-year party at Club Silk in
2005

Luswata notes that indeed very


few people ever use them since
internet is not really cheap.
A radio producer that requested
anonymity notes that radio today
is highly run by accountants, who
are more concerned with how the
station bank account turns out at
the end of the month. They are
afraid of taking risks or innovating
new things because such new ideas
take time to be appreciated and for
them that is losing money.
Lugaaya says the few radio
dramas left are funded by
nongovernmental organizations.
Well, CBS has kept its Akiika
Embuga running 15 years down
the road, but Banadda Twegande,
which was added to its drama list,
was a brainchild of United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) and the

Uganda Population Secretariat.


Started in 2005, Banadda Twegande
is a serialized drama, addressing
population issues and reproductive
health amongst adolescents.
Though UNFPA only funded the
initial episodes of the drama for the
first three years, CBS has kept the
production on air.
The company decided that the
play was too good to be buried
like the likes of Rock Point 256 that
ended once donor funding was cut
off, explains Martin Oscar Kintu.
Echoing Luswatas views, Kintu
says that they have managed to
sustain their plays because they
understand the audience they
serve.
We serve a Luganda-speaking
audience or an audience that loves
listening to plays in Luganda. So,

L-R: Jimmy Ssemanda, with a colleague Paul Kiwa Katama, who was a sports
presenter, at Kiwatule Recreational Centre in 2003

17

the language used is in sync with


the intended audience, Kintu says,
adding that other radio stations
that failed to sustain their dramas
did not understand the basics.
Some radio stations simply tried
to emulate what we were doing
but they did not have the knowhow. They failed to sustain them
because they did not know the
principles of a good radio play, he
adds.
Their winning formula, Kintu
says, lies in the fact that the actors
are actually interested in the
dramas. CBS is also lucky to have
employees like Kato Lubwama
and Abbey Mukiibi who have
backgrounds in drama.
Sometimes they even act when
they know that they are not going
to be paid because they are simply
people who really love drama, and
that has kept us going, he says.
Kintu says that radio dramas
attract big audiences.
The biggest portion of CBS
audience is attracted by the dramas,
which is why the company funds
the dramas itself, Kintu says.
He notes that there is a lot of
untapped ground as far as radio
broadcasting is concerned, though,
it can only take a brave person to
take on the challenge.
But whether radios will revive
dramas or not, audio dramas
have since found a new home on
Sound Cloud, with majority of
their actors like Jaffer Amin, Esther
Tebandekke, Anne Kansiime and
Veronica Tindi capitalizing on
stage and TV.

ver since Patrick Idringi


aka Salvador and Kenneth
Kimuli aka Pablo started it,
comedians have all rushed for a
one-man show.
It is, however, not clear what
gives some of them the confidence
to think they are ready for it.
Even less-known comedians now
want to hold a one-man show.
Recently, it was King Kong, and
despite the fact that many didnt
know him, many revelers flocked
Theatre La Bonita.
MC Kapales Mu Smart English
One Man Show held last Thursday
at the same venue was the same.
Despite the cold weather, the
theatre was packed to capacity
with some people ending up
sitting in the corridors. The
comedy, however, was the kind
that made you want to pull out
your hair in protest!
The drama started at 8pm when
Kapale and his promoters were
involved in a bitter exchange.
This is after Kapale learnt that the
organizers had sold a table he had
reserved for a one Hajji Jamiru.
If you saw Kapale before he
went on stage, you were left
wondering how he would make
people laugh with the kind of
anger he had.
Nevertheless, at 9pm, he
had to take to the stage, after
performances from a long line of
upcoming artistes.
He set the preamble with his
opening statement: I wonder
what is wrong with Bakiga men!
This is after the DJ cut short the
music he was allegedly enjoying
dancing to.
He then descended into a sea of
stereotyped tribal jokes, which
drowned whatever good comedy

MC Kapale in action

It was a full house PHOTOS/ALFRED OCHWO

that could have come out of the


show.
He, for example, cracked a
joke about Batooro women that
rubbed some people the wrong
way.
Even if you go to police
now, most rape victims are
Batooro women because they
cant shout, he said to no ones
amusement.
They shout for a small time
but soon after begin praising the
rapist. They tell him how he is so
strong and even give him a third
round.
When he wasnt spewing out
tribal jokes, Kapale was picking
money from the audience and
asking for more. However, just
like any other comedy show,
there were some hilarious
moments. The audience, for
instance, could not stop laughing

when he explained why he cant


speak English.
I know English but there
is something that stops me
whenever I try. Its a demon. It
points at me and says You dare
speak English! You will see!
I also get scared and drop the
English, he said.
Kapale ended the show
shortly before 11pm in a very
unceremonious way. In fact,
many thought he was joking
when he thanked guests and
walked off the stage.
This was because there was no
highlight of the show.
After all these disappointing
one-man shows, I am looking
forward to a one-woman show.
Maybe the girls may turn out
different.
jjmirembe@gmail.com

Singer Sheebah (L) with comedian Alex Muhangi

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