The Luganda news anchor and music composer Kabuye Israel said he was inspired by Evans Mayambala, a book author. He said this on The Groove Show hosted by Crystal Newman.
Kabuye started composing music while he was on senior six vacation after watching a TV show in which Evans Mayambala and a law student argued about small beginnings.
“They were arguing about how much money a person needs to achieve big results. The law student argued that it was impossible to achieve big with little capital. She insisted that people who make it usually have good backgrounds. Mayambala disagreed, giving an example of himself. He said that he used 500 shillings to get to where he is,” Kabuye recalled.
During the conversation, he remembered Mayambala saying he used 300 shillings to buy a book and 200shillings for a pen he used to write the book Ebyama Bya Bagagga which sold and earned him the status he has now.
As a result, Kabuye who had a talent for singing and writing decided to use a similar idea to compose music for his former primary school.
“I had the capital of a pen. I got 300 shillings and bought three full scaps. On one, I wrote a song, on the other an application letter. I placed them in an envelope and gave it to a boy attending the school and I instructed him to give it to the headteacher,” he recounted.
Because he had no phone, he wrote his brother’s phone number on the letter and waited for a call for three days without getting any feedback. He visited the school on the third day. Fortunately, his letter was received even though the headteacher had forgotten to get back to him.
“He was excited to see me and welcomed the idea. He asked if I had songs ready to go and I told him I did but I had only one. I was given the platform. I went to record the songs I wrote. They didn’t come out so well but some loved them because they had a very good message.”
Regardless, the school organized a speech day and launched the songs together with their videos. After some time, as payment for his services, the headteacher offered to sponsor half of Kabuye’s Education Degree.
On completion, he taught for two years. But because his interest was in journalism. He decided to follow his dream.
Currently, he is a Luganda news anchor, and retired teacher, a music composer, a drama and movie writer/ actor, and a trainer, for over 17 years.
The Groove Cafe with Crystal Newman airs every Weekday from 4-5 pm on RX Radio.
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