Fare thee well my dear friend

Ali and late Billy

Late Billy's father; Hajji Gyaza

Late Billy and daughter

Late Billy and maama Hajati Balunywa

Hajji Yusuf Balunywa, better known as Billy Kaguta Kawalata departed from us yesterday 9 December 2009 on a long journey to meet his creator. Billy, as we all fondly called him is the son of our dear uncle Hajji Gyaza of Bute near Iganga. I personally came to know him shortly after I left university in the mid 80s.

He was a flamboyant person, friendly and so full of life. He did not read many books, but he was a sharp businessman. He never let an opportunity to make money go by. After school, Billy settled in Jinja town to do business. He started business at an early age during Amin’s time. He was dealing in all sorts of scarce goods. He travelled throughout east Africa in search of business. He was every girl’s dream man.

In the 90s he moved to Kampala where he settled into stationary at city house. He managed to get some money, bought a small plot of land in Kawempe and built there a house. When life proved difficult, he sold the house and travelled to Japan for a kyeyo (immigrant work), but he failed to make it. He was arrested and deported to Kampala. He lay low for sometime, but resurrected in Kisenyi with another brainwave; sealing water in kaveera (plastic bag) for the niot so rich.

His business flourished and he was able to buy land in Naalya where he put up a house. However shortly after he to leave the place for the construction of Northern bypass road. He was compensated well and managed to buy land in Mukono where he bought another piece of land and he built a house. He also fulfilled the last pillar of Islam by making to a pilgrimage to Mecca, and thus became a Hajji.

That was the beginning of his problems. He inadvertently bought land, which had ownership wrangles. Soon he was thrown out of his house by a court order. He employed lawyers to take on his case until he ran out of money and they abandoned him. He could not meet his bills and so he decided to go to the village to rest for sometime. His marriage all but dissolved. His wife left him and went to live with friends. His children started to suffer lack of fees and could not concentrate at school. Relatives lent a hand and they remained in school, but completely disorganized.

Then last year I returned home after 6 years abroad. He was so excited to see me and for the 3 weeks I was in Uganda, he did not leave my side. He called me baaba (elder brother or sister). Though he was much older than me but as a sign of respect you can call a young person than you that and my wife maama. He loved us so much that he named his twins after my wife and me. They are called Ali and Shamim. All the time he kept on telling whoever would listen how much he loved me as a brother and how my absence cost him good advise and he ended up losing his all. He said he was now confident things would turn his way again.

This year I went back home twice and I was happy he had taken my advice to leave the village and try to make ends meet in Kampala. I contributed to his entandikwa (seed capital) to restart his business from scratch. He had insisted that I find a way of taking him with me to Holland, but our sisters dissuaded him, that at his age, there would be no work for him.

I remember about a month or so ago, he called me from Kampala to inform me that he was sick and hospitalized. He complained of a kidney and general weakness. It is not everyday that you receive a call from Uganda. So after a week, I called him to check on his health. He assured me he was then better and had resumed work. I had kept on postponing calling him until yesterday. My nephew, Ibra Balunywa sent me a message with the news that Kaguta had died. At first I thought it was president Museveni’s brother or the president himself! When I asked for details, he confirmed the unbelievable news that it was Billy. May the almighty rest his soul in eternal peace.

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