Adam Mulwana was a lively young man who used his musical gifts to advance the agenda for political change in Uganda.
Mulwana, who passed away today at 32, was energetic and always expressed enthusiasm that things will change for the better. He also had undying love for Dr Kizza Besigye, the opposition honcho.
I first met Mulwana in November 2010 in Masaka, on the sidelines of Dr Besigye’s rally.
Like many youth who followed Besigye at that time, he was vibrant.
His role was to entertain the crowd, in that brief interlude, as Dr Besigye prepared to address supporters.
His major hit then composed specifically for Besigye was Toka Kwa Barabara (swahili for clear the road) for the retired colonel.
Whenever he would sing it, the crowd would erupt into a frenzy.
In an interview that I did with him deep into the 2011 campaigns, he told me he had been introduced to Besigye by Joyce Ssebugwawo, whom she regarded as the mother he never had.
“Ssebugwawo is the one who gave me money to record these songs and she has always been there like my mother,” he told me. Ssebugwawo has since ditched FDC for the plum job of a minister of state for ICT.
After the campaigns, his profile grew but so did the scrutiny from security agencies.
One time in Kasese where he had gone to do a music show, he spent the entire night in the ceiling of a lodge after security operatives surrounded the place.
He was only rescued by the Saulo Matte, the former Kasese FDC chairman, who calmed the security operatives.
Mulwana’s health started failing in 2020. At that time he claimed he had been poisoned.
Dr Olive Kobusingye, Besigye’s sister, always kept close tabs on his health.
Yet whatever the cause of his ailment, he remained strong that he would survive and continue the push for a better Uganda.
That was never to be. He died in the early hours of this morning at Doctor’s Hospital in Seguku. He will be buried today afternoon in Butambala. Fare the well, Mulwana.
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