Tell me more about your kids.

Oh, my kids, my kids! We have two boys. They are 16 and 14. It is like we are learning parenting again because teenagers are so different.

I always wonder whether I am doing the right thing. They are boys and I am not a boy; so, I frequently ask my husband [respected journalist Peter Mwesige, who now heads Africa Centre for Media Excellence] what boys at that age need from a mother. Like, when do I step in and when do I stay back? It’s a tug of war.

I can imagine. Don’t you miss raising a girl?

I actually miss a daughter more for my husband, because based on the relationship I have with my dad [the former chaplain of St Francis chapel at Makerere University, Rev Ben Mugarura], I am like, that is one gift I would like to give my husband so that he can know what it is like to have a daughter. The father-daughter relationship is very special. [Jackie’s mother is Joy Mugarura]

Are we having this girl anytime soon?

[Laughs] God gave us two lovely sons and in life you have to work with what you have. While I have only boys, almost all my godchildren are girls; so, in a sense I get to parent girls. Of course I’m not the one looking after them, but I find it interesting.

What music interests you, Jackie?

I listen to gospel and music by Ugandan artistes. I just listen to it but never know the names [chuckles]; so, you can’t ask me who my favourite artiste is. I don’t know their names.

Hope you are better with authors; which book would you recommend this year?

It depends on the interest. I am reading my first book this year. It’s by Michael Moore and it’s about his life [Scrolls through her iPhone and shows Quick Talk a photo of the eBook]. It is called Here Comes Trouble.

I would also recommend Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime, Kevin Hart’s I Can’t Make This Up and Malala, which is a story about a Pakistani girl who was pro-education. I enjoy reading stories and these are nice enjoyable stories.

Please tell me how you and Peter met.

Wooow! [Smiles broadly. She gives Quick Talk a taste of her poetry abilities:] The sun was rising over the horizon… [Suddenly stops and bursts into laughter.]

Please go on…

No, no, no! We were both in the USA at school. He was in Indiana and I was in Washington DC. Just before I went to the US, I had been involved in some work with UWONET and there is a colleague in one of the institutions I had worked with who I heard had passed away.

So, I wrote an email to my other colleague, Peter Mwesige, to commiserate about the death of our colleague. Peter writes back to inform me he is not the Peter I had intended to write to, and that started the conversation [well, who said no good ever comes out of a death…]

Wow!

We spent many hours on the phone talking to each other since we were in different states. The Christmas of that year we decided to meet; so, I travelled to Indiana and there he was. He had come for me in a limousine and that was my first ever. I was so surprised!

A Limousine!!

[Beaming] I know!

He is such a romantic! 

[Her phone starts ringing and Peter’s photo pops up] Oh, my hubby is actually calling. [She talks to him briefly before resuming the interview.] So, like they say, the rest is history. He wrote the most romantic emails. Those were the days of emails.

What do you like the most about him?

He is a principled man. If he says he is going to do something, he does it. He is a very dependable person. He is very hardworking and very passionate about the media. Oh my God! And I think that is one of the things that really appeal to me.

He is as passionate about the media just the way I am passionate about social justice. He has given his life to the purpose of improving media, hence ACME. I like people with a cause.

How have you kept your marriage going despite your busy schedules?

You find a rhythm. Every couple finds their rhythm. It’s finding things to do together as a couple or even as a family. Things like the Christmas holiday are very dear to us.

Sunday lunch is a meal we share as a family, unless one of us has travelled or something. But frankly speaking, we won’t take up appointments that clash with that time unless they are extremely important.  If we realize it’s been a while since we had our time, one of us will tell the other that we need to create that time to talk and catch up.

Tell me about your educational background.

I went to Kampala kindergarten. I sat my P7 at Mengo primary school. I got 10 (aggregates), I still remember; I went to Gayaza High School for six years, I went to Law school, Makerere.

It was the only law school in our days. I went to Law Development Centre, then did my master’s in law in the US at Georgetown law school of Washington D.C on a USAID scholarship for women lawyers.

How old are you?

Forty-seven. I will be 48 this March. I’m slowly inching towards fifty and looking forward to that phase. I thank God that for the last three years, I’ve been consistent with my exercises. I don’t take that for granted.

And you are a mountain climber?

[Laughs] My aunt now calls me Vasco da Gama… Mountain climbing started through social media. I was looking at a friend’s page and she had climbed Mt Rwenzori. I thought I needed to do something new and stretch myself physically, because I had been very lazy when it came to exercising. I was always on and off; so, mountains were a means to do exercise and get fit. They are hard.

Which one was the hardest to climb?

[Thinks for a few seconds] Muhavura was the hardest. You have to climb it and come back in a day because there is nowhere to [camp] and it is steep from start to finish.

When are you climbing Everest?

Hahaha. That one is for pros. And it is super expensive. Mountain climbing is a quite expensive hobby but that said, I would encourage everyone to climb at least one mountain. You challenge yourself both physically and mentally and it is something you are better off experiencing rather than being told.

Did you know?

  • Jackie wrote a column in The Observer, on politics and social justice. She was a member of the Capital Gang and had another talk show on KFM with Nobert Mao and Godber Tumushabe.
  • While many people ignore their house helps, Jackie celebrates her house help’s birthday.
  • She has climbed five mountains: Rwenzori, Elgon, Muhavura, Kilimanjaro and Longonot.
  • She worships at Harvest church.
  • She exercises five to six times a week, alternating between cheza, a dance exercise and walking. She often walks to her office, which is 7km from her home.
  • Her family briefly lived in Canada when her father was doing his master’s degree. After Rev Mugarura’s master’s, he served as the chaplain of St Francis chapel Makerere for 19 years and was fondly referred to as Uncle Ben by his charges.