In fact, if one is to go with commentaries of leading government and opposition figures, Bukenya’s impeccably cultured approach witnessed by Ugandans last week during nominations, has been credited with restoring a sense of optimism at the EC.
However, beyond allaying fears, refuting claims and assuring the nation of a free and fair election, the 47-year-old has endured a career full of twists and turns; from being raised by a single mum in Mengo-Kisenyi to witnessing macabre events of the eighties before turning to God to salvage his career.
He even performed alongside Kato Lubwama and Steve Jean before dedicating his career to the EC, where he has served for the past 20 years. He shared his life journey with The Observer.
Bukenya describes himself as city-born having spent his entire childhood in the suburb of Mengo.
“My life is a very simple one; I was born in Mengo, grew up there, studied in schools around and to top it off, married a young lady from Mengo,” he says.
Born March 23, 1973 to Charles Bukenya and Christine Akiiki Kabayaga, he is the fifth born in a family of eight.
“I don’t recall much of the 1970s, but I remember the last days of the 1979 war when my parents split up; so, my siblings and I moved with our mother to a place on Lubaga road,” he says.
“Less than a kilometer from our home was Lubiri army barracks and a kilometer away was Republic house [now Bulange building]; so, it was quite a tough and tense environment.”
Because his mother was the sole breadwinner working in St Balikuddembe market (Owino), she did not earn enough to put the children in school. They were lucky to be taken up by a charity organization, Africa Foundation, which was started by Rev Kefa Sempangi to care for street children.
“The organization paid for all my primary education at Mengo Mutesa II Memorial School,” he says.
From P1 to P3, Bukenya recalls that studies were conducted in Luganda and the only textbook was the Bible.
“I got to love reading right from that point despite not having books at home because our main priority was looking for food. After school, my siblings and I would go to Nakivubo stadium to watch football while we waited to return home with our mother,” he says.
Due to the insecurity at the time, football games often ended early, which gave him enough time to pick up neglected newspapers that the spectators had sat on in the stands.
“I remember picking up Munno, Ngabo, The Star, Uganda Times. Although I didn’t know how to read English well, I would read the Luganda papers,” he says.
Nakivubo stadium became a library of sorts for the Bukenya children and it is here that he developed the love for reading. At times, chaos from warring teams at the stadium would spill over to Owino, where his mother sold groceries such as sugar, rice and flour.
“Some evenings, we would be helping her when soldiers would storm the market with brown paper bags and collect maize flour from stall to stall. Our mother obliged without any hesitation. Vendors used to call this akagugumuko and failure to comply with the soldiers’ demands was suicidal,” he says.
In school, Bukenya’s good performance captured the eyes of social workers who recommended that he be moved to the fairly better Kyaggwe Road primary school for P4 and P5. The school, near Kisekka market, has since been converted into a mall.
“After being exposed to the city, I got involved in various juvenile acts like loitering in town; so, my grades started dropping,” he says.
The social workers then recommended him to be taken to good school with Christian values. That is how he ended up at Mengo primary school for P6 and P7. Here, he developed leadership skills with the help of then head teacher, Rose Mukandori.
“She helped me develop a love for communication and public speaking. I would write poems and stories and present them during assemblies. Mengo Primary instilled strong Christian values in me,” he says.
MUSICAL EXPLOITS
After completing P7 in 1987, it was routine to join Mengo SS. In the course of six years there, Bukenya developed as a musician, writer and communicator. The school also gave him an environment to put his skills to the test.
“In my Senior 1, Ms Mukandori recommended me to join the prestigious Namirembe Cathedral choir but I didn’t stay long there due to some irregularities about my baptism documents as well as the onerous routine to attend choir practices,” he says.
Undeterred to fulfill his musical path, Bukenya was introduced to a piano at the First Presbyterian church near the family home in Mengo. At school, Bukenya and classmates formed a band they named Super World.
“I had become proficient in the keyboard and we used to per- form cover songs and live music during school concerts,” he says. “We played Lingala, reggae and hip hop. I personally used to perform Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby rap,” he recalls.
In October 1994 Bukenya joined Makerere University for a BA in arts (political science, religious studies and literature), majoring in Literature.
“That exposed me to American literature, Puritan literature, African literature and communication units. I was unable to do mass communication, having missed it by a few points, but I knew I wanted to be a reporter and write stories for the media.”
He graduated in 1997 and taught literature in some schools around town as he looked for a job. “My brother and good friend Joel Kiwanuka told me there was an opportunity to build my skill as a keyboard player.”
And like that, Bukenya took internship training at Peter Ssematimba’s Dungeon Studios, learning to work with musical and production sound.
“My keyboard skills earned me a place on a musical play featuring Kato Lubwama, Mariam Ndagire and the team, which turned out to be my first full-time job. At this point, I was struggling with whether I wanted to take on the music career or stay on course with journalism. So, I still kept an eye out on media, writing poems and reading them on Radio Uganda every Sunday.”
JOURNALISM
Bukenya’s journalistic embers were reignited when Lighthouse television (LTV) entered the market and planned to have a news bulletin and Media Plus, the private company that produced the station’s news, was hiring.
“To my surprise, I was handed a camera as the available job, which I took,” Bukenya remembers.
That is when he also joined the Electoral Commission to help in data processing on a temporary basis. As he sorted the documentation at EC, the organization held a press conference but the reporter who used to help them record the proceedings had not come, and Bukenya was around and knew his way around a camera.
“I volunteered to [record]. I was introduced to the PRO who called Media Plus and talked to Bart Kakooza to verify what I was telling him. I then joined the team on temporary basis.”
JOINING EC
In 1999, Bukenya applied for another temporary position as the EC set up an audio/visual unit and he got the position, and in 2000 he started running the whole unit, documenting all the activities of the EC, and finally becoming permanent staff.
The team quickly realized Bukenya had good writing skills and Teddy Mugote, then deputy PRO, helped him perfect his writing. From Hajji Aziz Kasujja, to Engineer Badru Kiggundu and now Justice Simon Byabakama, Bukenya has seen the EC handle election after election, as he quietly learned on the sidelines.
“I’ve had so many teachers along the way. PR was housed under [the legal department], so, we would sit with the lawyers and talk about how best to tell particular stories. When everyone would go home, I would stay behind and read through the laws. When the 2000 referendum came, we did well. I walked home one day, sat back and watched the story on UTV, and praised God that it was my story, pictures and the script I had taken and edited, and the journey has never stopped since,” he recalls with a look of pride.
He still loves doing the journalistic component of his work at the EC.
“From the beginning, I knew that communication was exactly what I wanted to do. Every time I engage with an audience, I want to tell them a story.”
COMMUNICATING FOR THE EC
Bukenya has always come across as the coolheaded spokesperson at EC, no matter how ugly the accusations against the organization get, or how turbulent an election season becomes.
“I think it’s the unique job we all need to do and it is not just unique in Uganda, but you can only do your part, as humanly as possible. Most cases you are in the corner for crucifixion; so, you need to be verily sober so that you don’t escalate an already tense situation,” he says.
“Every time I enter into a studio or join a panel, I ask God to give me the wisdom, the favour and grace because it needs more than the notes and facts to address people on electoral matters.”
Does he even ever get angry? This man seems to have a standard countenance.
“I get angry, but there’s a principle that I try to build: I bring to memory that I’m the electoral authority in the room, I’m addressing journalists, commentators, politicians, and they all have nothing to lose. As the election expert, I need to try as much to remain in full control. It is important to remember what’s at stake, the training, the years invested, and the institution which is looking up to you.”
And every journalist that has dealt with Bukenya can confirm that he lives up to this principle.
BUKENYA’S PERSONAL LIFE
They say, marry a friend; and Bukenya is one of the lucky ones to have lived by that principle.
“I married a childhood friend Lydia Nakityo Mbabazi Bukenya. I didn’t have a hard time settling on the person I wanted to marry because she was within our circles already. I didn’t know that would happen, but God providentially made it that way,” the soft-spoken man says.
“ Our families first met within the Mengo area around 1983 because there were some tragic incidents that pulled the families together. During those days, one of the prominent people in Bakuli, Mr Bitwire, fell victim to the rampant shootings. My brother and I stumbled upon [my wife’s] father’s body on our way to school. I didn’t know that was the day I saw my father-in-law.”
In 2002, Bukenya married his childhood sweetheart and it has been 18 years, two sons Jordan and Jossiah, and a daughter Joan. Like many people who have benefitted from charity at one point in life, the Bukenyas are paying the blessing forward, raising many other children in their home.
THE CHURCH LEADER
Outside of EC work, Bukenya is also a church leader in the Presbyterian Church. Here, he counsels youth and young couples about the values of Christianity.
He also often travels to different places as a public speaker and mentors many youths through the various church activities. In fact, true to his Christian calling, Buke- nya is also currently pursuing a master’s in Theology, which he hopes to complete next year.