#OutToLunch Kabaka’s refurbished Rolls Royce shows Uganda’s automotive potential

#OutToLunch Kabaka’s refurbished Rolls Royce shows Uganda’s automotive potential

By Denis Jjuuko

One Sunday morning a few weeks ago, Kabaka Ronald Mutebi, clad in a kanzu turned up at his palace in Mengo to celebrate his belated 67th birthday. On 13 April, the actual day of the celebration, the Kabaka was away in Europe. So the celebration was postponed until after his return.

For the first few years of Charles Peter Mayiga’s Katikkiroship, the kingdom always wanted to celebrate the birthday with a big milestone. At one stage it was the completion of the Masengere building that stands besides Bulange in Mengo which had remained incomplete for nearly 40 years, the Nnamasole Nalule building at Lubiri High School in Buloba or the Mulondo House at the kingdom’s technical and vocational institute in Lubaga among others.

This time round, it was Kabaka’s famed Rolls Royce Phantom V Cloud — one previously used by his father before the attack on the palace in 1966. The car had been severely damaged and ransacked of some of its vital parts and eventually kept at the Uganda Museum where I have no doubt was an unwanted eye sore to the management and the visitors who turned up. It must have been a relief to the managers when the vehicle was taken away. It was in a bad shape. Scrap metal dealers must have been smarting themselves for the day it would be considered for auction.

Yet the kingdom wanted it back not for its scrap metal value but to refurbish it and use it as a ceremonial vehicle whenever the Kabaka wishes. The government of Uganda had no qualms about it — after all it was a scrap metal in every sense of the word.

The kingdom embarked on refurbishing it setting up a committee led by Kampala businessman John Kiyimba Freeman. Refurbishing a car that is almost 60 years old is a daunting task as spare parts are not usually available. Even just today repairing a Corolla DX or Toyota Stout is challenging yet these are cars of the 1990s.

The kingdom managed to raise the money to enable it put the car back on the road — glittering like a lizard that has just been dipped in fresh milk to use the late musician Mowzey Radio’s famous lyrics. It is a remarkable achievement that saw Kabaka Mutebi smiling through his face mask and like most times when he is happy, whispering to a number of his most senior officials in his company.

Besides the symbolism of the kingdom reconstructing its history for its heritage, the refurbishment of the vehicle talks to our increasing capacity in the automotive sector. The automotive industry is a catalyst for overall development due to the practical skills that people adopt. A car on average has 30,000 parts made by many different smaller companies in the automotive value chain.

Wherever a vehicle plant is set up, many other industries that employ far more people thrive. Banks, supermarkets, recreation facilities, insurance and real estate among others set up. The automotive industry creates millions of jobs directly and indirectly.

The guys who worked on Kabaka’s Rolls Royce’s seats, for example, can work on seats of any vehicle so are the people who fit seats in Uganda’s taxis that are largely cargo vans prior to shipment from Japan. Looking at the trim of Kabaka’s limousine and the painting job executed shows how skilled these people are.

But also to turn a car that hasn’t been on the road in almost 60 years up and running is not for the faint hearted. The Kabaka’s Rolls Royce had an automatic gearbox and power windows as well as an air conditioning that was only designed to keep the occupants warm. Today, one needs a car with an air conditioner for all weather patterns. So the mechanics, all Ugandans, figured out a way to upgrade the air conditioning so that it could also provide cool air after all we live in tropics.

These guys have practical skills necessary in today’s world and which are crucial in having our automotive industry off the ground. In many countries that have developed, the automotive industry has been a key player in creating not only sustainable decent jobs but also in spurring the growth of other sectors.

If there is any evidence needed of how much potential our automotive industry has got, the Kabaka’s Rolls Royce story provides a perfect example. It is time to accelerate the automotive industry in Uganda to catapult us into the middle-income category without any world bank doubting us.

The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

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Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Hoima City Stadium provides a blueprint for Uganda’s infrastructural development

OutToLunch: Hoima City Stadium provides a blueprint for Uganda’s infrastructural development By Denis Jjuuko Ugandans may be consumed with what is taking place at the Mandela National Stadium at Namboole where Uganda is hosting some continental matches alongside their Pamoja partners Kenya and Tanzania. The three East African countries are jointly hosting the African Nations Championship (Chan), the precursor to Africa Nations Cup (Afcon), the continental soccer showpiece, which will take place in 2027. Hosting Afcon has always been largely the privilege of west and north African countries. This is the first time that East Africa will be hosting the soccer extravaganza. To do so, there was a need for stadiums and other infrastructure that meet the continental or even international standards. Namboole has been upgraded hence the ongoing Chan tournament. But what is also catching many people’s attention off the refurbished Namboole pitch is something that is taking place some 210km away in the oil rich city of Hoima. When Uganda was awarded the co-hosting rights of Afcon, many people wondered where would the tournament be held. Only Namboole had a chance of meeting the requirements albeit with some major modifications. New stadiums had to be built. Ugandans laughed hard and memes started flying on social media. Not because they are unpatriotic as some people quickly label those with divergent views. They had seen a project too many that couldn’t get done on time. They saw Uganda spending many decades constructing the 21km Northern Bypass that by the time it was completed, some cheeky people had started calling it a Bypath. They had heard endless stories about many infrastructure projects. The Jinja-Kampala Expressway, the Mpigi-Kampala Expressway and even easy to do small-small projects like Kyaliwajjala-Matugga road take forever to be done. They had become skeptical given the years it has taken Lubowa Specialized Hospital to get the building beyond the plinth wall. Airport terminal buildings? Another day please. They expected Hoima City Stadium to follow a similar path. Perhaps, because this involves some continental body in the Confederation of African Football (CAF), organisers of Afcon, the country finally awarded a contract to somebody who seems to know what they are doing in SUMMA, a Turkish outfit that has built a reputation for building stadiums in Africa and handing them over in time. What they have done since construction commenced in Hoima in September 2024 is sort of a miracle by Ugandan standards. With a budget of US$129m and constructing a 20,000-seat stadium, they have shown that a project can be worked on as scheduled. And I say this well knowing that they haven’t completed the job. Given the progress that they have made, there is no doubt that they won’t complete the job ahead of schedule. The Hoima City Stadium contractor is perhaps new in Uganda and hasn’t caught the usual bug. They have not blamed the rains like most contractors do. They have not said they can’t get materials because of the war in the Middle East or Ukraine. They haven’t blamed forex fluctuations. They haven’t blamed the invisible Powers from Above. They haven’t claimed local politicians are against the project. They have said nothing about witchcraft. They have not said Ugandans are lazy, don’t want to work and report for work while clutching sachets of illicit beverages. They have not said they can’t work at night. They have not said there is no budget or some release from the Ministry of Finance delayed. They have not appeared at any parliamentary committee to beg for this or that. Nobody has seen a letter from them asking the president for this or the other. They have simply gone on with the assignment. They have shown that Rome can be built in one day if we focused on it. That government infrastructural projects can be started and worked on as scheduled. And since we love benchmarking, the SUMMA project manager, once has finished their assignment, maybe should go on a workshop spree, teaching our contractors and their supervisors that projects today shouldn’t take as much time as building St Peter’s Basilica or the Notre Dame. And it isn’t difficult to complete projects on time. If you see an official whose desk is full of files, don’t then make him the project manager. If he can’t read the files on his desk on time, how would he manage a project that needs to be delivered on time? If money isn’t available, then don’t embark on launching the project. And hire a competent contractor. Hoima City Stadium is providing a blueprint we must all embrace. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

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Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Subdividing land failed homeowners, time to flip that real estate model

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Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: It is our turn to eat, the politicians have eaten enough

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