AFRIGO Uganda’s Most Popular Live Band

Uganda’s most popular live band

Words by Kalungi Kabuye Words by Kalungi Kabuye

In April 1979, if you had asked Moses Matovu the prospects of the survival of Afrigo Band, he would probably have told you that they were very low. It was a chaotic time in Uganda after President Idi Amin lost the war against Tanzania and Ugandan exiles. Long suffering Ugandans expressed their suppressed frustrations and anger in an orgy of looting. Afrigo did not survive unscathed.

“Because we had been playing at Cape Town Villas, one of President Amin’s favourite spots, all our instruments were looted,” Matovu remembers. “We were left with nothing - not even a guitar or a set of drums. I believed then that it was the end of the band.”

More than four decades later, Afrigo is very active and arguably the country’s most popular live band; a testimony of its enduring ability to survive. It has been a journey of surviving incredible odds - reaching incredible heights of success, then down to record lows, and up again! They have seen band members murdered, others fled the country into exile, and others left to form their bands - but Afrigo has survived.

By 1974, the Cranes Band was one of the most popular in the land. There was a rivalry with the then Tames Band, led by Peterson Mutebi, but Cranes was the people’s favourite. And then disaster struck.

One day, in April of the same year, the band members gathered for a regular rehearsal, and the management (Sam Kawalya and John Clyde Mayanja) had an announcement to make. “We’re sorry, but we’re closing the band. Things are not going as smoothly as we want,” Matovu remembers Kawalya telling them. “It came as a shock to us; we didn’t know what to do. We had been playing together for a long time, we were like family. Where would we all go?”

Below:

The Cranes Band in the early 70s. Members were later to form Afrigo Band

The ‘senior’ members of the band - Matovu, Charles Sekyanzi and Jeff Sewava - decided they would continue playing on their own. But how was a band without instruments going to operate? This was in 1974 when President Amin’s Economic War was in full swing, which meant that everything was either in short supply or not available. Indian traders, who owned all the music stores, had been kicked out of the country; there were no instruments to buy.

But, like it would happen every time the band was seemingly at the bottom, a way out presented itself. Uganda was due to host the OAU summit in 1975 and President Amin bought new musical instruments for all the bands that played at hotels where the delegates would be staying. That meant that those bands’ old instruments were available to be bought.

With their ‘new-old’ instruments, they started rehearsing. They had to come up with a name, and Matovu’s Africa Go Black Power took the day. “The 1970s were times of Pan Africanism and activism, so it was natural for us young men to choose a name that reflected that,” says long-time Director James Wasula.

On November 5, 1975, the band played at Bat Valley Bar and Restaurant for the first time. The audience easily took to them because they had seen them play with the Cranes Band. The name Africa Go Black Power was a mouthful and was eventually trimmed to Afrigo. Then came the gig at Cape Town Villas that would lead to their instruments being looted.

As Matovu tells it, a friend that used to work at Cape Town Villas arranged for the band to play on Sundays. One Sunday, President Amin, who was at the poolside, heard them play.“He enjoyed the music and we were immediately informed that entertaining at the Cape Town Villas was a permanent job,” says Matovu.

They didn’t want to stop playing at Bat Valley since the proprietor had been there for them through the hard times. But nobody said no to Amin. And they had to keep in mind that one of the band members, Jesse Kasirivu, lover to President Amin’s future wife Sarah, had ‘disappeared’.

The gig turned out to be quite successful because there were not that many places then that sold beer; up to 20,000 people turned up whenever Afrigo was playing. There were some very unnerving moments, especially when President Amin walked in unannounced and wanted to play with them. “Amin would simply walk in and ask to play the accordion,” Matovu says. “No one dared instruct him which key to play. There were times he simply ordered you to play a song you had not rehearsed.”

Then came the war, and the band was back to square one, without any instruments. Wasula and other directors decided to buy whatever instruments

Above: Moses Matovu

They didn’t want to stop playing at Bat Valley since the proprietor had been there for them through the hard times. But nobody said no to Amin. And they had to keep in mind that one of the band members, Jesse Kasirivu, lover to President Amin’s future wife Sarah, had ‘disappeared’.

they could find on the black market. “It was laughable,” Matovu says, “Most of the instruments that we bought were ours – the same instruments that were stolen from us. Uganda was a controversial country in those days.”

In December 1979, Afrigo started playing at Slow Boat Bar over the weekends. Because of the security situation then, they would play from 2pm to 8pm - it was not safe for anyone to stay out late into the night. “We went from playing to a crowd of 20,000 people to less than 50,” Matovu says.

The 1980 elections provided the band with an opportunity when Ruhakana Rugunda hired them to play at President Yoweri Museveni’s then Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM) rallies. “Experience had taught us not to get involved in politics, and the band did not compose any political songs,” says Wasula. But the tough times caught up with the band, yet again. Most of them were arrested and imprisoned during the Obote II regime. At one time, all the band members were arrested and it took the intervention of Gen. Oyite Ojok, who was their fan, to get them released.

It was not until late 1986 that the good times returned for the band; they went back to perform at Bat Valley, now renamed Little Flowers. The country’s top musicians, most returning from exile, played with the band. Those were heady days, and the song Afrigo Batuuse was an apt celebration of the good times and sense of freedom that prevailed.

But again, disaster struck. The band was too big and their success led to a breakup that resulted in two separate bands - Afrigo I and Afrigo 2. They were fighting for the same audience. Eventually, only the core of the band remained, and they moved to Fairway Hotel for a forgettable period.

The band went through an unsettled phase, playing at different places like Sheraton Hotel, then Ggaba Beach and Calendar Guest House in Makindye. They eventually settled at House of Entertainment at Crested Towers for another golden period that lasted from 1993 to the year 2000, when it moved to Club Obligato on 2nd Street, Industrial Area.

Over the years, many members left, and only Matovu remains of the original band. He is joined by Saidi Kasule, one of the original members of Cranes Band in the early 70s. Joanita Kawalya and Rachel Magoola joined in the 80s and are still with the band.

Afrigo Band made it full circle in 2009 when it moved back to Little Flowers, renamed the New Club Obligato. On weekends, Uganda’s longest surviving band can be found here, playing its unique ‘semadongo’ sound.

It was laughable...most of the instruments that we bought were ours – the same instruments that were stolen from us. Uganda was a controversial country in those days. ”

Left: Joanita Kawalya performing with the Afrigo Band

Right: Rachel Magoola (centre), with Afrigo dancers Jacinta Wamboka (left) and Sarah Nansikombi (right)

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