NAMED! Uganda’s top stingy men & women revealed (part 4)

 

In the book of Proverbs 20:21, an inheritance gained hurriedly at the beginning will not be blessed in the end.  Quick money is often thought of as a blessing – but often is more like a curse. This proverb is all about warning us of the dangers of quickly gaining money and wealth without having the character to deal with what we receive.  This reading teaches people to get money and guard it safely and jealousy, so being stingy on your money is not a crime at all. Stingy men in Kampala are very rich and they know how to protect their money/wealth.

Remember, the stingy shall inherit the earth. The generous shall die with regrets. Following this some men in Uganda formed an association and wrote a constitution to protect the rights of the stingy men.

Members of the Stingy Men Association Uganda (SMAU) call themselves ‘Stingers’ for there is no pain than to deny other people the gains of our sweat. Not all the members written about hereunder are members of association but they behave in a similar manner.  For a person to qualify as a Member of SMAU, he is not supposed to pledge at weddings extravagantly, dish out free money, give transport refunds anyhow and spend on luxurious things. In our part one, we bring you Ugandan men who are frugal with their money and they carry no blame at all.

BALAAM KANTU

He is one proud socialite who some time back appeared in the news brandishing an AK47 yet he is not a soldier. He is always with Alexander Akandwanaho. He is a commission agent who earns commission in millions. But when it comes to spending or paying a bill in a bar, Kantu will call himself and keeps busy on the phone talking to himself. Once the bill is cleared, he joins the conversation. He only spends sparingly when he is drinking from cheap places like Kantina in Kiwatule.

PROF. KAMUNTU

Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu has worked for donkey years since the 1970s and is assumed to be donating to charity organizations. The former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs develops goose-bumps when he receives a letter inviting him for a fundraising event.   A story is told that while he was campaigning in 2021 parliamentary polls which he lost, one of his campaign managers pledged 30 bags of cement before his arrival. When he appeared and got briefed that they pledged 30 bags of cement on his behalf, he said “Eeeeehhhh mwana we kawagwisa akagwe…waba nobaha enshaho ishatu zonka, mbwenu wanyita!) Literally meaning ‘you have made a sacrilegious sin, you would have pledged 3 bags, and you have ‘financially killed me’.

GEORGE WILLIAM KANAGIZI

He is the owner of now defunct Kibungo Bus Services and is very well entrenched in the real estate business. He is loaded. But Kanagizi operates on a tight budget. He tells a story that some years back, he met the former Governor of Bank of Uganda Tumusiime Mutebile (now deceased) at Sheraton Hotel and insisted that he will be the one to pay the bill. Before he left the hotel, he asked for his bill and commanded that they also include the one of the BoU governor. When they gave him the bill he shouted like he had been stabbed with a sharp machete “kahayole omushaija yanywire return” literally meaning ‘Oh my…the man has drunk money equivalent to the collections of Kibungo Coach to and from Kabale.’ Mutebire silenced him and cleared the bill.

BOBI WINE

We shall address Robert Sentamu Kyagulanyi’s behavior of about five years ago. He could have been changed by circumstances. Bobi Wine used to hang out in clubs, Kamwokya and Buddies in Ntinda. His bouncers and brothers were aware that if one ordered for a drink he would pay for it. He could not even pay the entrance fee for some of his bouncers at clubs. Once bounced, they would wait for him outside. Bobi Wine is stingy and knows how to use money. Before his wedding, very many people contributed for him and even before the wedding, it is on record he used part of the money to purchase land in Kamwokya. He was so lucky that all the guys at his Kamwokya office had learnt his ways and were comfortable with him. Since old habits die hard, those close to him say even when he seems to have arrived (by joining politics where he is enjoying NUP donor and IPOD cash plus some loyalties from party MPs) , he has not abandoned his stingy old behaviours.

HENRY MAGOOBA

He is a renowned socialite in Bugolobi and around Kampala. He is always in the circles of people like Alexander Akandwanaho, Ivan Byamugisha. He only knows to spend on himself and not other people. He likes living a good life in town and had refused to build in the village. Recently when he lost his brother, he alerted a few friends. But somehow when they learnt about the tragedy they drove posh rides to bury him. Most of them got shocked and told him openly that ‘stop spending on yourself and construct a small house in the village’.

ABID ALAM

He is the chairman of The Alam Group which is involved in steel manufacturing, aluminum processing, agricultural implements, footwear, sugar manufacture, electricity generation, floriculture, real estate development and management, tourist lodges and motels and the manufacture of liquid petroleum gas, among other investments. Alam Group’s headquarters and majority of companies are in Uganda, where it directly employs over 3,000 people the companies of Alam Group include Rolling Steel Mills – Jinja, Saimmco Limited – Soroti, Sugar & Allied Industries Limited – Kaliro, Kaliro Power Station, Crocodile Tool Company Limited, Alam Property Limited, Rhino Footwear Limited, Casements Africa Limited, Roofclad Limited – Kampala, Oxygas Limited, Geo Lodges Limited – Kampala, Ama Ply Limited – Kampala and Ekono Homes Limited – Kampala. His management style in all his companies is the same – docking workers’ money once something is not in order. We shall not call him SMAU but a capitalist – all capitalists are stingy. You can visit him at his industrial area based offices and go back without even a single coin for transport. There is even no AC in his office. Always dusty with old furniture and dusty books and papers spread everywhere.

ALYKHAN KARMALI

He is a businessman, entrepreneur, industrialist, and philanthropist in Uganda. He is the managing director of Mukwano Industries Uganda Limited, a member company of the Mukwano Group. He also served as a non-executive director of Exim Bank (Uganda), a commercial bank in which the Mukwano Group maintains 36.5 percent shareholding. He has no bad record about paying workers. However, when it comes to spending on extras he is like his deceased father. By the time Mukwano died, he was living in Fort Portal because he refered to Kampala life as luxurious. It is on record that while in town he used to drive a very small vehicle (Kikumi Kumi) silver in colour to economize fuel. On the highway Mukwano maintained an old model Toyota Land Cruiser yet he was one of the richest Ugandans. His son inherited not only the wealth but stinginess.

MUWANGA KIVUMBI

He is so stingy that he sometimes says it. DP’s Kivumbi was groomed by the Lukwago’s and he would go to the chambers for lunch of chips and chicken. But when he went to parliament and got money, he would find it difficult even to take tea with an accompaniment. Before going to parliament, he was a teacher at an institute. When he went for greener pastures, his fellow teachers who expected to share on the cake were left murmuring.

PROF. V BARYAMUREEBA

Venansius Baryamureeba is a certified mathematician, computer scientist, and academic administrator. He was the Acting vice chancellor of the Uganda Technology and Management University, a private university in Uganda, from September 2013 until 28 September 2015. He left the position to join the presidential race in Uganda to take place in 2016. Before that, he served as the vice chancellor of Makerere University from November 2009 until August 2012. He is so stingy that when he was campaigning recently for the post of Ibanda Municipality MP in the NRM Primaries he did not even spend on his campaign managers and he ended up losing miserably. His stinginess caused him problems at Makerere University after he reportedly failed to facilitate a young girl that rushed to FIDA and reported a case that he ballooned her and refused to take care. Yet he could have resolved matters quietly. TO BE CONTINUED… (DO YOU KNOW ANY MEMBER OF SMAU OR THOSE BEHAVING LIKE SMAU MEMBERS INCLUDING WOMEN?  CALL/TEXT/WHATSAPP 0777959024 OR EMAIL: REDPEPPERTIPS@GMAIL.COM)