Innocent Atuhaire, Kereson Katongore, Evelyn Ninsiima Kikafunda, and Lilian Kamusiime at the Fundraising Dinner, Serena Kampala Hotel, Friday December 13, 2024. (Photo credit: Kigezi Television)

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 Henry Ariganyira Musaasizi, the Minister of State for Finance, Planning and Economic Development (General Duties), held a very successful fundraising dinner at Serena Kampala Hotel on Friday December 13, in support of an ICOB-Apex-driven project to install an Internet and Communication Technology (ICT) and e-learning Centre at St. Agatha Girl’s Secondary School, Kakore, Rubanda District. The estimated cost of the project, which includes a new building and a 100-station computer network, is Sh. 500 million (US$137,400.) 

The fundraising dinner, whose chief guest was Gen. Katumba Wamala, the Minister of Works and Transport, was attended by Musaasizi’s friends, business leaders, a few members of parliament, and leaders of St. Agatha Kakore. Other friends and colleagues who were unable to attend, including Anita Annet Among, the Speaker of Parliament, sent very generous donations that boosted the efforts of the attendees. 

Among those at the dinner were Lilian Kamusiime, and Evelyne Ninsiima Kikafunda, both members of the Apex Board of Directors of ICOB. Ninsiima Kikafunda, who served as Master of Ceremonies, worked with Musaasizi to achieve a very successful fundraising exercise.

Before the dinner began, Sh.100 million (US$28,000) had already been raised. By the end of the dinner, a total of Sh.390 million (US$107,000) was raised. Some of the money will go towards the completion of a new building that will house the project. The rest will be added to ICOB’s donation for installation of a state-of-the-art ICT/e-Learning Centre at the school. 

Musaasizi’s action exemplified the spirit of commitment to socioeconomic transformation that was at the heart of the founding of ICOB in Toronto, Canada 21years ago. ICOB’s founders recognized that most Banyakigyezi with formal education stood on the shoulders of their forebears whose sacrifice and investment had propelled them towards academic and professional success. ICOB would be a vehicle through which its members would give back to their community and invest in the next generations. 

The founders insisted that ICOB members would give to, not take from, their people, most of whom were less economically privileged than their kinsmen in Kampala, other urban areas of Uganda, and other countries. It was agreed that ICOB would not take any money from the Uganda Government to finance its annual conventions or other operating expenses. Instead, ICOB would work with the Government of Uganda to support the needs and development of Kigyezi. 

In the last 20 years, ICOB-Apex has funded an electrical installation program in Kanungu District (2009), and Internet and Communication Technology (ICT) projects in Rukungiri District (2008 and 2013), Kisoro District (2012), Kabale District (2017), and Rukiga District (2024). The Uganda Government has supplemented ICOB’s work through provision of additional computers and ICT educators to these institutions.

Furthermore, the Government has endorsed ICOB’s engagement with the African Development Bank to support one of the beneficiary colleges, and the adoption of another college by the Korean International Cooperation Agency. These impactful projects are visible evidence of the hard work and sacrifice of the Diaspora ICOB that has been led by people whose singular purpose has been to give to, not to take from, their people in their homeland. 

In their earlier operations, the ICOB-Apex leaders, who were mostly based in Canada, UK and USA, lacked consistently active collaborators on the ground in Uganda. (Tumusiime Mutebile, Athanasius Rutaro, and Peninah Ngategize were an exception.) A divergence of vision, attitudes and work methods severely undermined any hope of creating a seamless and accountable partnership with the former Uganda Chapter that had been launched in December 2009. Things fell apart when ICOB-Apex sought to restructure and strengthen collaborative and accountable relationships with its affiliate chapters. 

Whereas the leaders and members of the Canada, UK and USA chapters accepted the new terms of affiliation with ICOB-Apex, the leaders of the Uganda Chapter refused to participate in the new arrangement, which would have included rigorous adherence to transparent and accountable management of these public organizations. They ended the Uganda Chapter’s membership in ICOB on March 15, 2021. Without being a member chapter of ICOB, the Uganda Chapter formally ceased to exist. Efforts by the current President of ICOB to find a solution to the impasse have been rebuffed by the group that previously led the defunct Uganda Chapter. 

The leaders of ICOB, which now had only three member chapters (Canada, USA, and UK) turned this challenge into an opportunity. They invited Lilian Kamusiime and Evelyne Ninsiima Kikafunda, two dynamic, focused and accomplished Kigyezi-based contributors to community development, to become active members and leaders of ICOB. Elected to the Board of ICOB in July 2023, Kamusiime and Ninsiima Kikafunda, grabbed the baton and invested their personal energy, time and money to supervise the development and installation of an ICT/e-Learning Centre at Kihanga Secondary School in Rukiga District. Their extraordinary commitment to the successful completion and launch of that project exemplified the spirit of generosity and sacrifice that was at the core of ICOB’s founding.  

After the successful launch of the Kihanga Project in March this year, they turned their attention to ICOB’s next project. They have since been joined by Hon. Musaasizi. When I spoke with Musaasizi when he was in London to attend the ICOB Convention in July this year, he promised to work hard to support the work of the organization. He immediately teamed up with Ninsiima Kikafunda, Lilian Kamusiime, and Kereson Katongore, the headteacher of St. Agatha Kakore, to drive the process of turning a dream to reality. Five months later, he has surpassed expectations. 

Not once has Kamusiime or Ninsiima Kikafunda asked for funds from either ICOB or the Uganda Government to discharge their philanthropic obligations to the country that elevated them to their privileged positions as highly educated women. They have been diligent in their collaborative work with ICOB Ambassador Musaasizi, and Innocent Atuhaire, the Chairman of the Board of Governors, and Kereson Katongore, the headteacher of St. Agatha Girls’ Secondary School, Kakore. It is not surprising that this team has already achieved success ahead of schedule. 

Musaasizi, Kamusiime, and Ninsiima Kikafunda are the only official representatives of ICOB in Uganda. They are the kind of leaders that Kigyezi and Uganda need. Their focus is the community, not personal gain. They dig into their pockets to serve their people. They do not use their people’s needs to extract money from the national treasury for personal use. Their exceptional organizational skills have attracted voluntary help by people from other communities. That is the essence of legacy creation. That is what the founders of ICOB had in mind. 

 © Muniini K. Mulera