Rubanonzya, The Hero

Rasto Karayegire Rubanonzya, was my paternal great grandfather, i.e he sired my paternal grandfather James Kanyorozi. He lived around the period 1930s-1980s. The Basingo would say, "N'omusingo Mukuru" - meaning he is a clan/tribe elder. In both family history and clan history, Karayegire (though people shortened it to Karagire) Rubanonzya stands tall and is still well remembered, more than 40 years since his demise. As far as our family goes, he made this family history as we know it. We're now in the 4th generation after him, i.e his children (our grand parents) had children (our parents), who had children (us), who also now have kids (those who already have them). But you can't start digging up family history without coming across his name - Rubanonzya! A man saw me in Bwera recently, and asked me; ori mwijukuru wa rubanonzya? Are you  grandson of Rubanonzya? It was surprising, given that I did not know and had never seen the man. Since he was drunk, I thought, huh... maybe its the alcohol but he told me that we the children of Karayegire need to be told about him, properly from people like him, who knew him well. 

I became passive attentive!


This was the night of Mwine Abel's wedding (my first cousin, so of my paternal aunt), at their village home, in Bwera, Ssembabule, earlier this year. So I made it a point to focus my family research into knowing who Karayegire was, I man I never knew because by the time I was 1 or two years old, he had died around that time in early eighties. I had not given him enough focused research, but days later after the man's conversation,I was sleeping when a voice told me, out of nowhere and without prompting, a voice came in my sleep saying; in order to understand Karayegire, you need to know all his wives and the children he had with each of those wives. 


He had always been mystery because many interesting stories had been told about him, by his children (our parents/aunties/uncles), though disconnected and from different times. It now began to make sense as I began calling again, to aunties, relatives in different parts of the country; into his wives. I have tried to summaries his marriages  and the children out of those marriages or concubines, in the tree below

He is still remembered very well today, for he was a prominent man in his time, and not just another male figure to record in family history. He remains a constant centre of discussion in the family because he shaped the way many things turned out.He got the big land that our parents grew up on. He raised the large herds of cattle, that put our family name on the map. He had the attitude of, and run his family, which was a large homestead consisting many homes in the same homestead, he run it like a king on the throne. He made the rules for his wives, kids and the wives of his kids. 


On his children, he had three biological children in his lifetime;

1. Kirungu
2. James Kanyorozi
3. Zorirwa / Rubakaka

And raised six others fully as his own, kids by wives/concubines 

1. Kosiya
2. Kamashaazi
3. Kamabaati
4. Kaharanguzi
5. Rosetti / Rosemary
6. Matama / Kabazarwe

History shows that James Kanyorozi, his son, was the first to pass on, thus leaving the big family in the old man's hands. 

A few years later, at the time of his passing, it is remembered that there were two bodies buried on that day. He died from a stroke, after receiving news that his grand daughter [Mariam Kachaku] who had been to hospital to give birth, had died after delivering baby twins [Kivengyere and Kamankazi ]. So it was not an ordinary day, or burial.

Writing: Why Do It

At some point Social Media overtook movies, in terms of being interesting, and so I reverted my time, unknowingly to social media - Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc. Reading people's statuses, watching clips, writing my own status, its really a handful, if you try and do it across a few platforms. There is nothing as wrong as putting a movie on, and then minimizing it to check Facebook - that will be the end of it! A guy who used to live for watching movies, even transfinite, now finds himself watching half, then quarter a movie and jumping to Social. Even as I wrote this, a movie is in pause (for the last few hours) as I scavenged social media.

Anyway, I'm putting context to this post. At the bottom of all this myriad, one is in

constant search of order. You want to have order, organisation. You want activities to follow each other logically, create an itinerary to what you want to do, and have your time to be maximally used. Why, so that you can be clear to others, be efficient. In recent years efficiency doesn't just mean personal time, it has increasingly become of resources use, vis-a-vis the environment, where by you have to be conscious of your impact to the environment. Still on context...

So we must pick a few things that we love and want to do, and then do them the best we can and in best coordination with the environment. There is too much information out there. And more is to come. As more people become connected, they become producers of original information, and we're all amazed at each post. 

Is there a role for structured writers? What about expertise? Since everyone is putting stuff out, by stuff I mean - status, photo, video, animations, gifs, and lets not talk about marketing. Is there order to this. It would seem like, for someone looking for order, delving into all of this is the wrong criteria. But is it? Can you create order to what you don't know. 

Order is a mind thing. You create order in the mind first, before arranging things or thoughts in a way that makes better sense physically. 

I do believe that the highest forms of being organised is being a writer - a good one. I have tried for years to organise my mind upto a level that, I would have a logical flow of thoughts. It hasn't happened. I dream of one day authoring at-least one book that makes sense, and yet what to write about totally desserts me. Whenever I ponder that, its like I become totally useless. Its like I know nothing. All things to write about vanish. So how can I want to author something, and yet at the same time have nothing in the head to write extensively, meaningfully, interestingly about. I don't know. I read an essay on a writer's masterclass, and it said "do not write sentences, write stories". In that my book would be a collection of short stories! A children' book perhaps.

Anyway, writing is fun, but getting your thoughts to be detailed enough is one heck of a task -one I'm constantly in the mechanical shop for.