He explained that he was grown up by farming parents who instilled in him the spirit. “I was born at Namuganga in Kayini parish, in a very poor village family; my father taught us to do work and to be persistent in whatever we do.
Kabonge Frederick Ssenfuma, the headteacher for Kawuku Boarding Primary School in Kimenyedde sub-county in Mukono district, and popularly known simply as ‘Master’ among food vendors in the neighbouring markets, is the proud, happy and satisfied teacher-turned farmer operating a ten-acre banana plantation, one acre of tomatoes, a sizeable garden of sweet potatoes and cassava all at Nyweddemalwa village, in Kimenyedde sub-county, Mukono district.
Additionally, Master Kabonge owns a three-acre coffee plantation in neigbbouring village and, as if this is not big enough to keep him comfortably running his school and managing his other business and family requirements, he is currently scouting for another ten acres of land to multiply his banana growing business. To Kabonge, the sky seems to be the limit.
Kabonge who on Thursday 11th December conducted a KYAGGWE TV team around his farm, says that on average, he collects a cool not less than sh50m quarterly/per season with which he has managed to educate his children, three currently at Kampala International university.
He has installed a 10,000 litre water tank in the middle of his banana plantations with a permanently flowing natural water source, which enables him to irrigate his crops no matter the climatic condition at any given period of the year. He employs close to ten workers who are rotated in the gardens on a daily basis, to keep stubborn weeds at bay.
On the day of our visit, we found over 10 bodaboda motor cyclists and almost twice more food vendors from markets in the vicinity, waiting to buy matooke (it happened to be one of the two harvest days in a month), and practically fighting for matooke as it was harvested from the stem by workers. A bunch goes on average between sh8,000-30,000 at garden price, with traders vending at as high as sh40,000 depending on size and period.
They were eagerly bracing for the second harvest in a month, falling around the 21st December, a few days to Christmas when food prices shot up almost by instinct, and some were volunteering to pay in advance.
One such vendor, Gwokyalya Cissy Nalongo operating at Bubiro village in neighbouring Nagojje sub-county, was frank enough and said Kabonge’s banana plantation has for years been the mainstay of over 100 vendors and has saved them the bother of buying from high priced transporters travelling from as far as western Uganda.
“I have personally managed to educate my children from proceeds from here, and I have come over the common family wrangles related to non-payment of school fees by husbands”, Gwokyalya said.
“I never went to these vendors but they somehow got wind of my cheap food and took me by storm now for close to ten years,” Kabonge proudly said.
On how he has managed to control the rampant food thieves in the area, he said he applied a tactical move by creating rapport with communities who voluntarily took it upon themselves to ensure no thief gets close to their market source.
Master Kabonge expressed willingness to inspire fellow teachers to take a leaf from him, and among the most flourishing ones is Nsubuga Yusuf, the headteacher for Bukasa Namuyadde Primary School at at Kawuku who confesses that he was inspired by Kabonge’s determination and hard work on the farm.
“Many at first thought he had got his wealth from the school but common sense repulsed these feelings because to a considerable extent, it is Kabonge that injects his resources by extending financial rescue to his teachers,” Nsubuga said.
Nsubuga says he has himself set off with banana and coffee planting, and like his mentor, he has started taking his mind away from his teaching salary.
Does Master Kabonge have any plans of setting up a personal school?
“No; I once flirted with the idea and acquired two acres for the purpose but on second thought, I realized that this would compromise the competitiveness and excellent performance of the government school I head, so I used the two acres for other purposes and concentrated on my Kawuku Boarding Primary School because I could foresee loopholes that would crop up should I move away,” he explained.
Where did he pick the farming techniques from?
He explained that he was grown up by farming parents who instilled in him the spirit. “I was born at Namuganga in Kayini parish, in a very poor village family; my father taught us to do work and to be persistent in whatever we do. I used to make local brew (Mwenge bigere) and to dig. I grew up with the idea and today, when my three university sons are on holiday, we work together on the farm,” Kabonge said.
And true enough, two of his sons at KIU were present at the farm and were engaged in harvesting the bananas. Ssenfuma Marvin Trevor, offering Medicine and Surgery, says he has picked up a lot of new life experience by working with his father in the garden. He says he has seen his dad inject a lot of funds in the farm, and in return getting proceeds with which they have managed to get all their requirements, especially education to university level.
“Mzee began by sitting us down and counselling us and we in turn realized that indeed there is no gain without pain” Ssenfuma noted. And like his sibling, Nsubuga Hakim, offering Social Work and Social Administration (SWASA) and who is the farm manager, says he has learnt a lot from his father, especially the fact that a man must work until he has exhausted the strength endowed by nature.
“We started off in harsh conditions, on hard and dry terrain but with Mzee’s determination, we managed to defy all challenges and now we do not regret,” Nsubuga said.
