By Asmahaney Saad
My mother, Riziki Abdalla Katende, a second generation Ugandan, was born into a Muslim family in 1959. My great grandparents immigrated to Uganda from the Comoros and Pakistan, where they had my grandparents, who later had Mother. As such, she was brought up in a Swahili/Indian culture infused with Islam. In this highly patriarchal setting, there were more education opportunities for the boy than the girl child, despite my mother being the first born.
Mother was born and raised on Mengo Hill, right in the heart of Kampala. Due to intermarriage (my maternal great grandmother was a Muganda of royal lineage, hence the Katende name), the family was bequeathed land close to the Kingdom’s seat of power. My Mother attended Nakivubo Blue Primary School, where her education journey unfortunately ended.
A dream cut short
The belief then was that once a girl hit puberty, which she did in P.6, it was better to marry her off than suffer the embarrassment of her getting pregnant. Being a pretty girl, my mother was married off soon after P.7 at the age of fourteen. This was a more prestigious choice in her parents’ eyes, despite her desire to continue with her education and become an air hostess. Growing up, the sight of these elegantly attired, confidently smiling ladies on TV got her dreaming of a career as an air hostess, a dream that was abruptly cut short.
An older photo of the author's mother, Riziki Abdalla Katende
Not one to give up, at seventeen my Mother attempted to pursue a course in Secretarial Studies but once again, things didn't go as planned, forcing her to abandon the programme. From that point onwards, she turned her energy to raising us, her six children. Once in a while she engaged in various petty businesses.
My Father, also a second generation Ugandan, hails from a mixed Arab (Father) and Mutooro (Mother) background. My Father and Mother had four girls and two boys together, while Father had fourteen more children from other marriages, bringing the total to 20 children—12 girls and eight boys. We were brought up in a setting of Swahili/Arab/Ugandan culture infused with Islam.
Growing up, we were constantly touched by our Mother’s regret of not having fulfilled her education dream. As she could neither read nor write very well, she couldn’t help much with our homework. Instead, we had to depend on our uncles, her younger brothers, whom she had managed to educate at notable schools of the day such as Makerere College. Her mantra was that we, her children, had to go to school because education was the key to making it in life. Her standpoint was not about marriage or riches or having children but education.
“My children have to be educated at the hill”
Her desire was for us to hit all the milestones right from P.7 to S.4 and S.6 and thereafter, go to Makerere University. Due to the civil wars in Uganda in our early childhood, we grew up partly in Kenya but we also have relatives in Tanzania. And whereas it was so easy for my Mother to regard university as the overall dream for us, she was focused on Makerere University. She neither talked about the University of Dar-es-Salaam nor the University of Nairobi. “Abaana bange balina okugenda ku Lusozi,” she constantly told her friends, meaning, “My children have to be educated at the hill (Makerere).”
It was one of her unwavering aspirations, and she wanted it for all six of us. And although my Father too was keen on education, it didn’t matter much to him where we studied. My Mother on the other hand wanted only the best education for us. And so she fought tooth and nail to get each of us places at Buganda Road Primary School, a crème de la crème option back then. In hindsight, Buganda Road, by virtue of the learning and talent development opportunities it offered, greatly shaped our foundational education.
When it came to Secondary Education, Mother was at it again, fighting hard to see that my elder sisters went through Nabisunsa Girls Secondary School, while I and the rest of my siblings went through Kibuli Secondary School. Our youngest brother eventually completed his secondary education at Turkish Light Academy. Mother spared no expense. She did all kinds of businesses to ensure that she met all our education needs. She even went beyond paying fees to nurturing friendships with the head teachers, once in a while bringing them gifts from her trips abroad.
A recent photo of the author with her mother
Mother always said, “My hope is in you, my children—the enlightenment that you get each time you hit a new milestone on the road to Makerere.” Meanwhile, like other teenagers, we too would once in a while want to go partying with our friends, but that didn't fit in with the prized dream.
“There will be a chance for you to do all these things" she constantly reminded us. "Just do me a favour—hang in there, go to school, focus and just get me that degree from Makerere,” she would add.
Makerere the prize
I really thank God for Makerere. As girls, all of us benefited from the 1.5 points’ affirmative action, and went through Makerere University on government sponsorship. My eldest sister graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Education, while my second sister did a Bachelor of Arts in Communication.
My brother who follows did a Bachelor of Education but left in his second year for the U.K. where he completed his degree. Unfortunately he passed on. May his soul rest in peace. I pursued the Bachelor of Laws and also got residency on campus in Complex Hall (CCE). The only payment I ever made at Makerere was UGX 50,000 at the beginning of every semester for my meal card. My sister that follows me did a Bachelor of Mass Communication. Although our youngest brother secured a place at Makerere, he got a scholarship to study in Turkey where he completed his degree.
The author, Asmahaney Saad after graduating with the Bachelor of Laws
There was no greater joy for my Mother than to attend the graduation ceremonies at the Freedom Square every time one of us, her girls, graduated. Five out of my Mother’s six children went to Makerere University and so the Hill is very close to our hearts. From Makerere, we went on to secure jobs and are each successful in our own right.
Looking back, my Mother’s aspiration and clarity of vision then makes a lot more sense now. Her dream and determination always inspires and reminds me that I too can dream and achieve. As one whose own journey was cut short at an early age, my Mother could have had a completely different mindset towards education, but she didn’t.
I vividly recall the time my eldest sister completed S.4 and some of my uncles came to see our Father, proposing that she get married. In their eyes, she had gone far enough with education and so getting married after O’Level wasn’t such a bad idea. And whereas this proposal had my Father who was not so keen on education sitting on the fence, my Mother would have none of it! She put her foot down and insisted that my sister finish her S.6 and university, and only get married after completing her degree.
This caused a lot of friction in the conservative cultural and religious setting of our family, as any opposition to such proposals was deemed rebellious. My Mother was constantly tormented for caring so much about her children, especially since she had had more girls than boys, whom my relatives said would instead bring her shame in the future. Marrying us off, they said, was the safer option. After all, our would-be husbands could afford to educate us in marriage.
As daunting as all this was, my Mother’s dream for all of us to go through Makerere remained strong and unshaken. It is truly a blessing and I thank God that He gave us all the grace to complete university and fulfill our Mother’s dream. Today, as Managing Partner at KTA Advocates, I couldn’t be more grateful for the integral role my Mother has played and continues to play in my life.
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