Julius Mucunguzi, the man with memory of a dolphin, humility of a panda

PROFILE | There was Denis Ocwich (RIP) who wore simple denims, tees and canvas, and carried a backpack. Then there was Julius Mucunguzi, always suited like a penguin, always grinning like a bunny, and always carrying a leather bag.

Denis and Julius were arguably the humblest of the lecturers at the Department of Mass Communication (now School of Journalism) in Makerere from when I first met them in 2004.

I had a hard time adjusting to men in suits. To me, a man in suit had the air of importance. Julius would have passed for one such, but there was something different about his suiting up. You only got it in his words - words he never ran out of.

Julius was teaching us Introduction to News Writing and Reporting but, like David Musoke (RIP), he spent a lot of time teaching us about life through his own ribald tales.

With the memory of a dolphin, Julius placed events to their exact dates and told them like they had happened on his way to the class. That kind of memory that has made President Museveni tick to even his nemesis...

There is my mother and one of my sisters' and there is this old student called Stephen Otoro at Vision Group. But Julius has always struck me as way above any other human-dolphin around.

Kasese to Masese

John Turyagyenda Masanyu, had migrated to Kasese to work in the Kilembe Mines in the 60s. Julius was thus born in Kilembe Hospital on March 3, 1975.

His old man would later go to a sugarcane estate in Lugazi, and Julius somehow ended up frying and vending fish in Masese, Jinja, and burning and selling charcoal to drag life on his will.

Somehow, my life started inside the same Kilembe hospital, then a sugarcane estate in Kakira, and a sojourn in Masese selling fish and that charcoal tale.

My apprehension for Julius' suitedness turned into camaraderie and awe by the time I got to know all this about him.

Indeed, the suited lecturer who worked with World Vision and cut the air of a man who had grown up nibbling at meals in Sheraton Hotel and going for a holiday in London had come through life few would ever want to talk about.

From selling fried fish and burning charcoal in Masese to Yellow Pages mailman and vending newspapers, Julius was a boy who took his first ever bus ride in January 1989 from his native Kabale for Jinja pregnant with expectation of "life in the city".

He arrived in Masese 15 hours later that evening to the shock of his life.

"I was arriving from the village with hope of living a city life, only to find myself in a slum worse than the grass-thatched houses in Rwabirengye," he once shared.

The cobbler uncle's shacks that Julius lived in and slept on a sisal mat on the floor  stand to-date, just like the panda in his humility.

But it is when you put the dolphin and panda aside that you get this other Julius of today.

Where many a child as brilliant as a Stone Age hunter would stand back in the face of important people, Julius would instead get himself into their lives.

He had a way of making friends with people of diverse statuses. He left an impression on Shaka Ssali and many tourists, some like Peter Gill from England later paying his fees.

That ability to strike the perfect chords with those around him and opening endearing communication channels is something you hear former heads of state.

"I was very impressed by the depth of Julius' knowledge and contacts with national and international media," said Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana, who led the Commonwealth Election Observers to the Nigeria presidential polls in April 2011.

Former Tanzanian prime minister Salim Ahmed Salim described Julius as a friendly person with an "exceptional ability at interacting and communicating with a section of the society".

"His unassuming character easily endears him to people of different cultural backgrounds and status," Ahmed said, drawing a strong conclusion that Julius is "a great asset".

The Tanzanian former secretary general of the Organisation of African Unity (now African Union) worked with Julius as part of the Commonwealth Observer missions to the Nigerian polls in 2003 and the Gambia in 2006.

Ndugu at the island

It was while at Lake Bunyonyi SS on Bwama Island that Julius made the real splash. In the era of penpals, he made so many with tourists but it was this one significant one with a Ugandan that still impacts his life.

Dr Ruhakana Rugunda was a minister for works, transport and telecommunication in 1993 when he took Japanese tourists to Bwama Island.

A chance meeting turned Julius into a tour guide and then into a minister-student relationship that few can wrap their head around to this day.

"Some people think I'm related to him," Julius wrote in his 2014 autobiography, "The Story of Keeping Hope Alive".

The impression he created in the minister that day was so deep that he had got a hand-written business card and a licence to "stop my car whenever you see me in Kabale and greet me".

The former 'poster runner' for Yellow Pages who delivered mails for Makerere students before he joined the university proper, would find himself in Norway as a former journalist and journalism graduate sitting an interview to be a newspaper vendor.

He was in Oslo for his MA in Media and Communication. He had to moonlight with odd jobs and that newspaper vending got him more than he bargained for.

Yes, he made money and bought a plot of land in Kampala but while making that money, one of the most irritating things was always that text message from back home.

"Man, send me $100," Julius said of the kyeyo-relatives-and-friends life.

The former Daily Monitor reporter (1999-2002) was a senior communications officer at World Vision from 2004 to 2006 when he nailed a job few would ever want to leave.

On June 5, 2006, Julius checked in at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London as the communications advisor and assistant spokesperson.

This would be his address for eight years when when Dr Rugunda was appointed as Prime Minister.

Julius left that dream job in London to start the New Year of 2015 as the head of communications at OPM. Who does that?

Well, he had made sure to check on everyone who made a contribution to his life, including those in the US and in Europe, and even Taata Mawanda, the shack landlord in Masese.

A little bit of paying back to Rugunda was surely necessary.

"I really want to make a contribution at home," Julius said of his new appointment as head of public relations at the Electoral Commission.

But it is as much for that decision to leave the Commonwealth for OPM where he was in until January 10, 2023, when he joined the Organisation of Southern Cooperation as the Under-Secretary-General and Public Relations and Engagement manager.

Into the EC chimney

Starting April, Julius will be a spokesperson for the Electoral Commission, handle media relations, digital communications, voter and civic education, and stakeholder engagements.

He will also work with Principal Public Relations Officer Paul Bukenya and other communication specialists to design crisis communications, corporate communications, internal communications, branding and reputation management.

The man Festus Mogae said "easily wins the respect of peers and seniors alike" will certainly need more of those charms that made Mama Jasi see enough in his childhood promise to give him capital to start fried fish business in Masese.

This is an electoral commission whose credibility has been battered by the controversies in the last three general elections. It is a chimney during elections. All the smoke in the EC kitchen will be in the eyes of Julius and his team.

Of course, he knows what he is entering into. He is a man who would fall into a hungry lion's den and sweet-talk the animal with Waringa's anecdotes into yawning the other way.

Yes, that is Julius, the man who when his mentor Rugunda was in that hoe and 20k moment never once lost his cool with those who were angry and calling his Ndugu names.

At Makerere, someone once said Julius did not know how to get angry. Not far-fetched because Julius is like a bunny - you will not see an angry rabbit, ever, and every other one instead will calm you down.

The man you will find suited like a happy penguin but vending Irish potatoes or tomatoes or eggs from his Mashure Farm is now in charge of interacting with the electorate.

Many employers introduce their new recruits as bringing a wealth of experience, which is true of Julius at EC, too. But the reality is that he is bringing calm and the power of persuasion as long as that panda in him turns into a bear.

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If you are not privileged enough to meet Julius in person, you can still meet him through his autobiography, 'The Story of Keeping Hope Alive' and the life-lesson book, Waringa and Other Stories