The Bamasaaba community, both in Uganda and abroad, have commended Mzee Joseph Kutosi Wangare of Bududa for defending his community during the turbulent times of the late General Amin and Tito Okello regimes, where he mobilized the Bamasaaba to resist bad governance.
Mzee Joseph Kutosi was the first person to own cars and milling machines in the Bugisu region. He used these milling machines to provide foodstuffs to the liberation forces of Yoweri Museveni, under the Elgon 13 group, which was based in the hills of Mount Elgon. Mzee Kutosi was also among the first few Bamasaaba to make a holy pilgrimage to Rome—an equivalent of Hijja by Muslims—alongside others like Mzee Wabuti Sukumawiki of Namisindwa. This was not an easy feat in the early 1980s. A local businessman from upcountry making a holy visit to Rome was a remarkable event. The entire county escorted him to Entebbe Airport, and I recall this visit with nostalgia.
Mzee Joseph Kutosi, who was born in 1930, was originally from Bumwalye, Bulucheke, but he grew up in Bukalasi Parish, Bukharela, in the home of my paternal grandfather Asoni Kamoti, who had married his elder sister, Phoebe Namome.
During the 1980s—particularly the mid-1980s—when Okello’s soldiers were roaming greater Bugisu and arresting allies of Yoweri Museveni, Joseph Kutosi was the man the community looked up to for protection. He was a man of reasonable wealth and highly respected by everyone, including government functionaries. The UNLFA soldiers even camped at his home, where they were properly fed. Ironically, Mzee Joseph was later used by these very soldiers to translate and caution the Bamasaaba against supporting the Elgon 13 fighters linked to Museveni. Little did these soldiers know that the man they trusted to caution the community was, in fact, a covert supporter of the current regime.
Whether he or his children personally benefited from the regime is another matter, but Joseph Kutosi had a team of allies who supported the rebel forces then based in Bugisu, fighting against bad leadership. I know he didn’t care whether the government ever reciprocated his patriotic roles. The Joseph I knew could not be swayed by government compensation; he sacrificed for his community and wasn’t in it for money. He used his own hands to build his wealth. However, now that the provider is no more, it would be right for the government to support his widows and children.
At the family level, Joseph Kutosi, who was a maternal uncle to my father Timothy Natseli, mentored many people. To this day, no one in the family line has surpassed him in nurturing those around him.
At the business level, Mzee Kutosi traded across East Africa, reaching as far as Tanzania and Kenya. He owned a string of hotels in Mbale town, most notably the famous Susu Restaurant, named after the Susu River in Bududa. He also owned several milling machines in Bududa Town Council.
Mzee Joseph Kutosi had several wives during his time, given his status as a well-to-do man. He is survived by about three wives and many children. Some of his children, like Mzee Michael, Mzee Lukoye, and Aunt Florence, are remembered, while others—like Mzee Milton, Watti, George, and Aunt Namwau—are still living.
He was initially treated at Mbale General Clinic before being transferred to Mbale Regional Hospital, where he breathed his last. He was 95 years old.
At the community level, he served as the clan chairman for Bulucheke under Inzu Ya Masaaba. He will be buried on Wednesday, and several dignitaries are expected to attend the burial, including the Umukuka of the Bamasaaba people, the Prime Minister of Inzu Ya Masaaba Rt. Hon. Paul Mwambu, and all ministers of Inzu Ya Masaaba, among others. Clan chairmen across Bugisu have also been notified of the demise of the Bulucheke clan chairman.
Masaabaland has lost a mentor, entrepreneur, father, grandfather, and a man of immense sage counsel. It is indeed a disturbing loss to Masaabaland.
Steven Masiga is Spokesperson of the Bamasaaba Cultural Institution & Staff Member at Makerere University
