When you meet Francis Ssewankambo, he is jolly and conversational. He speaks to strangers with ease. This trait has made him a darling to his workmates and classmates.

As we meet at Makerere University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, he is dressed in grey jeans and a black T-shirt with sandals.

He wipes sweat off his brow using his jacket and he settles down, he tells me how he has just survived an accident at Kasubi while rushing to attend his evening lectures.

Ssewankambo is a fourth year Journalism and Communication student at Makerere University. He has been paying his tuition through riding a motorcycle since his first year after his mother’s failed to raise his University tuition after his senior six.

Even when he narrates his rough journey towards completing a university degree, he speaks with a zeal and humour.

Born in 1990 to Robison Musoke and Donanta Nagujja in Kiryambidde village, Luweero, Ssewankambo did not enjoy the love from his father because his father abandoned his mother for another woman.

His two siblings had also completed Senior Six but could not afford tuition for further studies. Thus, his elder sister Juliet Namagembe, chanced on an opportunity to do odd jobs in South Africa.

For primary school education, Ssewankambo was sponsored by Fields of Life Foundation, a Pentecostal organisation that looks after disadvantaged children.

“Jennifer, my friend from Canada used to visit me and she would pay for my school requirements. She would bring me gifts which motivated me to continue studying despite my family status,” recalls Ssewankambo.

But when he joined O-Level, he would burn charcoal and brew waragi to pay half of his fees (Shs 150,000) because the sponsors paid half the amount at Shammah High school in Luweero.

“Life was very hard. I completed secondary school without taking sugar because I could not afford it. I would save every penny to buy scholastic materials and my mother had advised me to save for my education,” he explains.

At A-Level in Ssaku Secondary School, Wobulenzi, Ssewankambo’s sponsors stopped paying school fees. This meant harder work. His mother lent a hand. She would brew waragi while he would be at school.

With time, they abandoned the brewing business because Banana Bacteria Wilt did not spare the bananas.

Making ends meet
In 2012, luckily he scored 21 points in History, Economics, Geography and Luganda. His dream was to study Journalism at Makerere University, a profession he fell in love with after listening to Allan Kasujja then of Capital FM and Omulangira Ndausi of Radio Simba.

“These people made me love being on air to entertain people because they did it passionately and their presentation would relieve people of fatigue and stress. Kasujja’s voice and content was inviting,” he says.

His dream to pursue a dream course suffered a still birth because his mother could not raise university fees. She advised him to apply for a dead a year so that they could make sufficient funds. Ssewankambo opted otherwise.

With only Shs30, 000 and his second-hand bicycle, he sought refuge at his cousin’s place in Nansana. After two weeks, he was told to look for a room because it would be tedious to feed an adult with the biting economic situation in the city.

“I got a small room at Shs30,000 per month in Yesu Amala, Nansana. I convinced my landlord that I would clear the balance sooner than later since I was supposed to pay three months in advance. I had a towel for a bed on the cold cement floor. I used to rise up at dawn to carry people’s luggage on my bicycle in town to make a living,” Ssewankambo explains.
After making some little money, he befriended a businessman who had a big retail shop in Kasubi. “I would get some goods on credit and hawk them in Busega, Nansana, Masanafu, Namungoona and Nateete. I did this for about two months and raised capital of Shs400,000.” He bought himself beddings.

Joining university
Ssewankambo’s name appeared on the admission list of the academic year 2012/2013. He had been admitted to his dream course, Bachelor of Journalism and Communication.

This motivated him further because he never wanted to turn back.
“I fought like a wounded lion to ensure that I got tuition. I wanted to study and help my mother who had sacrificed her life for me. I also wanted to have a better future because I had gone through a lot. I became my own father.”

With two months to join university, Ssewankambo ventured into vending onions. “It is from this business that I started realising better profits.” He became so prominent in Kasubi that he would supply to schools and big restaurants.

His sister who had gone to South Africa sent him Shs500,000 to top up his tuition. He first invested this in his business and by the time he started school, he had made part of tuition. He therefore first paid Shs600,000 for functional fees and had a balance of Shs960,000. He would pay in installments until he finished.

This came with challenges. Some clients would not pay him and this partly reduced his profit

Boda boda business
When he joined second year, he thought of quitting studies and concentrating on business because he was not making good profits. He had accumulated a working capital of Shs1.6m and he instead used this to buy a second hand motorcycle.

He would work during day and by 5pm; he would go to campus because he was on the evening study programme.

While vending onions, one of his clients, Harriet Kobusingye later became his wife. Kobusingye used to work at Mina Restaurant in Nakulabye and when he asked for her hand in marriage, she endorsed the proposal. “I was supposed to work very hard to balance between work, family and school.

However, with time, I managed to move on because I was very determined and this made me work hard. I had to look after my mother, my wife, pay bills and tuition.”

He stopped his wife from working and opened a fresh foods business for her in Nansana. “I wake up at 5am, to attend to clients who ran restaurants and by 10am, my wife would come and I would then go and ride my boda boda.”

He shares that his wife is down- to-earth and God fearing and that above all, she is loving and hard working. This perhaps makes them understand each other better since they share some traits. While at school, Ssewankambo means business.

He is always among the first in the lecture room and while with his friends at campus, he at times challenges them on trending topics. This has made him famous among Fourth year Journalism students.

He doesn’t also shy away from his business because he will openly tell students in a group how he has been riding a boda boda for the last three years to raise tuition.
“My course mates and lecturers are supportive because I tell them my challenges. I admire students who have good life and I’m hopeful that one day, I will be like them. Thus, I work very hard.”

Source * Daily Monitor