How I randomly spent a day with President Museveni in Kabale - Racheal Naijuka

Ugandan entrepreneur and Tanias Reusables chief executive officer Racheal Naijuka has recounted how a chance encounter with President Yoweri Museveni at the Uganda-Rwanda border in 2001 changed her life and eventually secured her education.

Naijuka, who was about 10 or 11 years old at the time, had accompanied her mother to Katuna border post in Kabale, where she had been hired to decorate a venue for peace talks between Museveni and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame.

Her mother operated a small decoration business and had asked her to help prepare the venue by blowing up balloons and arranging flowers.

A day that started with her helping her mother turned into an unexpected encounter with two heads of state. 

In a podcast with Naijuka recounted that she was seated at the back of the venue when Museveni arrived and spotted her among the guests.

“I think he wondered what a young girl was doing at a serious event like that. He called me. At first I was confused who he was calling but he indicated it was me.”

When she reached him, the president asked for her name and why she was attending the meeting.

She explained that her mother had been hired to decorate the venue and that she had accompanied her to help with the preparations.

Museveni then took her by the hand and brought her closer to the meeting, where she spent part of the day watching the two presidents hold discussions.

Naijuka recalled being treated like one of the guests and even receiving refreshments.

"I was even served tea and samosas," she recalled.

However, the encounter took another unexpected turn when the weather threatened to disrupt the meeting.

With rain approaching, the organisers decided to move the discussions to another venue.

As the presidential convoy prepared to leave Katuna, Naijuka watched from the sidelines, expecting to remain behind with her mother.

Instead, Museveni rolled down his vehicle window and pointed towards her.

A soldier approached, picked her up and placed her in another vehicle in the presidential convoy.

The convoy then travelled to White Horse Inn in Kabale, leaving her mother at the border without knowing where her daughter had been taken.

“I remember during the meeting I was in the hotel gardens playing on the swings and climbing trees.”

After the meeting, the presidential delegation returned to Katuna, where Museveni bid farewell to Kagame.

It was during this final stop that the president met Naijuka's mother and other family members.

According to Naijuka, Museveni instructed then Foreign Affairs minister James Wapakhabulo to arrange for her to visit him later at his Rwakitura home.

The president also handed her family a brown envelope, although she said she could no longer remember what it contained.

She said her mother maintained contact with Wapakhabulo after the meeting.

However, tragedy struck the family when her father died later in 2001.

His death left the family facing financial difficulties, prompting her mother to seek assistance from State House.

Naijuka said her mother continued following up on the president's earlier promise but died before the process was completed.

Her aunt subsequently took responsibility for pursuing the matter.

The aunt contacted presidential adviser Grace Nyakwenegura, who helped present Naijuka's photographs and details to State House.

Through those efforts, Naijuka eventually secured a State House scholarship that supported her education.

She credits the president's intervention with helping her family overcome financial difficulties following the deaths of her parents.

Looking back, Naijuka said she remains grateful that a chance meeting during a presidential event opened doors that might otherwise have remained closed.

She believes the support extended beyond her personal education and helped secure the future of her siblings.

"If it wasn't for President Museveni, I and my siblings would never have finished school," she said.

More than two decades later Naijuka hopes to have another meeting with the President in the future.