Arua Archives - Uganda Christian University Partners

Phiona Tebattagwabwe Luswata, manager of Beri Cottages in Arua

By Patty Huston-Holm
Ronald Edward Frederick Kimera Muwenda Mutebi II is the current and 36th kabaka (aka king) of the Buganda Kingdom, which is the largest and wealthiest among Uganda’s 56 tribes. Once a prince, he has five children – two princes and three princesses.

“I’m a princess,” said Phiona Tebattagwabwe Luswata.

But she is not the daughter, granddaughter or great-granddaughter of the present king. She’s a niece.

“I’m a great-granddaughter of His Highness Sir Daudi Chwa II,” Phiona said of the 34th kabaka who died in 1939.

In a conversation punctuated with laughter and in the courtyard of Beri Cottages, Arua, Phiona, manager of the establishment and a Uganda Christian University (UCU) alum, explained some of her royal lineage.

Phiona, right, with a Beri Cottages employee, Brenda Bako

In Buganda, a ruling king on the throne is called “kabaka.” When he dies, he is called “Ssekabaka,” to mean “a deceased king.” Therefore, “Ssekabaka Daudi Chwa II” (the late King David Chwa II) produced 20 sons, among whom is Phiona’s grandfather – the late Prince Ssepiriya Daniel Luswata, who is a blood brother to Prince Edward Walugembe Muteesa II who later became king (the 35th kabaka) after succeeding their father and is the father of the 36th kabaka of Buganda Kingdom. This makes the current King Ronald Edward Frederick Kimera Muwenda Mutebi II a first cousin to Phiona’s father, Prince Nakibinge David Luswata.

Surprisingly to some less familiar with royalty, Princess Phiona, a 2016 graduate of the UCU School of Business, is not about being served but serving.

In late September 2024, the daughter of Prince Nakibinge David Luswata of Kawaala shared her lineage, her education and her career journey to her current position as manager of Beri Cottages.

As her parents separated when Phiona was age 2, she was mostly raised by her mother, “Omuzana,” which is a title given to all wives of princes. Additionally known as Regina Nandagga, her mom was a hairdresser who also sold pigs during the Covid-19 pandemic. There are seven siblings from the father and three among the two parents.

Most of Phiona’s primary and secondary education was in Kampala. Her marks were good. While ambition to further her education wasn’t strong, Phiona had her sights on being a teacher like those she had in school or a businesswoman like her mom.

While pondering career choices, she lived and attended church with an uncle in Mukono. With minimal music experience, she played the flute and sang in the church choir, being noticed for her raw talent by Mr. Daniel Ssempereza, then the UCU Music Director.

Although she wasn’t a student at UCU, she was nurtured by Ssempereza to sometimes sing in the choir and play the flute in the main campus’ Nkoyoyo Hall. At this point, her father thought twice and decided she should become a UCU student.

At UCU, her focus was on International Business. Between classes, she applied her entrepreneurial skills through a fast-food selling project (chapatis).

Before the UCU degree, Phiona was involved in commerce, taking an accounting course at MAT ABACUS Business School. She did a short stint as a business news reporter for a “Money and Markets” show with NTV Uganda. She later served as a waitress at the four-star Hotel Africana in Kampala and had industrial training, managing the delivery of merchandise imported from Overseas through Bollore Africa Global Logistics, a shipping and clearing firm in Kampala.

Years later, as a supervisor engaged in multiple jobs at Beri Cottages, she was promoted to manager two years ago.

“A friend from UCU recommended me for this job,” Phiona said.

Laughing, she added: “Arua seemed like the end of the world. I had never been here before, but I love taking risks and trying new things, so here I am.”

Except for the valued time to visit a six-year-old daughter who lives with her mom in Kampala, Phiona generally works every day, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., managing 31 employees in an atmosphere where “they enjoy being here.” She sends a daily report to a managing director – “the best boss I’ve had” – in Kampala.

“I have a passion for serving,” she said. “I’ve created an environment where employees know how to do multiple jobs. I believe we have an atmosphere where staff members smile a lot as I do.”

She credits UCU for making her a good leader.

As for her princess status, Phiona participates in some ceremonies to respect and protect tradition and culture while believing, she said with a smile, “that the current king might not even know me.”

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This story is an example of Uganda Christian University (UCU) successes. To support UCU programs, students, activities, and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

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Pakwach informal netball team with (seated, left to right) Sailas Okwairwoth, Otim Moses and Ayerango Annette

By Patty Huston-Holm
In a brief break from a netball game on a dirt-surfaced court in the Uganda West Nile Pakwach District, 14-year-old Kaboth Sharon, shifting from one bare foot to the other, was asked in English how she felt.

“I am excited with energy and joy,” she responded in her native Alur (Luo) – as translated by older resident, Otim Moses. Then, under the 11 a.m. Sept. 30 sun and sweating with 13 other youth wearing blue or orange bibs, she smiled and returned to the game.

Sailas Okwairwoth, UCU graduate with vision to lift up youth in his village

Moses and Sailas Okwairwoth grinned. Kabaoh’s expression fits with a plan to give hope to unemployed, school dropout youth from teens to age 35 from their district and the nearby Zombo District, both of which are best geographically identified as near the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Albert Nile. On paper, the 55-page plan is called “Sustainable Skills and Talent Development for Socio-Economic Transformation. “

Okwairwoth, 30, who is the main driver, and his friend, Moses, 35, break the proposal down into two main parts – sports and arts.

“Self-esteem is a huge need among our youth,” Okwairwoth said, nodding to the joy evident among the outdoor netball players. “We see so much promise, knowing that through sports and engagement, we can start there and do more.”

Okwairwoth, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Uganda Christian University (UCU), knows he is more fortunate than most from the rural area where he was born and raised. While Okwairwoth has recently struggled financially to support himself and a two-year-old daughter by selling goods in a small store in Kampala, he has had the privilege of previous educational opportunities in the United States and employment with an Israeli organization.

“The youth in our village lack self-confidence and look defeated and devastated,” observed Okwairwoth’s mom, Ayerango Annette, who teaches entrepreneurship, among other subjects, at Uganda College of Commerce, Aduku. She had the mindset that her son, Sailas, would graduate from a university, and he did.

Parental mindset “against change” is an obstacle, especially in rural Uganda, according to Okwairwoth. He knows that in the area where he was born, roughly one of three residents age 10 to 30 are illiterate and for those older, the inability to read, understand and write is even more dire. He is aware of the Pakwach uphill climb for people in his village to live differently — to realize the value of team sport activities to achieving self-actualization and enabling unwed teen mothers and others to work, make money and support themselves.

But he is not giving up.

“Impossible is nothing,” Okwairwoth said, pointing to the slogan under their initiative name “Pakwach Junction.”

Sailas founded Pakwach Junction in 2017 as a community-based organization supporting Pakwach through its institutions and possibilities to achieve quality social and economic development. Moses and other youth volunteers are assisting with the effort.

Uganda Bureau of Statistics map showing Pakwach and (inset) its geographic location within the country

The word “Junction” is borrowed from the name of a United Methodist Church youth group Okwairwoth was engaged with during his Reynoldsburg, Ohio, USA, internship experience in 2015. That same three-month experience of volunteering for central Ohio organizations supplying food and clothing to the poor and listening to the volunteer efforts of church women started the germination of a plan growing in his thoughts when awarded his UCU Bachelor of Development Studies in 2016 and his Master of Public Health in 2020.

Okwairwoth became increasingly aware of problems and needs back home. As he received his postgraduate degree, for example, he learned of the water rise in Lake Albert that caused a flood displacing 100,000 Pakwach residents.

While employed as a country director for an Israeli company called Topaz International, founder and CEO KUTIC Integrated Development, directing the Junction Pakwach project, teaching in the UCU Social Sciences department, participating in the Greenheart Global Leaders Conference (GGLC) and Alumni Council in Washington, D.C. and, in Germany, and being a Purpose Earth grant recipient, Okwairwoth kept thinking he could and should do more.

“I see us making and selling arts and crafts here,” he said, pointing to an area of mostly dirt surrounded by one row of bricks near the netball activity. “We also can make reusable sanitary pads.”

Instead of youth and others sitting idle, they could be in that space selling soap, clothing and artwork from recycled materials. Okwairwoth pointed to a photo of a monkey that another group made from plastic bottles.

“We can do that here,” he said.

Efforts already accomplished include financial literacy, sex education, preschool education, community library and computer training.

“This project is driven by the needs of vulnerable people with devastating life conditions, addictive behaviors and seemingly no hope,” said Okwairwoth. “This plan is more than paper. It’s full of hope.”

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To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities, and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

Also, follow us on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.

Tag Archives: Arua

Buganda princess, a UCU graduate, aspires to serve