‘Amin killed our band leader and took his girlfriend’
Ssekebennje in Germany
What you need to know:
Haunted by politics. When Tonny Senkebejje joined the school choir in the early 1950s, he knew he was following his dream. Little did he know this would put him on a collision path with the politicians and 15 years in exile. The Simba Sound Band lead singer and founder talked to Sunday Monitor’s Henry Lubega about his experiences.
When I joined Mengo Junior School, now Mengo S.S, for my Junior One in the 50s, I immediately joined the school choir and I went on to become the choir master in J2. That time, we had school music competitions, and my choir won twice at the synod and at Makerere University Main Hall.
I went on to teach myself the four voices [soprano, alto, tenor and bass] that govern the choir, and the music solfa. After school, I would go and practice how to play instruments like the guitar.
In 1965, Billy Mbowa, Paul Mubiru and Sam Kawuma and I came together to play music with Clyde Mayanja as our organiser. That same year, Mbowa and I approached Fred Kanyike, an agent of a Kenyan recording studio, to take us to Kenya where we recorded our first single, Eva. This would lead to the creation of Cranes band playing at Crested Crane bar and restaurant, where we performed d with the late Elly Wamala for a year.
Later in 1967, we brought in the late Charles Sekyanzi and later on Mosese Matovu who learnt to play the saxophone. It was a youth band composed mostly of students. Holidays would give us ample time to play serious music. From Crested Crane, we started playing at White Nile, New Life in Mengo, now Sir Apollo Kaggwa Primary School, and Suzana ight club in Nakulabye for the Kampala high class.
In 1970, I moved to the Lake Quartet Band based at former Lake Victoria Hotel in Entebbe where I was playing a solo guitar. It was while there that I moved into the Jazz and pop music. After two years, I came back to Cranes band. But in 1974, things turned for the worst.
Road to Exile
There were several reports of disappearance of people. I thought as musicians we were immune to such acts since our job was not political at all. However, one day in 1974 after a performance, our band leader Jessy Kasilivu disappeared and we never saw him again.
We soon learnt that Kasilivu had been killed because of his affair with Sarah Kyolaba who later became Sarah Amin. Following that incident members of the band were not safe anymore and for me I decided to flee to Nairobi. I had been there before when I went to record music. I went by road and what I was going to do in Nairobi was not anywhere near my conscience. All I wanted was to save my life.
Life in Exile
After a short while in Nairobi, I met a team of musicians who took me to Sumbrelo band where I stayed for six months, before I linked up with a Congolese band which had come to Nairobi to record Music. Towards the end of 1975, I moved to Mombasa with another band called The Black, which I worked with for the next two years, playing in night clubs, hotels and sometimes at the beach.
I again moved to the Vikings band which was a resident band at the Riff Hotel and I stayed were I played for the next seven years. After my seventh year there, I was denied a work permit, but I later learnt that some of my workmates had worked behind my back so that I leave the band to only the nationals.
When I failed to get the permit, I moved back to The Blacks and I was given a warm reception. But there were a few changes; the group had become a resident band to a German club and at one time, the owners decided to take us for a tour in Germany.
Home coming
After 15 years in exile, I said to myself that enough was enough and it was time to return home in 1989. However, settling in was not that easy, I first joined the Afrigo band and I was part of the 1990 group that went on a European tour to London, Sweden and Denmark.
In 1993, my wife, I and a friend called Sam Murungi and his wife Florence Akiiki, decided to start Simba Ngoma Band, playing at Nile Grill and Half London in Kabalagala. In 1994, Karim Hirji contracted us to perform at Equatorial Hotel, unfortunately it was while there that we split with my friend Murungi when with his wife, they decided to form their own band.
In 1996, we changed the name to Simba Sounds band and moved to Grand Imperial Terrace while also playing at Kampala Casino as well. In 2004, we moved to Sheraton as a resident band. While playing at Sheraton we were taken to play at Sheraton, Addis Ababa, from December until June the following year, when we came back for leave. We would go back to Ethiopia in November 2005 for nine months, and returned in 2006.
Currently, our band is still so much in the music, playing at Serena in Kampala, Lake Victoria Serena and Rock Garden bar.
