On Saturday September 12, thousands of voices filled Ndere Cultural Centre, singing Muvubuka, Kibun’omu, Naki, Sanyu, and Nkwegomba, among others, back to Kenneth Mugabi word for word.
It was his 10-year concert for the Kibun’omu album, and it offered proof that, a good song can make people sing. A great one, without them even realising it, can also make them think.
For a decade, Mugabi has built a catalogue that does both. Beneath the soulful melodies and familiar choruses sit conversations about the world around him. On People of the Land, he musically educates the audience on sustainability and how good environmental conservation and protection practices are necessary for people to do so that the next generation has a story to tell about the environment around them.
He turns a real issue into a line fans sing along to before they notice what they’re actually singing about. Education, culture, safe sex, and the Ubuntu values that shape society surface elsewhere in his music too … rarely as a lecture, almost always as a story.
That blending of culture and message showed from the concert’s opening moments. The Buganda and Busoga anthems were sung, the late King Oyo’s life and legacy were honoured, and cultural dancers took the stage before Mugabi himself emerged with People of the Land. Later, when he picked up the Endingidi the crowd erupted.
“Kenneth has spent a decade building a connection through music that entertains, tells stories, and speaks to experiences people can relate to,” said Roy Ronald Tumwizere, Brand Manager Mainstream Spirits at UBL, representing V&A Sherry, the night’s sponsor. “That’s the kind of cultural influence we’re proud to support.”
It’s a connection fans feel directly. “You come for the sound because the songs are beautiful and easy to connect with,” said Ruth Kisaakye, one of the fans at the concert, “but when you listen properly, there is usually something more in what he’s saying. He talks about life and the things we go through, so the music stays with you even after the song ends.”
The audience’s response bore that out. Fans didn’t just recognise the songs, they sang them back to Mugabi line after line, turning the concert into something closer to a conversation.
“I am truly honored that I get to celebrate this moment with you my fans,” said Kenneth Mugabi mid performance. “A huge shout out to the people who have made this possible,” he added.
There was room for joy, too. Mad Ice and Naava Grey brought surprise appearances, and Mugabi’s birthday became a shared moment when fans joined him on stage to cut his cake.
But the night’s most personal moment needed no introduction. When Mugabi paused to honour his late mother, “Today being my birthday, I want to honor my late mother. She supported me and believed in my dream, so to honor her I wrote this poem for her.” In the poem, he promised not to give up on the dream they shared. It was here that the old line often credited to Hans Christian Andersen: “where words fail, music speaks”, stopped sounding like a cliché and started sounding like a description of what had just happened.
For Mugabi, the last decade has produced songs that make people dance, fall in love, remember, reflect, and occasionally look more closely at the society around them.
And as thousands sang the final songs back to him, exhausted but still asking for more, it was a reminder that advocacy doesn’t always need a podium; sometimes it’s a melody people cannot stop singing.
