George Waligo helps children cross Portbell Road, at the junction next to Bugolobi Supermarket. Photo by Ismail Kezaala


It is 7.30am in the morning when I arrive at the Bugolobi taxi stage. It is chilly and the sun is just breaking out of the clouds. At the bus stop, many people rush to board taxis. But as taxis keep stopping to offload and take on more passengers, one man stands out in the backdrop of all these movements.
He calls out to the passengers and issues out instructions to taxi drivers, ordering them to park well. I decide to sit on the makeshift seats on a building just next to the entrance of Nakumatt Supermarket Bugolobi. And I carefully watch George William Waligo, alias, Mzee Kiviiri, as he is commonly known around the stage.
Dressed in a white coat with a reflector jacket, and a matching white cap, Mzee Kiviiri almost cuts the pose of a traffic officer. With a whistle in his mouth, and two placards branded, “Save Life” and “Stop, Children Crossing” on the other, he blows the whistle and raises a placard instructing cars to stop. At this point, he carefully guides the little ones across the road as they rush to Kiswa Primary School, nearby. Even with the manifestations of old age on his face, wrinkles and dropping cheeks, Mzee Kiviiri moves like any other youthful man – full of energy.
For over 26 years, he has offered a self-less service that has saved so many children’s lives on the Port bell road around Kiswa. Many have returned to thank him for his services.Getting recognition
At the launch of the Coca-Cola Africa Let’s Go Crazy campaign in Namanve, Mzee Kiviiri was recognized for his selfless work. And to that effect there were people in the audience whom he had helped while they were still in school. These had lots of praises and kind words for him; -some even offered him money as appreciation for helping them cross the road.
The old man says he was approached by Coca cola on ground team because they found him fitting for the profile for their Africa Lets go Crazy campaign. He is one of over 50 “Crazy Masters” who were found to be selfless and not seeking financial gain or recognition for their contribution to their communities. Such people are said to be “Crazy for good.”
But more to him is a story of dedication and kind service.
Born in 1950, in Kanabulimu Rakai district, he did not go far with education. A primary six dropout, he could not afford to pay school fees due to the financial difficulties. He instead started working in cotton ginneries until he came to Kampala in 1968 to look for work.
He got a job working for an Indian. He says his Indian employees were very strict and mean. “They would over work me and sometimes at the end of the day, if the boss was not pleased with your work, he would refuse to pay you,” he adds.
A friend later on introduced him to driving, which was at that time the best job for those who did not go far with education because it did not require qualification papers. The spoken old man remembers enrolling in Joy Driving School, where he learnt how to drive.
After learning how to drive, he got another job working as a driver for an Indian family. However, this did not last long as he soon abandoned it to work as special hire driver. After a short while, he shifted from the small special hire cars to driving taxis, which they called, angalia at that time. He moved through different parts of the country, driving passengers. “I used to ply the Kampala-Masaka route, then Kampala-Mbale; I even went up to Busia border point.
Turning point
However in 1986, all that changed when he found a boy lying helpless in the middle of Kiswa road. The boy, a victim of a hit and run accident was bleeding without any assistance. Kiviiri who was driving passengers from Kampala to Bugolobi stopped to assist the boy. He off loaded his passengers and instead turned and rushed the boy to Mulago Hospital. However, he does not remember what became of the little one.
Two days after his kind gesture, he felt a strong conviction to do something about the rampant deaths of young children on the Portbell Road especially around Kiswa. He says accidents on the road were too many due to the many children crossing the roads on their way to school.
That same year, he decided to quit driving taxis, after only 10 years, to settle for the less paying taxi touting, where he would be earning money based on commission.
Today, he boasts of having set up the Bugolobi taxi stage. It is no wonder he is popular among the local people in the area who have since named him Kiviiri, due to the afro he used to have but has all since worn off, leaving him with a bald head.Today though married with four children, he does not regret quitting driving and settling for the cheaper option- being a tout, because he has been able to carry out his heart’s desire - saving children’s lives armed with nothing but a whistle and placards carrying messages of calling on motorists to behave.
For the last 26 years, he has reduced parents’ worries about their children’s safety when crossing the road around Kiswa because they know he is there to assist them. He is loved and popular in the area due to this act of kindness.
Twenty-eight-year-old Joan Nakitende, now an accountant, is grateful to him. She says he held her hand along with others and took them across the road. He would do this in the morning, at lunch when they were returning and also in the evening.Now at his old age, Waligo has been blessed in return. Two of his children have finished school with his first born graduating with a degree, and another currently working for Spedag Interfreight Uganda. However, one gave up on school. He has one more child still in high school.
Troubles faced
For a taxi tout living off commissions, he has many challenges on the job. First, he has to quarrel with taxi drivers trying to organise them on the stage. He also says the move by KCCA to push taxis out of the city centre will leave many youth working as taxi touts and drivers without jobs and yet they all have responsibilities and families to feed.
Waligo alias Kiviiri who lives in Luzira reports to his workstation by 7am every day He works until 5pm every day before retiring. He is also not paid for what he does but he believes his is a special calling from above and as such, it brings him a lot of satisfaction knowing that these little ones are safe.
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