4 June 2011
THEY were the hallmark of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but Kamodo has been blowing vuvuzelas for 20 years and is not about to stop, writes Norman Katende
The average man in sandals cleans his vuvuzela very delicately like a mother cleaning his one-week-old first born. He then walks majestically towards a group of fans cheering on the national team – the Uganda Cranes.
It is not easy to make out whether he is listening to the mixture of sounds from the vuvuzelas, horns, whistles or hoarse voices that are coming from the fans.
He suddenly stops and stylishly unhooks a vuvuzela from a string around his waist on which another five hang. He examines it before putting it back and reaching for another, like a soldier testing his gun in preparation for war.
“Kamodo,” yells somebody from the stands. The man with the vuvuzela looks up and swings his arms open.
“Tuweemu (give us a sample),” the woman who shouted his name requests.
Kamodo puts his left foot forward to the rhythm of the vuvuzelas, then the right foot follows and he moves his hands like a conductor of an orchestra as he orders them to blow on.
Suddenly, they all stop blowing the vuvuzelas and all attention in the stadium turns to Kamodo. This is his moment and the look of satisfaction on his face suggests that he is enjoying every bit of it, though he pretends to look absent-minded.
Kamodo picks a red vuvuzela and caresses it. He then blows it in a rhythm the audience seems to enjoy. He pauses, as if engaging the gears of a car, looks at the audience and resumes, to the excitement of the spectators.
“I love it this way. I want to turn the fans on,” says the 30-year-old vuvuzela blower, James Muwonge, commonly known as Kamodo.
He says blowing the vuvuzela has become a part of his life and supporting football is something he cannot do without.
20 years of cheering
He is a SC Villa diehard and watches all the football club’s matches from village to international level.
To Muwonge, a match whether local or international, provides the same entertainment.
“The village matches showcase the talent soccer lovers enjoy watching. They play good football,” he says.
When you see him blowing his vuvuzela, you wonder how long it took him to master it.
But he is quick to say that he started blowing it 20 years ago, even before some people knew the vuvuzuela existed.
“It was a hard start. I was a great cheerleader at Mulusa Academy, but cheering using the mouth alone was not easy. I bought a horn of the Uganda kob from Owino Market, but didn’t like the sound it produced. I then resorted to blowing plastic trumpets, but they were not long-lasting,” he explains.
As Kamodo was thinking of a solution to this, he one day came across somebody blowing a vuvuzela and fell in love with it there and then.
Like most people, learning how to blow the vuvuzela was hard.
“I had to go back to him and he taught me how to blow it. It took some time before I mastered the art of blowing it. I have been perfecting it till now,” he says, adding that the first vuvuzela he used is now an antique in his sitting room.
He now has over 30 vuvuzelas and teaches children how to blow them.
“We have a group that helps in carrying out promotions,” says Kamodo, who says he works in Owino Market, though the public has come to associate him with his vuvuzela.
He says the sound from the vuvuzela raises the morale of the players on the pitch.
AllAfrica – All the Time
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My Vuvuzela My Companion