The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | Two things stood out in the life of Charles Muhangi; doing business and motor racing. He developed a love for fast cars as his business was growing. Muhangi understood the dynamic world of business since he had ventured into trade as a young man in the turbulent 1970s. Twenty years later, he was dabbling in motorsport when it was at the peak of its popularity in Uganda.
That was the era of the motoring big names like Karim Hirji, Chipper Adams, Charlie Lubega, Emma Katto, and Moses Lumala. Muhangi soon showed that he was not afraid to make bold moves even in an already dare devil sport. He famously cruised to many podium finishes in his favourite Subaru Impreza 555 that he branded ‘Ekitaguriro’. But his first major break was when he won his first major title; the National Rally Championship in 1998.
He went on to win the Africa Rally Championship (ARC) in 1999 – a record he still holds as the only Ugandan driver who has won it. He was also the first black African to claim the title.
Still, some were taken back when he made a splash on a rally car; a Subaru, he bought from fellow businessman and rally star Karim Hirji in 2000. A national championship event was drawing close and his Ekitaguriro had broken down. The spare parts he had ordered were delaying to come into the country and some people thought he would lie low. But Muhangi was not one to allow such mishaps make him miss an opportunity to be part of the action.
“At the time only Karim’s (Hirji) car was available,” says Yusuf Yiga, a motorsport driver whose father Wycliffe Bukenya was a contemporary of Muhangi in the sport. “And Muhangi liked Subarus.”
When news broke on Dec.06 that Muhangi was dead, Hirji recalled those days in his eulogy.
“He was my good friend. We met as rally drivers,” Hirji said, “I even sold him a car.”
Hirji added that to those who watched motorsport in its heydays, Muhangi exhibited a rare poise behind the wheels and described how the Ekitaguriro charmed motor rally enthusiasts whenever and wherever it made rounds.
Muhangi, however, quit regular racing in 2003 when a resolution by FIA; a global organisation that promotes safety in motorsport, banned turbo charged cars in regional championship rallies.
Muhangi was mulling a comeback as is wont with many sports figures, by the time he was found dead at his home in Buziga, a residential suburb in Kampala.
Business appears to have been in his blood. He was born into a business family September 20, 1957 in Bushenyi. His father was a trader who owned trucks and earned from transport dealings. Unfortunately Muhangi’s father was killed in the clashes of 1972 when forces of then President Idi Amin, repulsed a group of Ugandan exiles who had attacked from Tanzania with the intention of capturing Mbarara.
Muhangi then at St Mary’s College Rushoroza followed in his father’s footsteps and joined business. From the 1970s when he joined business, he concentrated on the transport sector and by 1984 he had two buses trading under the name Horizon Coaches. He had grown the number of buses to over 20 by the early 1990s. Horizon Coaches were plying the Kampala- Kabale route and venturing as far as Kigali, Rwanda and Bujumbura in Burundi. So he was an established businessman by the time he joined motorsport in the mid-1990s and the Horizon Coaches brand would always be emblazoned on his racing Subaru.
Business rivalry
At the time of death, Muhangi was embroiled in ownership wrangles over business properties in the city. He was battling two prominent businessmen Drake Lubega and Mansur Matovu over ownership of prime property; Qualicel Bus Terminal, Qualicel building, and Nabukera Plaza, in the city centre. The court had given him reprieve a few months ago when it ruled in his favour.
Then matters escalated when a number of buildings were closed over tensions in November as Muhangi moved in to enforce his claim. There was heavy police deployment and business was paralysed. President Museveni was also involved in mediating the conflict.
“Those men should just surrender as quickly as possible because if they don’t quit, their destination is Luzira prison. I have suffered with them going through court for 13 years. I defeated them in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and also in the Supreme Court,” Muhangi was quoted by Daily Monitor last month. But the tension was not yet over by the time Muhangi breathed his last. According to Muhangi’s mother, Angella Rwankore, the former rally ace left behind a wife and seven children.
