Playwright Alex Mukulu dies at 72

What the report says

Ugandan playwright, actor and musician Alex Mukulu has died at the age of 72, according to The Observer. The report says the announcement prompted tributes from public figures, including Buganda’s Katikiro Charles Peter Mayiga, who described Mukulu as a trainer, songwriter, musician and performer who valued Buganda culture and served Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II. National Unity Platform leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu also praised him as a strong and principled voice in the entertainment sector.

The obituary highlights Mukulu’s best-known work, the play 30 Years of Bananas, which he staged in the early 1990s. The production used caricatures of Uganda’s post-independence presidents to encourage audiences to think about the country’s political history and development. Mukulu said the play drew on the more open political climate that followed the rise of the National Resistance Movement in 1986, when artists could more freely address topics that had once been difficult to discuss publicly.

The Observer also notes that Mukulu had a long theatre career before that landmark work. His first play, Muzukulu wa Kabangala, was staged in 1977, and later titles included Wounds of Africa, The Journey of Realization, The People’s President, I Killed the Archbishop and The Guest of Honor. He appeared at the 2007 CHOGM opening in Kampala and later returned to theatre with Kulumbisi and Kulunkalu, an African adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.

Born in Namutamba Village in present-day Mityana district, Mukulu studied at Namilyango College, Kololo Secondary School and Makerere University. He also worked in radio, music and training, helping shape Uganda’s creative arts scene over several decades.