For years, his writing served as a trusted guide for readers seeking honest reviews of restaurants, hotels and dining experiences across Kampala and beyond. His columns not only critiqued food but also celebrated the people, traditions and creativity behind Uganda’s growing hospitality industry.Friends, colleagues and members of the culinary fraternity described him as a gifted communicator whose work elevated food journalism in Uganda. Many credited him with inspiring a new appreciation for fine dining and professional culinary standards at a time when the country’s restaurant scene was rapidly evolving.“Kadumukasa was among the best in the trade. He understood food beyond taste; he understood culture, presentation and the experience that comes with hospitality,” one mourner wrote in a tribute shared online.

Beyond journalism, Kironde was admired for mentoring young chefs and hospitality professionals. His calm personality, attention to detail and commitment to excellence earned him respect within both media and culinary circles.The news of his death triggered an outpouring of grief on social media, where readers, chefs, restaurateurs and fellow journalists remembered him as a pioneer whose voice carried authority and authenticity.A death announcement issued by A-Plus Funeral Management confirmed that Kironde, a resident of Rubaga Namirembe, died on Monday. Funeral and burial arrangements are still being finalised.As Uganda reflects on his legacy, many say Kadumukasa leaves behind more than memorable reviews and newspaper columns. He leaves a lasting imprint on the country’s food culture and hospitality industry — one built through years of passionate storytelling, criticism and celebration of culinary excellence.His passing marks the end of an era in Uganda’s food journalism, but his contribution to the industry will long be remembered.

He further added that the Bill will also provide for the phasing out of the already existing GMOs in the country and insisted that GMOs are a disaster that have no benefits. He labored to even tell an open lie that 50 African countries out of 54, have said no to GMOs. Buturo needs to be told that genetically modified crops have been commercially cultivated in many African countries that include Kenya, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Sudan amongst others.

According to research, Maize, soybean and cotton are some of the GM crops currently grown in South Africa. Hon Buturo is one of the many Ugandans who think it’s fashionable to demonize or scandalize GMOs, even when they have no evidence to adduce to that effect. But he needs to know that strict risk assessments and quality assurances are done at every stage of GMO development, to ensure close evaluation and monitoring long before these products are available on the market.

In 2017 and 2021, President Yoweri Museveni declined to sign into law, the National Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill, 2012 due to the probable dilemma arising from the fact that he is a serious proponent of scientific innovations and at the same time, a believer in history and cultural practices. But he needs his lenses on to take this decision – which is a very easy undertaking since there is massive evidence to justify GMO proliferation in the country took place a long time ago, without any negative consequences.

The GMO Bill which was legislated in 2012 must NOT be used by anti-GMO propagandists who are motivated by ignorance or selfish reasons. There is a lot of evidence to show that Buturo and most of the Anti-GMO people have been enjoying GMO products without knowing it.  Rather than scaremongering, they should face the reality that these products have already been doing well on the Ugandan market.

Most Ugandan Chicken are GMO Products

Today, Ugandans have opted for genetically modified chicken because they realized that the much ‘loved’ local African chicken has got very hard skin, takes long to get ready and has a very dull taste. In fact, when subjected to a test between this African chicken and the genetically modified cross breed chicken, you will realize that most Ugandans will take preference for the genetically cross breed birds.

Let’s be honest here; how many of you have eaten local African chicken from KFC, or any top hotels like Serena or Sheraton? The same arguments about poultry can easily justify the need for other genetically modified organisms. Without GMOs, Uganda’s poultry, piggery, meat and milk sectors would only be for subsistence. Secondly, even if you are badly opposed to GMOs, the market demands will humble you into submission.

Most of Uganda’s poultry output figures for the number of eggs and kilograms of chicken are GMO products. This is mostly because the local chicken cannot produce eggs and meat in enough quantities that can satisfy the market demands, or get quantified and captured in our gross domestic product (GDP).

A conservative person will oppose cross-breed cattle which can safely be labeled as GMO, simply because he is obsessed with Ankole cattle but the reality is that these Ankole cattle cannot be relied upon to produce milk and meat in enough quantities that can satisfy the national and regional market. You will need that genetically modified cross breed cattle to get enough milk and meat that can provoke the need for agro-processing industries.

Pig Insulin

There is another example of the piggery sector that has been growing tremendously with the emergence of genetically modified pigs. Today, Ugandans consommé pork as a very serious delicacy in every corner of the country! But most of it is genetically modified. Anti-GMO group ought to know that when someone suffers from diabetes, he will need insulin that is produced by pigs that are genetically modified. The medical world will tell you that you cannot get that insulin from your local pigs.

Food Security

The world today is in a dire need for food. This food cannot be delivered without the need for GMOs. The organic foods alone cannot be enough to feel the gap. Why? GMOs are higher yielding, can resist the adversity of pests and can prevail in poor quality soil, or poor weather conditions.

With all this in mind, you need to have a quick food alternative – which is readily availed by the presence of GMOs. Therefore, we need to balance between conservative, nostalgic sentiments of sticking to organic products and the necessity of having GMOs that can serve society in a meaningful manner. The tendency of criminalizing GMOs should be justified and not opposed by sentimentally-driven bigots.

Without GMOs, Uganda’s poultry, piggery, meat and milk sectors can collapse completely because the organic versions cannot fill the market demands. Therefore, those demonizing GMOs need to rethink their perspective. The GMOS are already in vogue playing a vital role in the food market. They are the best solution for the incessant droughts and famine that normally hit Africa with acute food shortage.

The owners of the money have since opened a legal war against the two dishonest brothers seeking refund of their hard earned funds. The case is registered as number 665/19 at the commercial section of the High Court. It was filed by Kigenyi, Opira and Company Advocates.

The victims company, Kare Distribution Limited (KDL), a firm dealing in manufacture and sell of bread, cakes, chapatti and half cakes, fell into the Hamids’ snare, their lawyers assert, when they contracted the two Ugandans of Sudanese origin’s Pan Afric Commodities factory at Kawempe, with a view of buying more than 1000 bags of wheat flour.

Evidence availed to court indicate that KDL made the above contract on July 18^th 2018. The factory happily agreed to sell the 1000 bags of the commodity, passing it off as fit for human consumption. The sales were made on July 29^th, 30^th and 31^st 2018.

So smart were the Hamids that KDL only discovered the foul play after customers (KDL) had returned the bread that they had made using the worthless wheat flour, the lawyers claim. The owners of KDL quickly informed the managers of Pan Afric, of their foul play.

Their lawyers dispatched the letter on October 10^th 2018. They were asking for a meeting with the managers of Pan Afric to discuss the best way to fix the problem that had arisen. The managers at Pan Afric responded by picking the balance of the contaminated wheat, but they neither refunded the money they had dishonestly received nor replaced the bad wheat with the good one.

KDL lawyers then accuse the Pan Afric management of attempting to cash the postdated cheques that had been issued to them to cover the balance of the purchase price of the filthy wheat. They state that this further move by Pan Afric meant to deliberately earn more dishonest bucks from their clients.

KDL wrote to their Bankers, Cairo International to stop the payment. Meanwhile, KDL have now opened legal proceedings against Pan Afric and the two Sudanese owners of the firm seeking refund of their money with interest and expenses expended on baking the bad bread and distributing it on the market.

The Commercial Court Registry has since dispatched summons to the Hamids, giving them 15 days to file their defense. The file is allocated to Lady Justice Ann Mugenyi Bitature, who is yet to set the judgment day, just in case the 15 days lapses without their response. Watch this space for this developing story…