Rachael Magoola is a

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

n singer, songwriter, dancer, and politician. She is one of the members of Afrigo Band. In the 2021 general election she was elected to Parliament, as the women's representative in

Bugweri District Bugweri District is a district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, coun ...

, for the

National Resistance Movement The National Resistance Movement (; abbr. NRM) has been the ruling party in Uganda since 1986. History The National Resistance Movement (NRM) was founded as a liberation movement that waged a guerrilla war through its rebel wing National ...

Early life and education

Magoola’s musical journey started at home where her father, the late Nicholas Magoola, was a music teacher at several colleges in eastern Uganda. As a young girl she sang in the church choir and played musical instruments at home. In Senior Two she was expelled from

Tororo Girls School Tororo Girls Secondary School, commonly known as Tororo Girls School (TGS), is an all-girls boarding school covering grades 8 -13 in the Eastern Region, Uganda, Eastern Region of Uganda. Location TGS is in the town of Tororo, about southeast of ...

for performing in a band while on a school break. In 1983 Magoola joined

Namasagali College Namasagali College is a mixed boarding middle and high school located in Kamuli District in Eastern Uganda. Location The school is situated on a campus at Namasagali, approximately , by road, northwest of the town of Kamuli, where the distric ...

and later "Kaliro Teacher Training College" where she trained as a secondary school teacher, specialising in music and languages. She taught at Namasagali College until 1993 when she left for

Kyambogo University Kyambogo University (KYU) is a public university in Uganda. It is one of the largest and prestigious University in Uganda and is among the eight public universities and degree-awarding institutions in the country with the motto, "Knowledge and Sk ...

where she studied a degree course in education, majoring in Music. Although she was the best student in her class Magoola didn’t graduate because she was discontinued from her course for absconding when she went on tour with Afrigo Band. She recorded " Obangaina" in London with Afrigo Band and the song became an instant hit. Magoola went back to Kyambogo University in 2012 to complete and receive her education degree.

Music

Magoola joined Afrigo where she arranged a lot of the music and choreography. In 2001 Rachel formed and launched her own group which recorded three albums: ''Inhaife'', ''Tyenda Wundi'' and ''Tonyiiga''. In 2003, she left Afrigo band and Uganda, for the United Kingdom. At London's South Bank she led the 'Women of Kampala' group in London's African Music Festival and collaborated with South African trumpeter Claude Deppa. In 2009 Rachel and her band performed at the Sauti za Busara festival in Zanzibar. Her compositions contain elements of languages and traditional rhythms from all regions of Uganda, as well as reggae and zouk. Magoola has a total of six albums: ''Inhaife'' (1997), ''Tyenda Wundi'' (1998), ''Tonyiiga'' (2000), ''Atubembe'' (2001), ''Songs from the Source of the Nile'' (2005) and ''Eisadha'' (2008).

Discography

*''Inhaife'' (1997) *''Tyenda Wundi'' (1998) *''Tonyiiga'' (2000) *''Atubembe'' (2001) *''Songs from the Source of the Nile'' (2005) *''Eisadha'' (2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magoola, Rachael 1966 births 21st-century Ugandan women singers 20th-century Ugandan women singers Living people Kumusha Members of Afrigo Band Kyambogo University alumni Place of birth missing (living people) People educated at Tororo Girls School National Resistance Movement politicians Members of the 11th Parliament of Uganda Women members of the Parliament of Uganda 21st-century Ugandan women politicians