This archive report was first published on 11 July 2019.
Ugandan business magnate Amirali Karmali, affectionately known as Mukwano, passed away on Wednesday evening at the age of 89.
According to sources close to the family, Karmali died of heart complications at his home in Kololo, Kampala.
As the founder of the Mukwano Group of Companies, a fast-moving consumer goods company with interests in agriculture, logistics, real estate, and banking, Karmali's legacy will be remembered for generations to come.
Born in 1930 to a business family, Karmali's entrepreneurial journey began as a shop assistant. He later shifted to Mbarara in western Uganda before moving to Mpigi near Kampala, where he traded in cotton and coffee.
His family's business took off in Fort Portal, Tooro Kingdom, near the DR Congo border, where Karmali ventured into the transport business after purchasing a second-hand truck to transport agricultural produce to Kampala.
When Ugandan President Idi Amin ordered the expulsion of Asian minorities in 1972, Karmali successfully used his network of local contacts to lie low and stay in the country, hidden by good Samaritans.
After the fall of Amin in the 1980s, Karmali rebuilt his business, which now employs approximately 10,000 people, according to its reports.
The Mukwano Group's subsidiary companies include Mukwano Enterprises Ltd, AK Oils and Fats, AK Plastics, AK Detergents, Rwenzori Commodities, a forex bureau, and Gulf Stream Investments Limited.
In real estate, Karmali built the first modern shopping mall in Kampala, the Acacia Mall, and several other malls in the city.
Following his deteriorating health, Karmali relocated to his home in Fort Portal, leaving the business to his children, led by his son Alykan Karmali.
