Category: Obituaries

Early this year I received a whatsap message from a man known to many as Eng Bugaba of Uganda Communications Commision ( UCC). But for his classmates he was known as Quick feet. Our King’s College Budo class year (1977-83) had in appreciation of the education we received there long decided to sponsor at least one needy student every year. The man spearheading this class project was none other than Simon.

“Just contacted the Deputy,” he wrote. “He says he will give us a shortlist next week.” In the midst of a busy schedule as a top official at UCC, Simon had gone at great lengths to gather details of needy students at Budo.

A four person select committee he headed had decided that our next sponsor should this time be a girl. Simon came up with four names. When we met on April 7th, 2021 he had already done investigative work breaking down the students home environment, performance and needs. It did not take us long to agree on one girl. Once we presented her to the rest of classmates, there was immediate agreement to support her.

Job well done. That is why we called Simon, Quick feet.

I first met Smon in 1981 as a new A’level student (njuka) at Budo. Perhaps because of his soft spoken nature, and unassuming ways, he didn’t make a fast impression on me. For him he had joined Budo in 1977 coming from up country Primary schools- based at Sempa, Bulindo, Bamusuuta and one in Kiboga. Having excelled and being needy he was admitted on a Bursary scholarship, something he would never forget.

Besides enjoying his academics, Simon took on a past game at Budo, cricket, where he tortured opponents as a wicked batsman. Volleyball was another of his passion and he loved spurring on the opposite side of the net with his classmate, now Dr George Mutema. However, another even more consuming interest was that Simon was a very committed Christian.

In his first year at Budo, together with his house mate, Tim Sentongo, and Isaac Kronde, during one “contact” fellowship the trio committed their life to Jesus Christ as Lord and personal savior. “One of our earliest joint encounters was when Douglas Kisaka was heading Contact choir in 1977,” remised Isaac, years later. “Simon and I tried to join but were turned down..”

The young enthusiastic converts were not deterred. Simon, together with Tim and Isaac studied closely together, and returned for A’level, with him taking on the demanding PCM combination. On meeting him in Canada House, spite of my then indifference to his faith, we developed a healthy respect for each other, largely due to his genial character. Indeed, when in our final year he was appointed House prefect there was unanimous support for him, especially for those of us often at the wrong side of the law. I could count on him for bailing me out whenever I got into trouble, which was not that rare, to be conservative.

As prefect Simon took it upon himself to welcome and mentor those who joined Canada House. One S1 student, now Enoch Sebuyongo, would later recall how he was not only warmly received, but was encouraged by him to commit his life to Christ, just as he had done in SI. “One day he gave us a word of encouragement,” now Dr Enoch Sebuyongo would later recall, “from Psalms 34:8- Oh taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”

Simon was affected by the NRM led 1980- 5 guerrilla war which was perched in his home area of Luwero. Unable to return home the family of his friend Tim Sentongo took him in where he became an adopted son. After passing A’level both joined Makerere university in the 1981 class year, with Simon taking a B.Science degree; Tim going for medicine; while Isaac was admitted for a Bsc Agric. Admitted into Lumumba hall, he and Tim, who would later became Chair of the Christian Student Fellowship, were also roommates.

Around that time one of the most thriving evangelical church in Kampala was the Redeemed Church, just outside Makerere university main gate. Built of reeds ( kiwempe) the church preached fervently for any who cared to listen to accept Jesus as a personal saviour. Simon, along with Isaac, not only joined this church but soon bandied up with a number of university students, including Alen Kakuyo Kagina, later to head the UNRA and Jennifer Lubwama Musisi, later to head KCCA, to form the Restoration Band. “Simon played drums,” recalled Isaac, sometimes bass, but also sung. A famous song he led was written by Ben Kayizi, called “Bind man”!

Soon after graduating, in 1988, Simon took up employment with then Uganda Post and Telecommunications Limited ( UPTL). These days it is quite rare to find someone who works for virtually one organization for all his entire life, which was to be his case. He started out at the bottom in the regulatory department, along with one of his Budo classmates, Eng Miriam Wambuzi Kawuma.

In mid 1990s after the liberalization of Uganda’s economy, UPTL was broken up into Uganda Telecommunications Limited (UTL), Uganda Postal Limited (UPL) and UCC. Of the three splinter organizations, UCC, was certainly much smaller and perhaps with less prospects. In hindsight it must have been providence that led Simon to move to the unknown new entity, UCC, in 1998 as one of the first staff there. As Uganda’s telecommunication industry grew, Simon would grow with it, eventually making him as one of the leading telecommunications expert in the country.

In 1998 as a result of liberalization policy the radio industry had opened up to new private stations. I happened to be involved in starting one new FM station, Power FM, and often found myself dropping by his office, based at Communications house, which was responsible for regulating license.

It is there that I came to discover how Simon’s life had progressed since we had left university. In 1990 while at UPTL Simon had met a girl called Agnes whom he started courting. The two got married on 1st March 1992. Though many had since moved on I found Simon was still attending Redeemed church, where he was now one of the elders. In brief, there was little change about the unassuming person I had first met back at school.

As UCC grew to oversee the rapidly growing telecom industry, Simon also grew with it. He rose to be appointed in charge of Telecom Licensing and Service development as well as Service Quality compliance. Later he was promoted Head of Regional Operations at UCC..Finally he became Head of Estates Administration.

In October 2008 the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly ( WTSA) which is held every four years and sets Global Standards elected Simon to serve as the Vice-Chairman of Study Group 13 responsible for Future networks, including mobile telephony. In addition, he was also elected to serve as the Group Rapporteur. Later, the Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) which coordinates standards for telecommunications and Information Communication Technology around the world such as cyber security, elected him to be the first Chairman of the Regional Group for Africa.

Two things about Simon’s working life. In all this time his career was never bloated with a single scandal. Once when he was unfairly made redundant he went to his church and shared how he had lost his job. But his Pastor assured him that the God who gave him that job would redeem him. Indeed, later found blameless, he was recalled. He would end up as one of the longest serving staff at UCC, by the time of his death.

And then, while he was a top official at UCC, Simon shunned the perks that many long for and become so attached to while in big positions. For him he preferred to drive his pick up to work, shunning the official SUV, and normally walked back from office to home, as part of his exercise regime.

Simon also remained a down to earth “simple dude”, as he once described himself. Simon’s friends would come to rely on him for a fast hand whenever in need. “When my university in UK required accreditation of my first degrew” recalled his old friend Isaac, who had since settled in UK as an engineer, “and I didn’t know where turn, once I mentioned it to Simon, despite his busy schedule, he made time and effort to retrieve my transcript. In 2014 Cathy my wife and I needed to process some new personal documents and he just said, “leave it” and in 3 weeks he had it dome.” A hard working man here in Uganda it was common for friends who had issues with their upcoutry land to turn to Simon to help sort out the mind boggling mess of squatters or how to start sustainable farming.

Yet if there were anything that defined Simon was his service to his church, support for his former school and commitment to his family. He never left the church he joined as a young university student. Pastor Robert Kasaija , noted that when he received his first salary he quickly brought his tithe to see the Lord’s work prosper. This is a habit he continued to the end of his life. At King’s College Budo, where his eldest son Aaron Kibirige later joined, the headmaster, Bakka Male found him to be one of the most supportive parents. “Selfless service on house committees,” the Headmaster recalls, “and until his death fees sponsor to the needy.” Once on scholarship, Simon was always looking for students like him, to extend a helping hand.

When he married Agnes, she was still studying her ICSA. Agnes parents had cautioned him, before releasing her, that he commits to let her finish her studies. He never abandoned that promise. “Aside from being a good husband,” she would later testify, “he made sure that I completed my studies. He would drive me to school and wait to pick me up. After passing he accompanied me to UK for the award of my ICSA Certification.” Agnes now works in the Internal Audit Department of KCCA.

Early this year while chatting on the Budo 77-83 class forum Simon shared with pride, how their first born, Aaron Kibirige had graduated as a mechanical engineer. Sarah Namuggga, who follows, as an ICT specialist. Meanwhile Solome Nankumbi had just finished S6 at Gayaza High School, while the last born Samantha Nakubulwa, was in her P7 vacation.

At the start of last week Simon started feeling unwell. He took some medication to stem a serous bout of cough and flu. Describing himself as a “bad patient” he prayed for complete healing. After recovering from one long sleepless night, on June 14th he sent a message of praise to his friends on his church forum. With his energy returned he reported back to work. On our class forum that day he sent a message of condolence to Dr Frank Lule, who had just lost his father.

Simon had a full day at work up to Wednesday. However, on Thursday, he woke up weak and decided to stay home for rest. Later in the day, Agnes noticed him struggling with his breathing, and decided to rush him to Kampala hospital. By the time the car got to the hospital he had slipped away quietly to meet the Lord Jesus whom he had accepted as his Savior as a small boy, back in 1977.

Simon was a man whom you met and made you feel like a giant. He carried himself so simply and many would miss him as he walked back home from work, yet he was a global telecoms industry icon. He was looking eagerly for retirement, but the Lord had better plans.

“Quick feet” is now forever with his Lord and saviour.

BERRY NANSIMBI JAGWE ( 1937- 2021).

For those who passed through mixed schools, it was common to find high school sweethearts. For the laggards, like this writer, dating couples were a curious sight. Actually certain mixed schools are known to forbid dating, seeing such as an unnecessary “puppy- love” distraction. But in any case as many know, the moment high school sweet hearts walk out of the gates of their school enclosure, the once fiery relationship soon cools off, opening way to other determined and more sober suitors.

Now, there are those amazing relationships that survive, against odds, and go on to bloom long  outside school campus gates, living behind a colorful legacy. Like Berry who met her beau, Jack, while students at King’s College, Budo, back in 1956.

When Kattikkiro Apollo Kaggwa visited England in 1902 as guests of Her Majesty’s government to attend the coronation of King Edward V11, along with his secretary, Hamu Mukasa, what struck him most was a visit to Eton, a school dedicated to train British nobility for future leadership. Upon return in 1906 Kaggwa conceived the idea of founding a school to cater for Buganda aristocracy- King’s College Budo. Indeed, initially the school that rises atop a hill where for 500 years Baganda kings are crowned, only catered for children of Baganda nobility.

For her administration, the school relied on imaginative missionary headmasters largely from England. But these missionaries once they met the Kaggwa quota of catering to children of the Baganda aristocracy, sneakily went out to recruit talented children from all over Uganda, many of humble background, but with much promise. Indeed, it is to the credit of these missionaries, most of whom too came fame from British nobility, graduates of Oxon- Cambridge universities, that the school blossomed to attract not just Ugandans but Africans who went on to distinguish themselves in their different callings around the world.

Budo had already recruited from Kako Secondary School, a talented young man called Joash Mayanja- Nkangi, later to ably serve as a Prime Minister of Buganda and be a long serving cabinet Minister in the Central Uganda government. One day headmaster, Timothy H Cobb, heard of another promise- a bright chap called Jack Jagwe who had skipped two classes and topped the district in Junior secondary exams. Upon getting an idea of this academic star, Cobb, immediately awarded him  the King’s George IV Scholarship to join the famed school.

Unlike many of the children he was later to meet at Budo Jack was coming from a humble family. His father, Ganafa, was a carpenter and modest coffee farmer based in Masaka area, while his mother Asinasi, was a housewife. When Jack Jagwe joined Budo in 1954 he was not aware that the class that  Cobb had assembled was to be a gathering of some illustrious lads who would go on to leave an indelible footprint on the nation of Uganda and the globe. They took the name  “Jubilantes,” as it is in their year when the school marked her fiftieth anniversary.

First, in the class was a young man from Butambala district called Laban Bombo, who after marrying this writer’s eldest sister, Alice Nakyejwe would later return and replicate his life’s Christian values, serving for over three decades as the School chaplain and mathematics teacher, inspiring a generation of Budonians now spread around the world serving humanity. There was Fred Kayanja, who in a long and fitting academic career would win France’s highest academic award Odre de Palmes, and serve for over two decades as founding Vice Chancellor of Mbarara University of Science & Technology. Jack’s best friend, Phares Mutibwa, who in his year topped the whole of East Africa in the final exams would go on to become an accomplished professor of history of Uganda and Malagasy. John Nagenda, became a star cricketer and writer of note, along with luminaries like the Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka. Several classmates would go on to serve as cabinet ministers in a number of governments: Edward Kakonge and Al Haji Jamada Luzinda. There was Charles Nyonyintono Kikonyogo, later Governor of Central Bank, the outspoken parliamentarian and lawyer Al Haji Nsubuga- Nsambu. A number in this class would join the medical profession: Dr David Serwada, Dr Edward Kizito, Dr William Mugerwa, and of course Dr Jack Jagwe.

Others distinguished Jubilantes include Fred Ssemazzi, Michael Mulyanti, James Senabulya, Perez Kamunanuyire and a three girls namely; Beatrice Bajenja (Mrs. Rwanyarare), Christine Kisiriko and Jane Kentembwe (Mrs. Rwakitarate).

Two years after joining, a beautiful girl called Berry joined the school coming from Kyebambe Junior School, in Mbarara district. Her family was one of many Baganda families that had migrated and settled in Ankole after the later 19th century wars. They were requested to serve in Baganda- British collaboration administrative posts. Berry’s father, Nasanairi Balimukubo, was a World War 1 veteran, who after the war was rewarded as Deputy County chief in Kiabatsi, South West Ankole, where he settled to start a family of eventually 18 children.  After one of his daughters, Berry, had excelled at her studies she too earned a scholarship to the school, with Budo again courting the best and brightest kids from all over Uganda.

By then headmaster Cobb after being impressed with Jack’s leadership qualities had appointed him as Head prefect, to be deputized by Fred Kayanja and Laban Bombo. In 1933 Budo had opened her gates to admitting girls but the population had remained minimal. For instance, in Berry’s class year, there were only three girls perched in between a class of gangling boys. They would take the name of “Trojans”, and like Jack’s class year, would go on as well to distinguish themselves.

From the Trojans came the school’s first African Head master, Dr Dan Kyanda; two  Prime Ministers of Uganda, Kintu- Musoke and Prof Apollo Nsibambi; once minister of Justice, Steven Ariko; an Inspector General of Police, David Barlow; a Mayor of Kampala Fred Ssemaganda; medics- Drs John Ottiti, an optician and Christopher Ndugwa, a pediatrician. One star athlete in this class, Moses Nsereko, would rise to become Under Secretary in Ministry of Internal Affairs, only for his life to be crudely cut short when he was charged with espionage by the Idi Amin regime and executed by firing squad in 1976, a blow which all his classmates would never get over.

Budo boys can apologize to some faults but one which it would be hard to catch any sympathy is lack of self-confidence, bordering on the extreme. Surrounded by these alpha males, one can imagine the attention the gorgeous Berry was lavished along with her friend, Elvania Namukwaya, who in later life would become a famous play writer. Boys would swoon and chaperon over these few girls with proposals, or as it was then called “applications.” The competition could be stiff.

It is here that Jack too ventured his luck and submitted an “application” to Berry just four months after admission.

Perhaps because he was the Head prefect, or that he was a star academic performer and would later top his class as the best science student in East Africa, or just because he was so good looking, out of a bee hive of frantic suitors her heart opened to the boy from Masaka. Once it was clear that Jack and Berry had something going, and, were steady, it scattered off the furious competition.

The heat of high school relations tend to simmer off once love birds walk out of school gates. This one was to be different. Jack was admitted to Makerere University medical school while Berry would go to Buloba and Kyambogo Teacher Training College where she qualified as a teacher. The dentist, Dr Martin Aliker, who had left Budo in 1947, in his memoirs, “The Bell is Ringing,” writes that it was common for Makerere University boys to go out scouting for girls in surrounding night clubs like Suzzana in Nakulabye or nurses hostel. But Jack only concentrated on his books while holding steadfastly on to his proposal to Berry. Since those were the days of postal letters, the distance must have been bridged with prolific correspondence.

A year after graduating in 1964, Dr Jack Jagwe, exchanged vows of holy matrimony at St Paul’s Cathederal, Namirembe with Berry, blessed by  the long serving Canon Benon Lwanga. The best man was Phares Mutibwa, Jack’s old Budo friend, who had seen it all start. The couple hosted their guests at the Queen’s courts at Makerere University, and thereafter fled for a honeymoon at Tropical Inn in Masaka, The hotel was being managed by a Budonian, Nathan Bakyaita, who would later give the Jagwe’s, a son in law, Dr Nathan Bakyaita ( Jr).

Having settled into family life the young Jagwes did not waste time. A year after marriage Berry gave birth to Anne Nanziri Nabankeme, who would be followed in quick succession with their daughters, Julian Nasseje Namyalo, Elizabeth Nabwami,  a son, John Nakalubo, and  finally rounding off with another girl, Slyvia Nansimbi Namagga.

While Dr Jagwe pursued his medical profession, going in 1967 to England, where he graduated with a Membership of the Royal College of Physicians award in 1970, for Berry it was pursuing her teaching profession. She was appointed a teacher at Nabisunsa Girls School, where she would meet this writers’ future mother in law, and later to play an important part in her life, by connecting her to a  searching bachelor, Edward Kasolo- Kimuli, later a long serving Headmaster of Makerere College School and Chief Inspector of Education.

In 1970 Berry was appointed the first African Headmistress of Gayaza Junior School. Meanwhile Dr Jagwe was appointed as Consultant at Mulago hospital, a job which came with the perk of having residence in upscale Kololo. They lived simply as shared by their son, John, in his book “The story of a Ugandan Physician.”

Because of the distance from Gayaza, Berry eventually decided to retire from teaching, making a career switch to banking by joining Uganda Commercial Bank. There she was tasked with coordinating staff trainings at the Manpower Development Centre. Concurrently, she continued with her voluntary work of mentoring young women and eventually she was elected President of YWCA. In that role, she had an opportunity of representing Ugandan women in several international fora and meetings which included the unforgettable Beijing conference in 1995. Prior to that, she had the opportunity to deliver a speech in an audience graced by Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in another grand women emancipation meeting.

In 1990 the Jagwe’s celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. At that function, one of Berry’s former teachers at Budo who saw their friendship start, Professor Senteza- Kajubi, twice Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, remarked that he had never seen one of them not in the company of the other, a testament that none of the warmth that began on Budo hill had phased. .

After being promoted as Medical Superintendent of Mulago Hospital and later a Director of Medical Services, the Jagwes, ageing retired to a quiet life in their residence at Bunga. There they teamed up with several couples to form a cell as members of St John Kawuki church. They continued to engage in community activities with Berry returning to King’s College Budo as a Member of Board of Governors and signatory to the school account for a decade.  Meanwhile Jack, now a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP); was appointed to serve as the founding Chair of National Drug Authority and serve on the Boards of several public and private boards, chairing for many years the Board of Mengo hospital.

At the couple’s 50th anniversary, Prof Mutibwa, the couple’s best man shared, “Berry discovered something special in Jack …she opted for Jack and she never looked back. I admire her for her rare insight and I commend her for the choice she made. It is such memories that give such pleasures in life, to see two starting to love each other and in their teens, to keep that love burning despite many odds and in the end get married and start together for a period of 50 years which we celebrate now.”

Over the years Berry developed a debilitating condition of diabetes, which started restricting her movements. On April 12th 2020, her son, Dr John Nkalubo Jagwe, happened to call her. Though in apparent pain she stoically only inquired about his welfare and the grandchildren. Almost half an hour later after hanging up, John, received a call that his mother’s condition had worsened and was being rushed to Mengo hospital. He rushed to the hospital to meet her there. But upon arrival she was pronounced dead.

Jack and Berry had been together for 65 years since they met on the bright Budo hill, bringing to a quiet close a beautiful love story with a colorful legacy.

The writer is an Old Budonian and Associate Professor of Management, Uganda Christian University, Mukono

John Kittobe, my old and close colleague at Uganda Management Institute (UMI) who was shot dead on November 18th during riots, shall continue to live in the hearts of many who knew him. Although it is easy to say that he was shot accidentally, by a stray bullet, after having seen some videos of targeted shooting of unarmed civilians, by hate- filled goons, I, for one, shall not buy into that. A brilliant accountant who served his nation honorably including teaching many accountants and public servants lost his life needlessly at the hands of cold assassins.

I can’t recall exactly when we first met. Together in the 2000s we served on the staff of UMI and shared an office on the same floor. But he was in a different department and we rarely interacted. What struck me was that he was much older, looked a bit stern and, usually came to work in a white short-sleeved shirt, always with a necktie fitted, typical of British trained accountants.

One day an event brought us closer. I represented academic staff on the council. A matter was presented and I had a different view. I canvassed for support and this is how we started a long friendship. Council had proposed an ecumenical prayer to be read at the start of every business meeting. I felt strongly that even in public institutions anyone should not be constrained in their prayers with a written script from the high.

After that event, which we lost, John and I started a lunch hour Christian fellowship, not without opposition, but which has persisted. As head of Higher Degrees Department he saw to the graduation of hundreds of students with Masters degree. He started the MBA degree program, a project we worked on together and, gave us much fulfillment when it finally came to fruition and the first class started.

Other than academics we often met to talk about life. What drew me closer to John was that we shared as much concern about Uganda. “Where is this country headed!” many times waiting for traffic to clear, overlooking the busy Jinja road, we discussed Uganda with lamentation.

About 2012 John decided to retire from UMI as I also decided to move to a different work station. We kept in touch rather infrequently. But in 2018 we bumped into each other on a plane out of Entebbe. John and his wife, Lois, were en route to visit a son, Michael, who worked in the US. I moved seat, sat next to him and Lois. We talked and laughed most of the way. As he had always done he told me all about his children. He was so proud of their achievements. At Brussels, we took different flight routes, my last sight of him smiling back, a happily retired man relaxed and at peace with a Scottish cap on.

In the course of our friendship John used to share with me much of his interesting life story. He was a brilliant boy who started at Mushanga Boys school in 1957. This was a Catholic school and one of the requirements was to confess Catholicism. Kittobe’s family was of the Anglican faith. But to get education he agreed to be baptized in the Catholic church taking the names of John Mary.

He emerged as one of the best five students during the national junior exams in the western region. This earned him a place at the elite St Mary’s College, Kisubi. But his time there was unhappy and short lived. “I was coming from a humble background,” he once told me, “and there was this Brother who kept harassing me for lack of shoes. I had one distinct woolen shirt which the well off Baganda boys kept teasing me.” After one year he decided to relocate to the nearby but equally demanding Ntare School. There he skipped a class to join Makerere University in the B.Com class of 1972.

“My class had the likes of Robert Rutagi once General Manager of National Medical Stores,” he told me, “and the former Minister Hon Sydia Bumba!” After graduating John would go on to have a remarkable career. He served as Chief Accountant for Agricultural Enterprises and Director of Finance at Uganda Red Cross.

John loved sharing knowledge and in 1984 he went to UK where he graduated with an MBA from the University of Leeds, two years later. He soon started teaching finance and accounting at the Faculty of Commerce, Makerere University before finally moving to UMI where he retired.

One reason that enabled John take what many thought was early retirement was because he had invested well in real estate. “In my first job I was housed in an apartment in in the suburb of Kololo,” once he shared with me while visiting in his office. “This is why I believe environment matters a lot. My eyes opened as I realized I too could start saving and build one of those mansions there.” He was a man of action and commenced to buy land in Naguru where he raised a mansion. He would go on to build on that a number of properties in town.

There are two most fitting description of John’s 71 years. He was a family man very devoted to his wife, six children and 11 grandchildren. He was also a committed Christian who diligently served his church. Before moving to St Luke’s church, Ntinda he was a member of All Saints church where he served on the Council and as a warden.

John’s spiritual journey had a curious beginning. Once during one of those never ending upheavals in Uganda he survived a grenade attack that was lobed at him. After that miraculous escape he committed his life to Jesus Christ as a personal savior.

On Wednesday, November 18th, John started the day by having breakfast with his family, as he normally did. He then drove to Mabirizi shopping plaza to purchase certain items. Earlier in the day, unknown to him, one of the political candidates in the on going Presidential election campaigns, Robert Kyagulanyi, had suddenly been arrested by security forces, sparking off riots. Just as he went quietly about his chores John was hit by a bullet from nowhere. Later in the day, about 3 pm, Lois, whom he married in 1976, received the most dreaded of calls. There was a stranger on John’s line. The caller without much wasting told her John’s body was in the Mulago hospital mortuary.

In 1894 the British cobbled together a nation and which with as much imagination threw in a name for her to be called Uganda. As was a project, half a century later, they handed it back to the natives to self-govern, in its haphazard nature and with all its grand set of odd characters and strange circumstances of birth. Since then she has been at it, plucking the lives of many of her innocent children, through incessant wars and riots. The list of those assassinated and murdered in never ceasing political wars could stretch as far as the Nile. Maybe one day she will settle down and peace will too shine here. But for now it is but a distant dream.

During our time together almost every Friday afternoon, I knew John to put on his cap, and drive quietly down to the place of his birth, where he had a farm. But on the Friday of November 20th it was the body of my friend prematurely driven down, in this running sad tale, of our nation, Uganda. Rest in peace brother John!

Early this year in April 2018, Dr. Musazi was called into chair interviews of a board he led where I was on the committee too. He got to the office ahead of everyone, sat quietly in the boardroom, as he normally did. But as we exchanged greetings I could see that the over six-foot-tall gentleman had lost much of his weight and was not as agile as in the past. I had known him to walk to almost to any meetings in parts of Kampala from Makerere University where he had worked in the Faculty of Technology since 1975 as a fresh graduate Tutorial Assistant. He now seemed in pain to do the thing he loved so much

When we broke off for lunch, standing in the line waiting to be served he waved gently to me: “Have you noticed we do not have a warmer that keeps our served matooke soft. We need to come up with one such food warmer!” I nodded. Then he went on. “How come also people here are still peeling matooke using knives- by now we should have an automated slicer that can peel a dozen in seconds!” At that point, he started demonstrating with his hands the kind of object he had in mind.

Always his mind was racing with ideas for new inventions. Some years back Dr. Musazi had noticed that many girls were dropping out of school rather prematurely. He discovered that a major driver was the lack of sanitary pads. As he shared with me once in his sparse office, littered with an investor’s toolbox and various artifacts “I found most of the pads on the market were not accessible to our girls due to cost.” He set to work. Soon he came up with MakaPads towels- 75% cheaper than those on the market and produced from abundant papyrus and 95% biodegradable!

Dr. Musazi’s innovations were mainly motivated to save the environment which he cared for deeply. An area that disturbed him was how we use so much waste in putting up buildings in Uganda. For instance, the cement bricks that take up a lot of lime and water are not infinite resources. So he came up with interlocking dirt bricks which use less water and rely much on our soil. They also do not need to be fired like those on the market where one has to cut down sparse trees, build a kiln, which bellows out smoke affecting builders and the environment. It was a work of a genius as he one day demonstrated to me how these dirt bricks could hold up any structure.

From the times of Galileo, innovators have always been met with skepticism. Dr. Musazi’s inventions were not spared. Since his specialty was electrical engineering he shared with me how one accusation was over how could he come up with something, not in his field. “There was one professor from civil engineering who one day stormed here and started knocking hard my bricks with a hammer because he could not believe they could hold!” I wish you saw the look of mixed disgust and amusement on his calm face.

Yet behind his calm and soft-spoken personality was the steel resolve of the Wright brothers who came up with an airplane. He noticed that dairy farmers were losing a lot due to the poor preservation of milk and he came up with a more efficient pasteurization coolant. Seeing how we waste water here he went on to invent rainwater harvesting tanks and solar water heaters. One of his most remarkable inventions was an incinerator that turns Medical waste into ash, produce steam for electricity and sterile water. In his late sixties, he was young at heart and it seemed often like he was just starting out.

Initially ignored at last the world came to know and recognize this unassuming man whom you could easily pass as he walked about Kampala to various construction sites. For over three decades he lived in a simple townhouse on Makerere hill where he raised his five children with his wife Sarah. Finally, he received numerous local and Global awards like the President’s support to Scientists of $350,000. Most of those proceeds were poured back into his company Technology for the Future.

Yet Dr Musazi was more than a scientist. He was too a deeply civic-minded person and his steady presence was always felt on many boards of parastatals where he sat. Somewhere around 1995, he came into contact with an organization that had been founded to advocate against torture. Uganda was coming out of a ghastly period of gross human rights abuse and many were those who had been tortured for their political views. It irked him the things humans could do to each other to suppress those who do not share the same views. But then this organization had run into problems arising from mismanagement. International funding had been suspended. Dr. Musaazi was approached and asked by a Dutch funder to help rebuild Africa Center for Torture Victims ( ACTV). And so he did. At no point under his leadership was this organization ever queried on account of being mismanaged. Today it is one of the most prominent voices against torture in Uganda.

I must here add that on the board he chaired was also another spirited civic-minded lady. Dr. Margaret Mungerera, the psychiatrist. They were quite an act to see them artfully carry out their voluntary work. Unfortunately, both have fallen at the peak of their lives due to cruel cancer.

Now, aside from his family, if there was a thing that moved Dr. Musazi most, it was the school that he attended as a young man and shaped much of his values- Kings College Budo. In fact, Dr. Musazi never left Budo. Born to a bus driver and mother who passed on early in his infancy he had come to Budo, not from a privileged family. The story is told about how he traveled on a bicycle from Masaka with school fees for just one term. In the end, he could not afford to travel back home. As luck would have it one of the teachers adopted him to stay behind as a shamba boy. This is how he came to complete his education culminating with a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College, UK.

In appreciation of what Budo did for him, Dr. Musaazi would pay the school fees of many hard-up kids right from S1 to S6. (At one point he was supporting over a dozen kids in his neighborhood with school fees.) He also served on the Old Budonian Association representing his years and at the last Annual General Meeting as always, though now a bit frail, he attended and jovially sat through all the proceedings chatting with different generations of Budonians.

Because most of his innovations were radical and run against better-established outfits like Procter and Gamble they did not get as much traction. The MakPads would have died if UNHCR had not spotted their ingenuity and bankrolled them. The interlocking dirt bricks have never received as much attention as they deserve. It would now be a far greater loss that he has gone to see all his ideas are left to die. I, therefore, pray that in honoring this great man and his service some of his inventions are taken up by the government of Uganda or Makerere University and rolled out for posterity.

A family man, husband, father to a nation of children, philanthropist, teacher, mentor, environmentalist, entrepreneur, the inventor has left at an hour you wished he could still have lingered and given us more. When he started feeling unwell he walked up and down Kampala clinics and hospitals to discover what was wrong. The initial diagnosis could not point to the cause of his rapidly declining health. In fact, as once he shared with me the doctor’s first thought he had TB. By the time it was discerned it was lung cancer, the bloody monster had wickedly spread. But as with him, he took the news stoically and with a gracious optimistic smile. He even wanted to go for radical treatment in the US till it was decided against that option for no much could be done then.

I chatted with him about a month ago and there was not a shade of self-pity. His spirits remained buoyed, his fertile mind exploring ideas to better the earth. He will be buried today September 20th, 2018 not far from where his parents who left him young are resting.

There has gone a simple man whose contribution to his old nation of Buganda, the troubled country of Uganda, and the world he graced would long outlive him. He truly lived the Budo motto which he carried with him wherever he went shining on his minivan: “Gakyali Mabala! “So little done! So much to do.” Now RIP!