Kaberamaido council honours deceased DSC chairperson

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Kaberamaido district council has honoured the former chairperson of its district service commission (DSC), James Eboku, who died of cancer at CORSU hospital on August 6, 2026.

In an emergency district council meeting held at the district council hall on August 10, 2026, several councillors and district leaders paid tribute to Eboku for his outstanding services in the district.

The district council speaker, Julia Acio, said, "It was not only Kaberamaido district that lost Eboku, but the whole nation."

Eboku, who served as a teacher and later joined the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), retired from public service and later got appointed as the chairperson of Kaberamaido DSC.

A funeral van carrying the casket of the late James Eboku as it left Kaberamaido District Council after he was honoured on August 10 2026, in Kaberamaido, with mourners following. (Photo by Michael Onyinge)

“He died while serving us here as the chairperson of the DSC. We equally remember that through his service as chairperson of the DSC, he impacted many great lives," Acio said, adding that Eboku was an intelligent and dedicated civil servant.

He was praised for having ensured that Kaberamaido local government puts in place a meaningful workforce. “We have lost someone who had come to make an immense impact on the district,” Acio noted.

The Kaberamaido district vice chairperson, Frederic Oboi, who represents Okile sub-county where the late Eboku comes from, said the late Eboku served the district and the community with exceptional dedication, distinction, meritocracy, and utmost integrity as the chairman of the DSC from 2024 and as chairperson of the Board of Governors of Okile Seed Secondary School.

He also once served as a member of the Board of Governors of Kobulubulu Senior Secondary School.

The Kaberamaido district chairperson, Albert Anthony Ejoku, said the late Eboku was his deskmate while they studied at Okile Primary School.

"It is so sad that Eboku has died at a time when we, as the people of Kaberamaido, needed his services more as the chairperson of the DSC,” Ejoku said.

After his studies at Makerere University, Eboku started teaching at Lango College in Lira in 1984. He went on to become the deputy headteacher of the same school.

After serving for a number of years as a deputy headteacher, Eboku joined URA, where he started very humbly as an assistant revenue officer in Jinja.

"He worked in that position for some good time, but because of his commitment, dedication, humility and humbleness, he rose through the ranks to become a manager, a position in which he served until his retirement in 2013," Ejoku said.

He said in 2024, the district council found it fitting to get somebody to chair the DSC, and Eboku was recommended.

“As we all know, the Public Service Commission always has records of all public servants. After perusing through the letterbox records, they found him very fit to be chair of the DSC of Kaberamaido, and that was a very big pride to us as people of Kaberamaido. He has been serving in that position since 2024. We have lost a statesman, an icon whose legacy should be emulated by many,” Ejoku added.

The female district councillor for Ochero town council, Damali Ajibo, remembered Eboku as a man who served with integrity and was a patriot.

“I personally had little information about Eboku, but when we were told that he was a man of integrity, I accepted to support him, and he indeed showed it out during his time of service,” Ajibo said.

The female district councilor of Okile sub-county, Barbra Adongo, said Eboku liked interacting with everyone regardless of one’s status.

“This was a person, who interacted with anyone, regardless of your age, education level, and financial status,” Adongo said.

She said Eboku loved education and working together with the community. "Eboku was elected as an interim chairperson of Okile Seed Secondary at a time when the school had only 32 students, but at the time of his death, the enrolment had risen to106 students," revealed Adongo.

Family speaks out

Speaking on behalf of the family, one of Eboku's daughters, Joan Akulo, praised her father as a good parent. “He was a mentor, a teacher, a counselor and a trainer. But above all, he was a very good father,” Akulo said.

Akulo said their father played his role of educate them, adding that he (Eboku) supported both his biological and non-biological children.

“I think our father gave us the best he could and we believe that wherever he is, he is not regretting," she said.

Akulo said his father did not like hypocrisy, noting that wherever he worked, he did not want to associate with people who tarnish their colleagues' image.

“I will not go much into that, but he did not like hypocrisy and corruption. Our dad was clean that is why I think the people of Kaberamaido entrusted him with that office of being the chairperson DSC," she added.

Eboku is survived by a widow, Mary Eboku, six children and eleven grandchildren. He will be buried on August 11, 2026, at Omor village, Okile sub-county in Kaberamaido district.