CID boss Magambo recounts his late son’s last moments

The director of Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), Assistant Inspector General of Police Tom Magambo, has recounted his eldest son’s last moments of life.

Timothy Muganzi Magambo, 18, drowned as he was swimming with friends at a beach in the US city of New York on May 16 this year.

His father told mourners at a Requiem Mass at Our Lady of Africa Catholic Church in Mbuya, Kampala, on Tuesday (May 26) that Muganzi and his friends had gone on an adventure to the beach when he drowned and spent seven minutes in the water.

“Timothy used to swim with those friends of his and they had grown up more or less together.

"So, it was not the first time they went to swim but this particular time he got a problem in the middle of the water, and by the time his colleagues went [into the water to rescue him], they realised they couldn’t see him because I think he tried to go back nearer than where they were heading,” he said.

'You have done your best'

In church, the CID chief was flanked by his son Jonathan Magambo and wife Carol.
He said that when the tragic incident happened, Muganzi's mother was with him in Uganda for a short break.

He said his son's friends tried their best to save him.

“They picked him out but after seven minutes of being in water, many times the brain is gone; most of your organs are gone. The heart was a bit struggling [still beating]. The doctors called, we kept on phones, [and] the mother jumped on the next plane."

By time she was midway between Entebbe and New York, Mugambo said they were told their son had died.

He described his wife, whom he met 26 years ago at Makerere University, as a mother who has built a foundation for the value system of a home.

“Carol, I don’t blame you for Timothy’s going; it was his time, and you have done your best. I thank you.”

Magambo also noted that as a foreign service officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, his wife is always on the move, but amidst her career, she has held the family together.

“So, Carol, thank you for the value system of these children and I am very proud of you… Because she is a prayer warrior, she has grounded our home spiritually. I have been conscripted into prayer myself."

The CID boss also thanked President Yoweri Museveni for promising to support his family.

“So, as I mourn with my family, I want to thank God that everything has been done to bring Timothy here in time… I am mourning in peace."

'I have been broken'

On her part, Muganzi's mother said they were beyond devastated and that they had been crying since the day their son died.

“I have been broken since I got the news and trying to rush to make sure that we can find our son and be able to support him in the difficult time. And we have been crying, but we have also been very comforted by all of you who have surrounded us with love, prayer and messages of hope,” she told the mourners she thanked for wiping their tears.

She revealed that since receiving the news of Muganzi’s death, she has been sleeping for only two hours and not eating.

“Of course I am a believer, so I read my Bible every day, and when life gets hard or easy, I always go to the Bible because I believe it has all the answers to life. I felt that the impact Timothy had should be a message to all of us. It shouldn’t be wasted.”

In the family, she said, Muganzi was a very decent young man and very helpful.

“But I didn’t know how much he had touched the world out there. It is only in his passing that I see how the community has poured love on us that I get to understand more about our son.”

After the Requiem Mass, Muganzi’s body would be transported to Masindi district.
The official vigil will be held on Wednesday (May 27) at his parents’ home in Kisarabwire in Masindi Municipality, starting at 4pm. 

Burial will take place at his ancestral home in Kisarabwire on Friday (May 28), starting with a Requiem Mass at St. Jude Catholic Church Parish-Masindi at 1pm.