Mao beseeches civil servants to be exemplary

KAMPALA - The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Nobert Mao decried the laxity of civil servants on duty, beseeching them to serve their country diligently.

Speaking during a Requiem Mass of a retired, seasoned civil servant, Hector Simon Opika Opoka, Mao asked civil servants to emulate the deceased’s dedication to service.

“He chaired efficient meetings, not the long and boring ones. He was a good, efficient public servant. He was not political,” he said.

Mao urged civil servants to work courageously. “Public servants, I tell them: ‘Have the courage to make good decisions, even if you make mistakes.’"

He continued: “Opika Opoka served this country without any black spot. Let us reflect on the Public Service we have. Politicians come and go, but Public Service remains. The army is not Public Service. They are supposed to defend our country and work in times of emergency.”

Besides the Public Service, Mao also left the congregation two questions to mull over:
“How are you going to earn a living?” and “Who will be the father or mother of your children?”

For the former question, Mao said Opika Opoka answered it well through his life’s work and his children’s careers. And for the latter question, he said rhetorically: “Don’t you think his [Opika Opoka] success is because of his wife?”

Stressing the importance of a good spouse, Mao jokingly said, “As a certified dropout of marriage [referring to his divorce], who enrolled again into the institution, you should take it from me.”

He also joked about his father, Dusman Okee Sr, and Opika Opoka having been friends, who both dropped out of the seminary.

“My father and Opika Opka dropped out of the seminary, but they joked that they became fathers anyway.”

Mao thanked mourners for turning up in large numbers that filled the church, saying that "it is not easy to fill a church for someone who retired from service a long time ago".

He also asked mourners, especially those he said had delivered beautiful eulogies, to remember the widow and family.

“Speeches at funerals are not made for the dead; they are for the living. ‘We will be there; We will check on you.’ Mummy, do not be disheartened, it is life. People may not be there for you. I am hopeful that a handful of you who have made speeches will be there.”

Giving the example of the late Speaker Jacob Olanya, who was eulogised splendidly, but “they have not turned up” to support the family since.