The Resident District Commissioner (RDC) for Namayingo district, Suleiman Barasa Ogajo, has passed on at Mulago National Referral Hospital where he has been hospitalised.  

The long-serving RDC, according to Hajji Yunus Kakande, the secretary in the Office of the President, was suffering from heart complications and prostate cancer.  

Kakande, who is in charge of the RDCs and their deputies, said Barasa passed on in the early hours of Monday morning at Mulago Hospital where he was recently admitted to the intensive care unit after he was transferred from Mbale Hospital. 

According to Kakande, the RDC developed health complications while attending training by all commissioners at the National Leadership Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi and he preferred to be taken to Mbale, where he said he had his doctors who had been attending to him.  

“We facilitated him to Mbale where he was undergoing treatment but later his condition worsened and it was decided to transfer him to Mulago where he was admitted in the intensive care unit,” Kakande explained. 

Barasa, 66, served in several districts including Mbale, Mayuge, Amolator and later at Namayingo where he had been serving at the time of his death. 

Kakande described Barasa as a hardworking and dedicated RDC who will be missed by his bosses in the Office of the President and colleagues.  

“On behalf of the Office of the RDC, I would like to send our heartfelt condolences to his wife and children and pray that God will rest him in peace,” he explained, adding that a team from his office was by Tuesday morning still working on the process of preparing the body before it is transported to his home in Busia, Eastern Uganda.  

According to Kakande, being a Muslim, there had been hope that the burial would take place on Monday but given the distance from Kampala to the burial site, it may be deferred to Tuesday.

“It may be late to catch up with time to arrange burial today, because we are still preparing the body and we might reach Busia late evening,” he explained.  

In a tweet, Milly Babalanda, the Minister for the Presidency, confirmed Barasa’s death and described him as a respected opinion leader who she said contributed greatly in the struggle for a free Uganda.

“Our prayers are with the family and friends, Innalillahhi wainailaihi rajiun,” she stated. Babalanda visited Barasa while in hospital at Mulago.  

Several people who responded to her tweet described Barasa as a senior commissioner who was a responsible and dedicated civil servant who had a kind soul.  

Barasa replaced Sylvester Opira in March 2020.

Another RDC, Hajji Nsereko Mutumba, who was serving in Kayunga passed away on August 3, 2022, after a short illness.

Nsereko, a former spokesperson of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, developed complications after attending the same training of RDCs at Kyankwanzi.