Adieu Andrew Felix Kaweesi

Police Spokesperson Andrew Felix Kaweesi. Photo/File

By Deo K. Tumusiime

People die every day, dying of one cause or the other. Death, unwanted as it is, happens to be part and parcel of our human life. The other day we mourned Legislator Cerinah Nebanda with so much shock said to have been poisoned. Not long later we lost former Army Commander Gen. Aronda Nyakairima who reportedly collapsed dead on an air plane. Early this week we lost MP Cyrus Amodoi in a taxi accident.

Here now we see Police Spokesperson Andrew Felix Kaweesi's life cut short by gun shots. Of course these are, as we may say "High profile deaths", but lots of Ugandans and indeed people everywhere die every day due to diverse causes. It seems quite probable that the pangs of death are simply unavoidable.

Yes, as human beings we feel overwhelmed when a person so close leaves us in the most unprecedented circumstances as have claimed Afande Kaweesi, but truthfully, it seems an inalienable fact, that human life operates on a clock far different from the clocks on our walls or the watches on our wrists.

Who could have known that on this 17th day of March 2017, we would wake up to such heartbreaking news? Ironically, on this very day, the Guardian Newspaper in the UK reports about plans already known of how events will play out prior to, during and after the death of Queen Elizabeth.

That the UK may be able to predict with precision when the Queen will die as has been with her predecessors. Yet even then, her death whenever it occurs (possibly under peaceful circumstances), will most definitely shock the world.

This is evidence that death in all its forms, of young or old alike, royal or servant, beats our human imagination. Not so much that anyone is expected to live for eternity (even God's son Jesus is said to have died before age 40), but the cloud of illusion about what next, especially for the family of the deceased, is too much to bear.

 In all this though, we are also taught that everything in life, good or bad, happens for a reason, only God could explain with accuracy. Felix' death is no doubt a great shock and were it within our control, everyone should have done their best to avert it. I knew him as an amiable gentleman, always smiling even in the most difficult circumstances.

He was a passionate dad and really humane through and through. He never minced his words even when they would not please some people. He looked an innocent man even with his job so precarious. I watched him severally address angry crowds and brave stone-throwing incidences. He clearly loved his job and served with diligence.

These are truly attributes that those of us still alive would wish to emulate in his memory. The world needs humane characters like Andrew Felix Kaweesi for its continuity, otherwise we could all be wiped out some day.

On the flip side, the deceased is said to have died together with his driver and body guard. These (innocent I should say) Ugandans, often go unsung.

They too surely had families to care for and deserved to live, but they found themselves having to die alongside their boss. They may not get as much visibility, but the lesson we ought to draw, is that we are all one, irrespective of our respective status in society. Often we overlook this reality until death strikes.

And even if we in the media believe that some people are deader than others, once one loses breath, it hurts the same way irrespective of who you are. How I wish if government opts for a State burial of Felix, his escorts could be accorded the same! But Lord, what much does this add? They're gone, gone for good.

May the souls of the deceased Andrew Felix Kaweesi, his escorts and the driver rest in eternal bliss.

The writer a communications consultant