May Lukwiya rest in pride

One Man's Week By John Nagenda * From this little corner, some have risen to give their very lives for others EVERY so often, upon these well-travelled paths that we daily undertake, something out of the ordinary happens without warning which changes the landscape. Such an event was the tragic demise early on Tuesday morning of Dr Matthew Lukwiya, Medical Superintendent of the famous Lacor Hospital. He was a mere 43 years of age and leaves a wife and five children. He was at the cutting edge of the desperate fight against Ebola and the dreadful disease claimed him. It was an eerie replay of the death a few years earlier of another medical martyr, Dr Lucille Corti, whose death was at the hands of the other plague, Aids. They now lie side by side in the hospital cemetery. They perished trying to save the rest of us. They well knew the horrendous risks they were taking, even more so in the case of Ebola. Dr Arthur, WHO Ebola coordinator in Gulu said, "Ebola virus is not very forgiving. One little mistake is enough to infect an individual." Ebola is a very intense condition which needs total concentration; blink and you are dead. Dr Alex Opio, assistant commissioner in charge of national disease control, appealed, "Death is very painful but one has to quickly come to terms and accept the realities of life." Indeed the pictures on yesterday's Vision front page were living testimony of this: one, of the weeping mourners, the other of the silent figures dressed as in a sci-fi movie, putting their dead colleague and leader to final rest. It is a defining moment: of the cruelty of life, of death that stalks life at every turn, of the shoddiness and unfairness of dying. But from this little corner of our country, it is also the moment where human beings have risen above their ordinary station by giving their very lives for others. And of course Dr Lukwiya (as Dr Corti before him) is also symbol for the many, many others who have fallen and keep falling on the same battlefield. Recently a dozen nurses, and some other workers, have also perished; in the same glorious manner, but more anonymously. Uganda must remember them and look after the ones they have left behind. It is heart-warming that their memory is already being honoured by foundations from home and abroad, but, if one can be trite at a moment like this, the more immediate needs should not be forgotten. Let Dr Lukwiya and his more humble colleagues rest in pride and peace. * * * This week The Monitor brought out their Andrew M. Mwenda to allege that "The Monitor has reliably learnt that some government officials sent to represent Uganda before the arbitrator in London were compromised by Westmont leading them to sign off the country's interests to the Malayasian company." This is the kind of smear at which The Monitor is a past master, and what will always make it a deeply unserious paper. (We have been here before.) In poor Mwenda, who at one stage showed signs of growing into a good journalist, the so-called Independent Voice has found somebody who, being from the western region, can pass himself off as an insider and therefore able to get at the inside dirt. How the Boy Wonder relishes the role! His senior bosses will suck him dry and then spit him out. What he and his publication should do with the "Westmont deal" is to come right out and tell us which officials in particular were got at, and by what means compromised. Put up or shut up. As this column said last week while thanking our team in London, this case was not as open and shut as the casual (Mwenda/Monitor) observer might think. It could have dragged on even longer than the Florida shoot-out, without an ending entirely in Uganda's favour. The principal purpose of the arbitration proceedings for Uganda was to get the shares of UCBL registered in the name Westmont back and get Westmont out of the management of UCBL. This was achieved in full. The Share Sale Agreement, the Shareholders' Agreement and the Management Agreement (all of which had been signed) were brought to an end and Government is the sole owner of UCBL. The 49% shareholding in UCBL by Westmont was a vested interest registered with the Registrar of Companies and protected by the Constitution as well as Company Law. Does Mr Mwenda appreciate what this means? The column could go on, but life's too short. Our side won the day and it is wrong but typical of Monitor to trot out their usual smears. * * * Following were some of my favourite things this week. First and foremost was the story that at one of the up-country presidential campaign meetings, a crowd gathered to listen to Mr Chapaa Karuhanga in the mistaken belief that he was Mr Sebaggala. They showed disgust when the truth was revealed. At another forum it appeared that already candidate Awori is revealed in his true colours. Helicopter he might have (history will tell) but it seems he wont part with so much as a cola for his supporters. And it's early days yet. As for your columnist, Friday's Vision showed that as far back as May, he was ahead of all presidential aspirants in starting his own personal website. Big headed or what? The address? www.onemansweek.com Start clicking next Friday. Ends.