Bachou is gone, his great deeds live on
Some say that to the gods: “We are like flies that boys idly swat on a summer day.
By Emily Maractho
Some say that to the gods: “We are like flies that boys idly swat on a summer day.
Others that not a feather from a sparrow falls to the ground without the will of the Heavenly Father,†says Thornton Wilder, in The Bridge of San Luis Rey.
It is not so much the death of Dr Bachou, as the senselessness of it that is so outrageous and unbearable. Hours after I had spoken to the doctor, I got a message that he had gone to be with the Lord. Naturally that sounded like a big joke by Satan in a dark room. Afraid to call, I went to his house in the morning, hoping I would laugh at the cruel joke.
And yes, it was true that a few minutes after he complained of chest pain he had passed away. Never had I seen a people so bewildered, gloom, desperate to believe otherwise and in total shock as I found at his residence that morning. It was simply unbearable. With so much pain in my heart to near despair, I left determined not to go back, trying to find fresh reasons to hope that I would wake up from the nightmare.
Dr Bachou hailed from Parombo in Nebbi District and attended Angal SS. He then went to Teso College, Aloet before proceeding to the University of Dar es Salaam where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree. He eventually went to the United States of America where he got two Master’s degrees and a Phd in Environmental Economics. He lectured at Makerere University, represented Padyere County in the National Resistance Council (NRC) between 1989-1995, and was twice state minister for energy and tourism.
He lost the Padyere seat to outgoing public service state minister, Okumu Ringa, in 1996, and thereafter led a quite life. He was also The Uganda Vision 2025 Long Term Perspective Studies national coordinator. By the time of his death, he was occupied by his school project and occasional consultancies. He died of a heart attack at his home in Bukoto and was buried in Parombo, his birth place.
Dr Bachou was married with children. The Nebbi community shall surely miss him. Many people looked up to him and he helped most of them as much as he could, in any way. He was a good man and by no means replaceable.
Pity, we often speak of people when they are no longer with us, taking them for granted as though they would be around us forever.
Through my years as a student’s leader at Makerere, I got to know many people from my community, most of whom remained good friends outside of the community. Dr Bachou was one of them. I have never known anyone so committed and dedicated to the concept of development with utmost sincerity. He decided to live a quite life outside of politics believing he could not participate in politics because he was not accustomed to lying, cheating and just pleasing people to be favoured. He instead embarked on personal development with all the vigour, diligence, resourcefulness and excellence he could master that is only characteristic of him. He often said the only person he could compete with was none but himself.
By Monday, February 27, the day he died, he still had many dreams and aspirations. He was buoyed by hope. He was all set for the beginning of his school, Mashariki High School on Entebbe Road.
That day, he told me the school was ready and very beautiful and he could not wait to start receiving students. He was pretty optimistic and determined that he would make Mashariki the destination for East African students, producing ‘quality minds’. As an educationist and developmentalist, he had always had the wish to run the school not as a business enterprise but a learning institution. And indeed, if Bachou left some wealth, it cannot be compared to the immense wealth he was buried with — knowledge. He was very intelligent, had great business acumen and exemplary leadership qualities.
Indeed, Bachou was buried with a part of many of us, but as Hellen Keller says, “With the loss of every dear friend, a part of you gets buried but their contribution to your life remains to sustain you in an altered worldâ€.
Goodbye Dr Salim A Bachou. I cannot say all there is to say, except to repeat these words of comfort by Leela Moozhayil,
“We are born for a higher destiny than that of earth;
There is a realm where the rainbow never fades,
Where the stars will be spread before us
Like islands that slumber on the ocean,
And where the beings that pass before us
Like shadow will stay in our presence forever.â€
Ends
Some say that to the gods: “We are like flies that boys idly swat on a summer day.
Others that not a feather from a sparrow falls to the ground without the will of the Heavenly Father,†says Thornton Wilder, in The Bridge of San Luis Rey.
It is not so much the death of Dr Bachou, as the senselessness of it that is so outrageous and unbearable. Hours after I had spoken to the doctor, I got a message that he had gone to be with the Lord. Naturally that sounded like a big joke by Satan in a dark room. Afraid to call, I went to his house in the morning, hoping I would laugh at the cruel joke.
And yes, it was true that a few minutes after he complained of chest pain he had passed away. Never had I seen a people so bewildered, gloom, desperate to believe otherwise and in total shock as I found at his residence that morning. It was simply unbearable. With so much pain in my heart to near despair, I left determined not to go back, trying to find fresh reasons to hope that I would wake up from the nightmare.
Dr Bachou hailed from Parombo in Nebbi District and attended Angal SS. He then went to Teso College, Aloet before proceeding to the University of Dar es Salaam where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree. He eventually went to the United States of America where he got two Master’s degrees and a Phd in Environmental Economics. He lectured at Makerere University, represented Padyere County in the National Resistance Council (NRC) between 1989-1995, and was twice state minister for energy and tourism.
He lost the Padyere seat to outgoing public service state minister, Okumu Ringa, in 1996, and thereafter led a quite life. He was also The Uganda Vision 2025 Long Term Perspective Studies national coordinator. By the time of his death, he was occupied by his school project and occasional consultancies. He died of a heart attack at his home in Bukoto and was buried in Parombo, his birth place.
Dr Bachou was married with children. The Nebbi community shall surely miss him. Many people looked up to him and he helped most of them as much as he could, in any way. He was a good man and by no means replaceable.
Pity, we often speak of people when they are no longer with us, taking them for granted as though they would be around us forever.
Through my years as a student’s leader at Makerere, I got to know many people from my community, most of whom remained good friends outside of the community. Dr Bachou was one of them. I have never known anyone so committed and dedicated to the concept of development with utmost sincerity. He decided to live a quite life outside of politics believing he could not participate in politics because he was not accustomed to lying, cheating and just pleasing people to be favoured. He instead embarked on personal development with all the vigour, diligence, resourcefulness and excellence he could master that is only characteristic of him. He often said the only person he could compete with was none but himself.
By Monday, February 27, the day he died, he still had many dreams and aspirations. He was buoyed by hope. He was all set for the beginning of his school, Mashariki High School on Entebbe Road.
That day, he told me the school was ready and very beautiful and he could not wait to start receiving students. He was pretty optimistic and determined that he would make Mashariki the destination for East African students, producing ‘quality minds’. As an educationist and developmentalist, he had always had the wish to run the school not as a business enterprise but a learning institution. And indeed, if Bachou left some wealth, it cannot be compared to the immense wealth he was buried with — knowledge. He was very intelligent, had great business acumen and exemplary leadership qualities.
Indeed, Bachou was buried with a part of many of us, but as Hellen Keller says, “With the loss of every dear friend, a part of you gets buried but their contribution to your life remains to sustain you in an altered worldâ€.
Goodbye Dr Salim A Bachou. I cannot say all there is to say, except to repeat these words of comfort by Leela Moozhayil,
“We are born for a higher destiny than that of earth;
There is a realm where the rainbow never fades,
Where the stars will be spread before us
Like islands that slumber on the ocean,
And where the beings that pass before us
Like shadow will stay in our presence forever.â€
Ends