Fallen rally ace Pole Pole laid to rest

It isn't only the motorsport fraternity that has been touched by the untimely demise of their own, Wilberforce Pole Pole, but several other fraternities he was a part of.

Bishop Nathan Ahimbisibwe of South Ankole, who led the send-off service for the late Pole Pole held today at his ancestral home in Kitunga, Kajara in Ntungamo district, hailed him for his love of God.

"He was a passionate Christian who led in mobilising others for God's work. He has always been there for me and the entire church of Christ. We have to combine efforts to accomplish the projects he was steering for the church," Ahimbisibwe said.

Pole Pole was the National Resistance Movement chairman for Rwashemeire Town Council, and the Ntungamo Resident District Commissioner George Bakunda described him as a pillar of the ruling party whose contributions need to be inherited by all for the good of the party in the district.

Top rally drivers Nasser Mutebi and Ambrose Byona, together with Mbarara-based Happy David Katehangwa, were the notable faces from the rally fraternity that attended the burial.

"We are saddened by the passing on of our comrade who has been there for the sport. He has helped many without discrimination. It's only good that a few of us have been allowed to attend his burial. We shall miss you Pole Pole, rest in peace," said Byona.

Pole Pole was an ardent participant in the Federation of Motorsport in Uganda (FMU) events alongside other regional competitions and his first career victory came at the 2016 Rallye des Mille Collines in Rwanda with Joseph Bongole as his co-driver.

He has been in and out of the sport in the last three years and in the 2018 Mbarara Rally, he offered his car to open the tricky Kanyaryeru-Sanga route.

Pole Pole, 48, was pronounced dead on Tuesday at Victoria Hospital in Kampala and on Wednesday, a requiem mass was organised for him at All Saints Cathedral, Nakasero.

As a precaution, the casket containing his remains was kept in a car at a distance as the service went on before it was driven to the burial grounds under the supervision of medical personnel.

By the time of his death, Pole Pole who named his rally team, Kajara Rally Team, was running a transport business in Fort Portal under the same umbrella.

He is survived by two sons and it has emerged that he planned to get married after completing his residential home.