|
28.07.2008
He was a father, politician and diplomat.
Above all, he was a man of the people and a hero to many at his ancestral
home where he was laid to rest.
It is 9.30 a.m. on a sunny Tuesday morning, July 22. The son of the soil,
Samson Nyine Bitahwa’s remains are about to be put to rest.
Young and old, poor and rich, on foot, bicycles, boda bodas, in buses and
cars are people, all making it to Nyabubare village to pay their last
respects.
What is motivating this multitude of people to go to Bitahwa’s place is
that each one wants to bury their hero. He is treated as a hero because he
has been able to live an exemplary life both at local, national and
international level.
Bitahwa was born in 1945 in Kibaare Village Bumbaire sub county Bushenyi
District. He had his primary education at Ruyonza Junior School then went to
Ntare School in Mbarara for his secondary education. He worked for the
Ankole Kingdom as the secretary of the land board in 1963-1965.
He then got a scholarship in 1966 to study economics in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
In 1978, he got a degree in economics at Kiet University in Germany. He was
able to learn many languages including German, and the Serbo-Croatian
language.
He later married a German woman, Astrid, and lived in Germany for many years
before returning to Uganda to contest for the Parliamentary seat of Igara
West which he represented in the sixth Parliament.
Bitahwa the politician.
Bitahwa tried his energies at almost everything. He tried politics where he
was elected Member of Parliament for Igara West after defeating Prof Tarsis
Kabwegyere in 1996 and was able to unite the people of all creeds and
political leanings by promoting unity among the locals. In 2001 after being
defeated, he quickly switched to contest for Bushenyi LC5 chairmanship. But
due to poor preparations, he lost.
In 2006, he had wanted to stand again for the Bushenyi seat, but for the
unity of the NRM party, he stepped down after meeting with President
Museveni with his rival. The president promised to give him a job which he
did in November 2007 - the ambassadorial to Germany. The former LCV chairman
Yowasi Makaaru described him as having lived an exemplary political life.
“He fought a good fight, fulfilled his political pledges even after leaving
the political arena and set the best example for fellow politicians and
people alike,” Makaaru said.
The husband and father
Astrid Babukaara, his wife described him as a loving husband and friend of
his immediate and extended family. Very many people may be married but not
many are loved by their husbands.
She urged the country to take time to look at his legacy so that his ideas
of developing the country that he loved so dearly do not die. “Bushenyi
should reconcile and work together for development so that his legacy
remains. He will always be a hero for the district, my children and I,” she
said.
The diplomat
Although he had only spent nine months in the foreign service as an
ambassador to Germany, The Holy See, Hungary, and Austria, he was already a
dean of ambassadors of the East African Community countries in Germany. He
also coordinated a successful visit of the German president to Uganda.
The German ambassador to Uganda, Reinhard Butchnolz described him as a
friend to Germans. “He was well known in Germany; in primary schools,
churches and political circles.”
The man with a big heart
Bitahwa had such a big heart. One would wonder what used to drive him, doing
many things selflessly. He wanted children in Bushenyi to have a good
education.
Bitahwa touched almost everybody in Bushenyi. He built schools and churches,
and constructed teachers’ houses from his personal savings. He sponsored
farmers, youths and women to travel to Germany to share the experience.
He gathered single mothers and trained them in handcraft skills. These young
mothers would be taken to Rukararwe centre to be trained. They were given
accommodation, training and meals at no cost. Many have since lived a decent
life and others started their own workshops where they are now earning a
living.
He was a man with the zeal to eradicate poverty from the communities. He
encouraged people to plant trees, rear poultry, and other modern farming
methods.
He loved and promoted environmental protection and true to his beliefs he
advocated for the planting of trees. He planted many trees at his home and
Rukararwe. During the burial, only four tents were hired for VIPs but the
rest of about 7,000 mourners were comfortable because even though the sun
was scorching, they sat under tree shades without much complaint.
Almost all schools in the district have adopted tree planting and he has
left Bushenyi a cooler place. He has also left behind an organisation
Rukararwe Partnership Workshop for Rural Development that handles
environmental protection, earth bricks, and tree planting, among others.
Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire summed him up as a patriot, a persistent person who
used to have his way in a humble manner and above all, very sincere in all
his deeds. “To keep his legacy burning we need respect for each other in
politics because there are disagreements,” he said.
Interestingly, Bitahwa was not influenced that much by other cultures
despite having lived abroad for so long.
Bitahwa was from the Baitezi clan and cherished his culture as manifested by
use of herbal medicine and establishment of a herbal garden at Rukararwe
where various herbs and trees have a permanent home and a small factory to
make drugs.
He was able to marry his culture with other values of other cultures. He
lived a simple life and used locally produced Ugandan and Ankole furniture,
architecture and traditional herbs. He is credited for having developed
herbal medicine that helps deal with prostate cancer.
As a sign of keeping his work alive, the Bitahwas from Bushenyi and Kampala
have started Bitahwa Charity Foundation and contributed Shs5m to see that
his work continues. He is survived by a widow and three children. It is
appropriate to say Bitahwa left too soon, at a time when he was needed most.
By
Otushabire Tibyangye & Paul Aruho (Quelle:
www.monitor.co.ug am 28.07.2008) |
21.07.2008