How Dr Katebalirwe’s resilience impacted those around him 

From a grade II (primary school teacher) to PhD and head of a university department is the real example of determination, and that was Dr Katebalirwe Amooti wa Irumba, according to mourners who gathered at the All Saints Cathedral in Kampala last week Saturday.

Justice Simon Byabakama, the chairman of the Electoral Commission described the former member of the Uganda Human Rights Commission as the epitome of the epitome of hustler, due to the many occupations and projects he undertook.

Katebalirwe who died last week on Tuesday at Mulago national referral hospital aged 82, was born in Bugambe sub-county, Hoima district to Canon Erinesti Irumba and Yunia Kabaniha Irumba, both deceased.

He completed his secondary school education at Duhaga Junior secondary school. He obtained a Uganda Teachers’ Certificate – grade II from Canon Apollo Teacher’s College, Fort Portal in 1961, which he upgraded to grade III in 1969 at Gaba Teacher’s College. Eleven years later, he was graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Sussex, UK in 1980.

Justice Byabakama, who lived with the Canon Irumba family as a teenager, told mourners at All Saints Cathedral that the late was the best example of resilience.

“You can call him a trailblazer and an accomplished hustler. From grade II teacher to PhD if you’re not a hustler, you cannot manage. And that is the kind of life he has lived. I learned a lot of things from Dr Amooti. One, he was a resilient person and you can see from his achievements in the academia and also in the various places he has worked. At the time we started working, it was extremely difficult, the pay was very miserable,” said Byabakama.

“I was a state attorney in 1981 September, things were difficult, the country had just recovered from the war, there was nothing in the country, but they would encourage us and say don’t worry, things will get better. But you would say; ‘really? A whole lawyer I’m earning Shs 2000, I can’t even buy a bicycle.’ The shopping mall for our attires was Owino Classic – that is where we used to go for the lawyer’s jacket, the lawyer’s shirt. It was that bad, but one of the people who encouraged us was Amooti, he said; ‘look at me; I started off as a grade II teacher but here I’m, a PhD holder.'”

In 1975 he acquired a bachelor of Arts (upper second class) from Makerere University specializing in political philosophies and theory, personnel management and industrial relations, international relations and government, according to his biography.

In 1976, he obtained a master of Arts (M.A) from the University of Leeds, UK, and thereafter a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of Sussex in 1980 with areas of study and research being social development theory and philosophy, political economy and literary communication in the context of the political economy and struggle for Kenya’s national independence.

As a teacher, he taught in different schools for 10 years before becoming headmaster of Masindi Public School and later Duhaga Girls’ Boarding school.

After the PhD, he returned to Uganda and commenced his 13-year tenure at Makerere University as a senior lecturer. In 1988, he was appointed by the University of Zimbabwe to start and head the mass communication department, before being recalled by Uganda to head the mass communication department at Makerere.

He left Makerere to become the national coordinator of the World Bank and USAID-funded Teacher Development and Management System (TDMS) project in the ministry of Education and Sports.

Two years later, he was appointed general manager of the dying Uganda Transport Company (UTC) basically to prepare for its liquidation and settlement of staff terminal benefits.

From then on, he worked as a consultant for several UN and UG government projects in Uganda in different sectors like education and sports, youth and culture, as well as on the government/UNDP country cooperation frameworks among others. Byabakama described what a perfectionist Dr Amooti wa Irumba was which helped shape the judge’s destiny.

Col Stephen Basaliza, who spoke for the UHRC described the deceased as someone who never wanted to miss a detail in all he did. He gave the example of the time that the commission had no substantive chairperson after Meddie Kaggwa’s death but that he steered it well.

Both Basaliza and Byabakama said even at the time of his death he was still starting new projects for the nation and his private life. The widow, Eseeri, attested to this, saying that even on his deathbed he kept telling her to go and supervise the projects, assuring her that he would be alright.

She said that for the 18 years they have been together, he showed extreme love for family and community around him. Delivering his homily at the funeral service Dr Peter Asiimwe, a development leadership consultant, said if everyone worked for what would be said about them at death, it would transform the country. He advised that what is done should be done with the end in mind.

Katebalirwe has left behind 12 children, according to Dr Grace Acungura, one of his daughters.