Farewell Yosiya Mafigiri, the genius of my youth

He was generous with his humour but serious with his professional career.

Tragically, gentle Dr. Christopher Ainebyona Mafigiri, a genius by any measure, was murdered by armed robbers more than 20 years ago. Uganda is much poorer because of his very premature death.

This, then, is the gene pool from which Yosiya was given to us. Happily, he and his siblings have passed on this priceless DNA to very many children and grandchildren. The Mafigiri name is firmly entrenched in humanity’s treasure.

Yosiya has gone, leaving us with a sense of an empty crater in our midst. Mparo mourns. Kigezi shivers.
However, we stand at the edge of that crater with deep gratitude that it was given to our generation to be associated with him, and to learn from him. We happily bask in the radiance of his footsteps, though we may not be worthy of him.

It is human to feel a deep sense of desolation in this cold and dark valley of bereavement.

But we, who have faith in the risen and living Jesus Christ, praise Him for the gift of this temporary life and the promise of eternal life, free from the presence of sin, pain and suffering. Farewell my dear brother, Yosiya. Job well done, my teacher!

Dr Mulera is a Daily Monitor columnist based in Canada.

muniinikmulera@aol.com