Sam Owori is dead. Long live Rtn Samuel Frobisher Owori

Sam Owori

What you need to know:

  • Plans were unfolding to charter a plane to take local Rotarians to Toronto in June next year to be sure as many Ugandans were on hand to wrap themselves in the national flag and cheer as Rtn Sam started on his year (2018-2019) of leadership. That plane may still be chartered.

One of us hollered. All eyes turned to one direction. It was just after 10pm. Sam Owori, Rotarian (Rtn) and retired banker, was walking into the venue. Unannounced. The few people on the dance floor stopped mid-groove. Those seated rose. We all swarmed the man.
I pulled back and started shooting pictures with my phone. I had to capture the moment: professional and business leaders were falling over themselves around a smiling Rtn Sam.

The magnetism of power was on display. In this case, it was so irresistible. Rtn Sam was powerful. He was on the cusp of actually leading the Rotary world following a long and strong record of improving communities at home and abroad. Yet he personified dignity and humility, topped off with an easy smile. Who wouldn’t want to be in the presence of such majesty?
It was June 27 and we — members and friends of the Rotary Club of Kisugu Victoria View — were celebrating the installation of our new president.

A few people had left. The party was slowing down somewhat. Then. Bang. Who are we, a small new club, having its first changeover in leadership, to be visited at that hour by this man, however humble in his ways, who in a year’s time would lead 1.2 million Rotarians as the 108th president of Rotary International?
Rtn Sam’s achievement so elated the 3,000-plus Ugandan Rotarians that his passing before taking the job has cut to the bone and deeper. He took us to the top of the mountain but could not get us to touch the peak.

Plans were unfolding to charter a plane to take local Rotarians to Toronto in June next year to be sure as many Ugandans were on hand to wrap themselves in the national flag and cheer as Rtn Sam started on his year (2018-2019) of leadership. That plane may still be chartered. Wiser heads are saying Ugandan Rotarians should still pack Toronto in Rtn Sam’s honour. That could happen, but it will not be the same without “one of our own” up there on the podium.

It was the second time Rtn Sam, a member of the Rotary Club of Kampala, was visiting our club. The first time was October 18, 2016, two weeks after being declared president-nominee. He said he hoped that his presence at the top would encourage others like him to aspire to the biggest offices in Rotary. He did not have to belabour the fact that he was on track to be the second African (indeed black person), after Nigeria’s Jonathan Majiyagbe, to lead Rotary in its 112-year history.
His presence coincided with a fundraiser, led by Rtn Emmanuel Katongole, for the Rotary Blood Bank at Mengo Hospital. By evening’s end we had pledged more than Shs15 million. Not bad for a new club. We can all guess where some of the inspiration to give came from.

All because beyond complaining about State failure, Rotary brings together people from various professional and business pursuits to make acquaintances and through that to help address community challenges ranging from literacy and peace to water and health.
The Uganda Heart Institute (Rtn Sam served on its board) is doing a lot of good things and a large part of the reason is because Rotary is involved. Nsambya Hospital will soon host a cancer centre, the second in Uganda, because Rotarians are in the lead. These are big-ticket projects, but daily Rotarians around Uganda build latrines in schools, support small businesses, and in 2017-2018 will plant more than one million trees.

The man championing tree planting is Rtn Kenneth Mugisha. He is the governor of District 9211, made up of Uganda and Tanzania.
Governor Mugisha, an amiable leader himself, was in the company of Rtn Sam that night of June 27. We were happy. An hour on, the two men cheerfully took their leave, floating into the night of light chill. Rtn Sam would be gone nearly three weeks hence. And Kisugu Victoria View would possibly be the last Ugandan club he visited, a slightly dubious honour but one that should inspire us to be better Rotarians and better citizens of the world.
For a start, Rotarians and non-Rotarians are being called upon to make the final push to eradicate polio in the world by donating to the just-established Sam F. Owori Memorial to Polio.

As Rotarians world over work to give meaning to Rtn Sam’s passion of “membership and extension” so that Rotary can grow and do even more good, we may also while at it reflect on some of his words.
Speaking about the characteristics of good leadership in an interview, Rtn Sam said that one of them is “building trust by being exemplary, transparent, accountable, equitable and reducing speculation and grapevine”. Need I say more?
Hamba kahle, Samuel Frobisher Owori, Rotarian par excellence.

Mr Tabaire is the co-founder and director of programmes at African Centre for Media Excellence in Kampala. [email protected]
Twitter:@btabaire