In loving memory of John Nagenda

When I learnt of the passing of the late John Nagenda on March 4, my heart sank and a spontaneous tear rolled down my cheek. Time froze for a few minutes, until I could pick up my breath again. He was a very dear friend, and as he called me his Persian daughter, I called him my Ugandan father.

For the minutes that followed, all the memories that I had with him just flashed through my mind. All of them beautiful memories! Our first meeting was more than two decades ago when I saw him seated at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel’s coffee terrace, at the time I was an ardent reader of his weekly column in the New Vision newspaper. I had a few questions about one of his columns, so that day and in a spontaneous gesture, I walked to his table and asked if I could have a quick chat with him. He accepted as he waited for his company to arrive.

It was the first time I heard his voice, this deep elegant voice, matching a handsome gentleman with a perfect command of the language he spoke. Being a very generous man, he offered me a drink, and when I opted for tea, he said: “Oh, you are a teetotaller.”

I had to look up the meaning of the word in the dictionary. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship but we did not share many common thoughts, but we shared the love of words. By now, it was selfish to keep this treasure to myself. I introduced him to my husband who very soon called Mr Nagenda a distinguished gentleman. 

In the following years, our friendship grew stronger, and Mr Nagenda also introduced us to his beautiful family, with whom we enjoyed many homemade meals and restaurant outings. It is only befitting to present my sincere condolences to dear Marion, Frank and the whole family for this great loss. It is indeed a loss for Uganda and Africa.

In this journey of friendship, I introduced him to many of my friends who visited Uganda, and he introduced me to a few of his friends.  He taught me what cricket was all about, and one day I went to watch a tennis match that he was playing as a duo with the late honourable Eriya Kategaya, who later on became a mutual friend.

Above all, I learnt from him how to be a passionate perfectionist, this was also a quality that brought him closer with my late husband Shahram.

Their friendship was crowned with an artistic carved table that Shahram made for him.it had the carving of all the Baganda clans and the Baganda emblem, this table that settled in his main living room will always be a reminder of how friendships can last.  Rest in peace our dear John Nagenda, you will be fondly remembered.