Aliker lived exemplary and corruption- free life, says Assistant Bishop  Mutebi

The Assistant Bishop of Kampala, Rt Rev Hannington Mutebi, has described Dr Martin Aliker as a person who lived an exemplary life without being corrupt despite holding key positions in private and public offices. Dr Aliker, 95, died on Monday in a hospital in Kampala City.

During the funeral service for Dr Aliker at All Saints Cathedral Church, Rt Rev Mutebi said for all the time he has been in the country, he has never heard of any corruption allegations against Dr Aliker.

Rt Rev Mutebi said Dr Aliker started his journey in life doing good deeds and he has finished it well as the Biblical scriptures guide all of us.

Ms Camille Aliker, the widow of Dr Aliker, celebrated the life of her husband of 64 years.

“Those of you who are to get married, please have a partner in your marriage—a third partner—and you will succeed without doubt, that is our Lord Jesus Christ,” Ms Aliker said.

Ms Aliker described Dr Aliker as a complex person, but a simple man.

“He was romantic and all of you know him, he was very handsome. And, of course, my heart melted [when he proposed to me] and in May 1959, we were married,” she said.

She thanked President Museveni for granting her darling an official burial.

Mr Philip Aliker, the son of Dr Aliker, said his father was a beneficiary of education sponsorship, which changed his life, and the late Dr Aliker devoted resources and time to educate many others since.

“Education makes all the difference to him,” Mr Aliker said.

He said his father had great respect for the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).

“Without security, you cannot have commerce. You cannot be a chairman of a company without security. He (Dr Aliker) thanked the UPDF for bringing peace and stability,” he said.

Great mentor
Mr Thomas Tayebwa, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, said Dr Aliker introduced him to several key people, who have had a great impact in his life after meeting him in 2006.

Mr Tayebwa said in 2006 when he was still a member of an association of Makerere University alumni, they wanted Dr Aliker to be the chancellor of that tertiary institution, but their wish failed since Dr Aliker was holding the same position in another public university.

“We missed out on him. Since then he chose me and he said, ‘You are going to be my good young friend because you are going to be a friend without any other conditions.’ And we became friends,” Mr Tayebwa said.

He said in 2016 even when he won a parliamentary election, Dr Aliker visited him at his former home in Najjera, Kira Municipality in Wakiso District, and advised him to leave that area, which he said wasn’t safe for him.

Mr Tayebwa relocated to another area on the advice of Dr Aliker.

Earlier, speaking at the vigil, Ms Aliker described her husband as a consummate professional. 

“When we returned to Uganda, he started working for the government, then the colonial government and he was posted to Mulago and he came back and he said, ‘You know these British know nothing about dentistry. I am very frustrated.’ Anyway, his frustration must have become apparent because they moved him to the then so-called European hospital. But, unfortunately, at that hospital, he could not treat his countrymen, he could only treat the European civil servants, which did not please him at all.”

Naomi Wanyama, Dr Aliker’s sister: Aliker wanted Uganda to be peaceful, he told me at the time when there was a little bit of a problem in 2001. He said, ‘Naomi, I’m not going back to exile. I was treated very well by the president and the people of Kenya, but I always had that mark on my heart saying refugee. So now that I am here, I am not going anywhere.

Rwot David Onen Acana II: The entire Acholi cherished the resilience of Dr Aliker and many of his brothers and sisters who raised the bar much higher in higher education. That was emulated by all Acholi. The family of Rwot Lacito Okech, his father, was well known for the first few university degrees and diplomas much earlier in the 1950s and 1960s.

Gen Edward Katumba Wamala, Works and Transport minister: I want to thank God for the life of a man of integrity, a man of dignity, a man with all who has lived his life and lived it well. We may not be able to be who he was, but we can emulate the good things he has done -- integrity -- that is something as a country we are searching today.

Charles Mbire, businessman, entrepreneur, and industrialist in Uganda: Dr Martin Aliker has been a good man. He was good at cracking jokes and he was a great man. We are ages apart from Martin, but he taught me a lot of Ugandan history, he knew every detail for this country. He was the kind of man you wouldn’t want to stop talking about. 

Mr Jimmy Mugerwa, chairman Uganda Breweries Ltd (UBL): Martin served the board of UBL for 43 years from 1962 to 2006. He is the longest-serving board member we have ever had at a brewery and we attribute a lot of our success to what Martin did. When we sit in that board room and see Martin’s picture and you recognise that we are who we are because of him.