In memory of Dr Mutumba, a surgeon with a soft heart

Dear Tingasiga:
 The tears do not dry. Many people known to me have died in the last week alone. Families are burying people within days of a previous death of a member. The darkness is oppressive, with no end in sight at the moment.

As I write, news just came in that Enid Kazeire, my beloved sister-in-law, has died in Los Angeles, California. She was 57. A wonderful, hardworking operating room healthcare professional, Enid retained her warm, kind and generous spirit even as she battled two different cancers in her life. God willing, we shall tell her story in future.
Enid’s death occurred the day after the burial on June 18 of Dr Sam Kisakye Mutumba, a distinguished paediatric surgeon who was my classmate at Makerere University Medical School. Sam’s very unexpected death was shocking to me and to our classmates with whom we share a special bond that was forged during our five years in the trenches of Mulago Hospital, Kampala.  

Born to Margaret and Mikaya Mutumba on September 20, 1950, Sam grew up and started school in Bunamwaya, on the southside of Kampala, before joining Kololo Senior Secondary School in 1966.  He graduated from Kololo with an Advanced-Level certificate in 1971 and was admitted to Makerere University Medical School in July 1972.

A fine and friendly gentleman with a ready smile, he breezed through the five-year course and graduated as a medical doctor on March 18, 1977.  Following his internship, he served as a medical officer at Bududa Hospital in Bugisu before embarking on his specialty training at Mulago to become a surgeon. He subspecialized in paediatric (children’s) surgery and embarked on a distinguished 30 year career of practice and teaching at Mulago, retiring from government employment as a consultant surgeon in 2014. 

No one among our medical school classmates knew Sam better that Dr Noah Masiira Mukasa, a senior colorectal surgeon, who was his childhood friend, schoolmate at Kololo Secondary School and a long-term professional colleague at Mulago Hospital and at the Surgeons’ Plaza in Kampala.  
In his eulogy at Dr Mutumba’s virtual funeral service, Dr Masiira said: “Sam was a perfect gentleman in the way he carried himself, the way he spoke, the way he dressed, the way he behaved and the way he treated other people, especially his juniors and subordinates.

“He was knowledgeable and had all-round knowledge, not only in his area of medicine and surgery, but in almost everything. He was widely read and was not only keen to keep abreast with everything new and modern but to grasp and embrace them as well.”
“Sam was down-to-earth and had a deeply caring and loving heart, especially for the poor.
 This was very evident in the way he interacted with colleagues, patients, workers and junior staff at Mulago Hospital and at the Surgeons’ Plaza. 

He was a peacemaker who strongly believed in building consensus among opposing views, non-confrontational way of solving issues, and building bridges whenever there were differences. That’s why he occupied a number of administrative posts not only at Mulago and Surgeons’ Plaza but in other institutions as well.  
“Sam believed deeply in mentorship and grooming the youth for future leadership. I witnessed this especially at Mulago as he struggled to get sponsorship for junior doctors for post-graduate training abroad in the face of indifference and sometimes even opposition from authorities. 

“Mulago’s paediatric surgery unit would not exist had it not been for Sam’s unwavering efforts. When I joined the department of surgery in 2003, there were only two paediatric surgeons. Today, there are more than five paediatric surgeons at Mulago. Part of the plans that we had for Surgeons’ Plaza was to get young doctors to join us and take over the running of the clinic as we retire from practice. Sam was the main architect behind this effort.

Sam was a wonderful clinician who gave great attention to clinical details with a keen ear and eye and a lot of patience with his patents. His big hands were soft and gentle especially to children. He was a surgeon who truly believed that surgery was not only a calling but an art with its norms and etiquette - more or less a way of life. 
“This was evident in the way he performed his work, the way he handled his patients and their relatives, the way he related to his peers and juniors, and the way he carried himself and dressed. He was a perfect role model who ought to be emulated by every surgeon, especially our younger colleagues.”

At the age of 70, Dr Mutumba was still very active and looked forward to many years of serving Uganda’s children with surgical needs.  On the weekend of June 5, Dr Masiira and Dr Mutumba carried out surgical operations at the Surgeons’ Plaza. The latter looked well. 
The following Tuesday, Dr Masiira learnt that his friend had been taken ill. He was admitted to Kampala’s Case Medical Centre, where died on Tuesday June 15. 

That Sam was the 10th Ugandan medical doctor to die within a period of two weeks was very disturbing and sobering. That the death of such a highly accomplished senior surgeon appears not to have merited mention in any of Uganda’s major news outlets is a serious comment on our priorities. 
That Dr Mutumba died in a private medical centre, not in the intensive care unit of the national referral hospital where he served for decades, left me longing for an explanation. However, that’s a subject for another day.
 
On behalf of Dr Mutumba’s medical school classmates, I extend our condolences to Irene Semakula Mutumba, Sam’s widow, their son and two daughters, their two grandchildren and Sam’s six siblings. Thank you for sharing him with us and with other Ugandans whom he served with honour and excellence.  He was a good man. A very good man.

Mulera is a medical doctor.         [email protected]