Paediatricians mourn their senior colleague Prof Ndugwa

“He not only made sure we learnt the basic principles of caring for children, but also ensured that his Master’s students looked beyond the usual. One of his favourite lessons was for us to understand beyond reasonable terms that aspirin was a contraindication in children presenting with a viral infection. He also made sure we learnt the common causes of anaemia in children. Rest well our dear professor of paediatrics and child health,” Dr Sabrina Kitaka says of the late Prof Christopher Magala Ndugwa.

Prof Ndugwa was an icon of sickle cell treatment and prevention, a grandfather of paediatrics.

He served as head of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at Makerere University College of Health Sciences.

He was honoured by the Uganda Paediatrics Association as one of the greatest paediatricians in the country. He is mourned as much as his life is celebrated, as an icon, a life well lived.

Born in 1940, Prof Ndugwa will be remembered for his passion to care for his patients with sickle cell disease.

He joined Dover College in the United Kingdom for A-Level after leaving King’s College Budo in 1958.

His class of 1958 included David Barlow, David Ssekade, John Sevume, Dan Kyanda and former prime minister Apollo Nsibambi. They were known as the ‘Trojans’.

“This is indeed sad news and a difficult afternoon. Our teacher, mentor, senior, colleague, and friend has gone to be with the Lord. My God strengthen the immediate family members and the entire paediatric family during this difficult time. RIP,” Dr Ezekiel Mupere, the head of the Department of Paediatrics and Child health at Makerere University, Kampala, eulogised him.

At 82 years of age, he breathed his last on Friday, January 21.

There was a funeral service last Tuesday at Namirembe Cathedral in Kampala, and a vigil thereafter at his home in Bunamwaya. Prof Ndugwa was laid to rest last Wednesday. 

Prof Ndugwa carried a tough demeanour, but he was kind and approachable. In 1999, from May to September, Dr Richard Idro, a senior lecturer in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at Makerere University College of Health, recalls that there were only three First Year students - along with Dr Kasoro and late Janet Kutesa, each in-charge of one of the three paediatrics wards.

“Every third day, we were on call and the following day, a post admission round and another in the main ward. On Monday and Tuesday, I had the sickle cell clinic. Prof Ndugwa was my supervisor. He was always present, a very skilled paediatrician, available for rounds and consultation, many times because I was in Acute Care Unit or covering the ward. He told me he would take care of the sickle cell clinic, “Dr Idro says.

Prof Sarah Kiguli, an academic and paediatrician, says they have lost a great teacher, mentor and leader in the field of paediatrics and child health.

“And maybe we did not fully understand or know him very well then. I did not work under him during my internship in paediatrics, but he supported my application to stay in Mulago [National Referral Hospital] as a medical officer after I declined the posting to Masaka hospital. I got to know him better when I went back for my Master’s degree. He was always available as a head of department; and fully involved in teaching and clinical services,” she says.

She adds: “We learnt about his love for sickle cell disease patients then, and all patients. Prof Ndugwa would go and randomly examine patients on any ward. You would find his ‘handwriting’ in the file and recommendations for management and know that he had been around. He probably did this for quality assurance, and we learnt to be responsible, knowing that he would look at our files any time. Prof Ndugwa was one of my mentors as a postgraduate student and we would discuss patients and even go through exercises, answering written questions.”

“Prof Ndugwa is the man who made me who I am, professionally, and I fondly refer to him as my professional godfather. When I returned to Kampala from Kitovu Hospital after internship in 1991, I showed up in his office the following day, looking for a job. He was the chairperson of Paediatrics and Child Heath at Makerere University,” writes US-based Dr Paul Bakaki, a paediatrician and researcher.

He narrates: “He called the late Dr Muzira at the Ministry of Health in my presence, asking him to post me to Mulago hospital as a medical officer to conduct research. He wrote a letter to follow up on the conversation, in my presence. The following day, I went to the Health ministry with the letter and got hired. With minimal research training, I started conducting research under him, while learning on the job, working in the sickle cell and paediatric HIV clinics.”

“He always taught us life lessons such as humility, placing our patients first and keeping appointments. When he was the head of department, he invited all of us to his home for one of our ‘end of the year’ parties and we were treated to a sumptuous meal made by his wife and him,” Dr Bakaki further recalls.

After his retirement, Prof Ndugwa worked as a research and monitoring administrator at Makerere University Johns Hopkins Research Collaboration, where his former students Prof Philippa Musoke, Dr Irene Lubega, Dr Maxi Owor and several others continue to do ground-breaking research.

With Prof Ndugwa’s death, Dr Bakaki says he has lost a professional godfather, mentor, collaborator, co-author, and confidant, whose dedication to paediatric sickle cell disease is unprecedented.

“He was a compassionate person. I am told in many cases where patients could not afford to pay the bills, he would treat them free of charge. He left a legacy of well-trained haematology and oncology specialists such as Dr Phillip Kasirye, Dr Deo Munube, Dr Ruth Namazzi, Dr Joyce Kambugu, Dr Peter Wasswa, Dr Joseph Lubega, to mention but a few. He often told us heart-warming stories about his struggles to save his patients,” he adds.

Dr Kitaka says Prof Ndugwa maintained a small private clinic in downtown Kampala so that patients could access him even on the weekends.

Who was Prof Ndugwa?

Prof Christoper Magala Ndugwa was born on October 21, 1939, to Dr Samwiri Ndugwa and Norah Ndugwa of Mutundwe, Kampala.

He attended King’s College Budo, and furthered his studies in the UK, before returning to complete his Master’s and PhD at Makerere University.  

Those who knew him as ‘‘Professor’’ will attest that he was a committed servant of medicine in Uganda. He served as head of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at Mulago from 1981 to 1994, and taught for many years at Makerere University College of Health Sciences and at Mulago National Referral Hospital.

He was the chairperson of the Polio Eradication Campaign in Uganda, a pioneer of the Mulago Sickle Cell Clinic, and a founder and board member of MU-JHU Research facility, where he served until his last days.

He also, for many decades, operated a modest clinic, first at Nakivubo, then at Kabuusu, which came to be considered a role-model for the treatment of sickle cell anaemia in the East African region.

He was Uganda’s most experienced sickle cell expert, and he cared for his patients deeply, serving them until the day he was physically no longer able.

Prof Ndugwa also loved God and was devoted to his church.  Every Sunday, come rain or shine, he could be found seated in his favourite pew in the church his mother founded at St Mark’s Mutundwe.

He was a steadfast servant of the Buganda Kingdom and a proud member of the Lugave clan.

Prof Ndugwa dedicated his life to his family and was always generous with his time.  He loved nothing more than to be surrounded by his children and the rest of his family, and his home was always filled with people.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Robinah Loi Ndugwa, and children.