{UAH} I mourn Dr Mathias Kalimba, the man who recruited me into RPF
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9:35 PM |
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Asuman Bisiika
On Saturday, September 19, Ms Flavia Rwabukamba called and said there was someone who wanted to talk to me. It was Ms Betty Mukankusi, Flavia's elderly aunt. She wanted to talk to me just to reminisce about her life in Kasese District.
We talked for 43 minutes and shared a lot about the Banyarwanda Community in Kasese. Ms Grace (the nurse in lower Base Camp), Mr Karangwa (the owner of Kizungu), Mwenzangu (the tailor who did Maj Biganja's wedding suit) and others. We even talked about the low-income Banyarwanda Community, who lived in what is now called Kigali near Kasese Secondary School.
"By the way, Dr Mantyansi yara rembye cyane (Dr Mathias is in a physically vegetative condition)," Betty Mukankusi told me and I expressed my sorries.
Dr Mathias Kalimba, the proprietor of Afya Kamili Clinic in Kasese, died on Wednesday, October 7. Repose en paix, mon grand frère.
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In December 1989, the main event in Kasese was not Christmas; it was the wedding of Sam Rubagumya, an affluent member of the Banyarwanda Community in Kasese. Sam's Bestman was NRA's Lt Alex Kagame (now Gen Alex Kagame of Rwanda Defence Forces). Maj Gen Fred Rwigema was also expected to attend the wedding (he didn't).
The wedding was so high profile that low lifers like me 'could not' be invited to the reception at Hotel Margherita. But me being me, I sneaked in. And Dr Mathias was on hand to show me the 'who-is-who' among Banyarwanda Community resident in Kampala (most of whom were Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) top brass)).
He showed me Ms Aloese Inyumba (RIP). I had heard that name before. And I knew she was responsible for talking Col Alexis Kanyarengwe into joining the RPF. Ms Inyumba danced herself lame at the wedding reception, in spite of the fact that she was a senior person mu muryango (in RPF).
A man with a very raw sense of humour, Dr Mathias asked me to mobilise a bunch of Bakonzo warriors to join the RPF struggle. He said this would be his (and my) contribution to the struggle. Of course, I never got any Bakonzo warriors to join the RPF, but I was actually sold to the RPF cause. That is how Dr Mathias recruited me into the RPF.
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Dr Mathias came to Rwanda even before RPF troops had secured Kigali because most of his family members, including his mother, still lived in Kigali.
When we reached his home, his mother had been killed (in the genocide) and stray dogs had eaten her to (almost) bare bones. We put what remained of her body in a metal box and rushed it to the safety of Uganda.
After taking the remains of his mother to Uganda, he returned to look for some members of his family. With the assistance of some RPA soldiers, we secured two sisters. He also took them to Uganda.
He kept the mortal remains of his mother at his home on Kijongo Road in Kasese until they were taken back to Rwanda for a decent burial in Kicukiro (a Kigali City suburb) in 1996.
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Dr Mathias lived a humble a life, but joked a lot. He never tired to tell people (in my presence) that I promised him a battalion of Bakonzo warriors, but could not deliver on my promise. And that he was responsible for all the trouble I caused in Rwanda. And I always shot back that he was also responsible for the trouble Rwanda caused on me.
Matyansi, my elder brother, in the next world, I will bring all the tough Bakonzo warriors to fight in the struggle. Rest in peace.
Mr Bisiika is the executive editor of the East African Flagpost.
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