Tribute to Aggrey Siryoyi Awori

Aggrey was a dear friend for many years. We first met in 1968 when I was a student at Makerere College of the University of East Africa and he was director of Uganda Television (UTV), which was the sole television network in Uganda in the good old days. Aggrey did a fantastic job as head of UTV.

During the 1968 long vacation, Aggrey hired about 20 students from Makerere to undertake the first survey of viewers of UTV in Kampala, among them Mwima Mudenya (RIP) and yours truly. We did a fine job which prompted Aggrey to offer me a part-time assignment at UTV based in Nakasero which kept me busy, on and off, until June 1970 when I graduated from university. Soon after graduation, I was recruited into the Uganda Foreign Service.

Aggrey was a courageous, adventurous, decent, eloquent, generous, hardworking, innovative and jolly good fellow whose family background is similar to mine. He was a graduate of Harvard University, a pan-Africanist, a global citizen and a jack of all trades. Aggrey’s father, Jeremiah Awori (RIP) was a priest of the Anglican Church like my father Enoka Yada (RIP). I thank God for Aggrey’s exemplary life, his family, his friendship and above all his Christian witness.

Our paths crossed again in 1981 when Aggrey joined Uganda’s diplomatic service on appointment as minister plenipotentiary at the Embassy of Uganda accredited to the USA, located in Washington DC, where he served with distinction. In 1985, Aggrey was transferred to Brussels as Ugandan ambassador to the European Union, Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands, after which he returned to Uganda and joined politics. 

Like many Ugandans who come from border areas, Awori’s Samia ethnic group is divided between Kenya and Uganda while my Lugbara ethnic group is divided between Uganda and DRC. Unlike most of his brothers and sisters who chose Kenya as their motherland, Aggrey, who was born in Tororo, chose Uganda as his motherland. I can attest to the fact that Awori was a true patriot who loved his country and struggled relentlessly for a better Uganda throughout his life.

His wife is a Liberian by birth, but like Aggrey, Thelma is a Ugandan at heart and has devoted her life to serve the people of Uganda, including the period when she was UNDP’s regional director for Africa based at the UN headquarters in New York.

Aggrey contested as a Ugandan presidential candidate in 2001. Although he did not win, I believe given a chance Aggrey would have been a good president, certainly much better than many mediocre and shameless African leaders who have turned vote rigging into a lucrative enterprise.

In 2009, I paid a courtesy call on Aggrey when he was ICT minister in the NRM regime. He received me warmly and after we exchanged pleasantries he explained to me why he reluctantly quit UPC and joined NRM. He believed that a few good men, like him and Dr Nsaba Buturo, could change the mindset of the corrupt and decadent regime from within, by setting a good example, but as I feared and warned, NRM is beyond redemption and salvation. 

Despite his brief association with NRM, I believe that the verdict of history on Aggrey will be positive unlike the verdict on most contemporary African leaders. May his soul rest in eternal peace!

 Mr Acemah is a political scientist and retired career diplomat.
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