….that which is highly
esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:15)
intelligent, but probably not equally wise because the Bible says ‘A fool says there is no God’ (Psalms 14:1). God expects us to examine our surroundings and circumstances of life and draw conclusions about His existence. Nothing can exist by itself unless it is designed and made. Charles Okecha, Mbale
The late Boloki Chango Machyo W’obanda
President Yoweri Museveni has described the late Boloki Chango Machyo W’obanda as a nationalist and pan Africanist who was never corrupt or greedy for money but one who dedicated his life towards promoting unity and togetherness for all Ugandans.
“Chango Machyo was a nationalist and Pan-Africanist. Many people don’t have that, they are busy with religion, tribes etc yet they worship USA because it is strong. Why don’t you unite and be strong,” he said.
The President was speaking at a funeral service organized by the family of the late Chango Machyo at Bukwekwe Primary school grounds in Lumino, Busia district.
The late Macho was an atheist despite being confirmed in Christian faith and having married his wife in Church but his family that is Christian said despite their differences in ideology in terms of their faith their father was strict in terms of instilling the basic human values in his children. The late Chango Machyo was accorded an official burial at his ancestral home in Hasyule village.
Museveni hailed the late Chango Machyo who was his Senior Presidential Advisor on Political Affairs for his contribution in the development of petroleum sector in Uganda, explaining that he played a significant role in identifying graduates to pursue professional courses in petroleum exploration, a task he executed for his country without being pushed.
"He was not corrupt or greedy for money. He is the one who helped me on oil. Everyone was talking about oil, oil..even those who have nothing to say….but the one who helped me was Chango Macho together with a lady called Opio,” he said, adding that Shell wanted him to sign an exploration agreement but there was nobody on the Ugandan side who knew enough about oil.
“I said we can’t discuss oil without anybody on our side. I called Macho and Opio and we agreed to find graduates in Chemistry, Physics and other courses to be sent for masters degrees in petroleum. They did not need to be reminded or pushed or divert from what we had agreed. We now have our own capacity; those are the people who found our oil. They are nationalists and panafircanists,” he said.
He commended the people of Busia for electing the late Machyo as their representative during the Constituency Assembly, a position he used to successfully lobby for a district status for Busia. He also defended Chango Machyo's position of not believing in God, adding that he had a point just like those who believe in God do.
"People who believe in God like justice Ogoola and me, have our reasons why we believe in God but even those who don't believe in God like Macho also have a point.
When there was slave trade for 400 years, was there a Pope or not, was there an Archbishop of Canterbury or not. The Church discredited itself, it was therefore up to it to prove it is genuine," he said.
Earlier the President apologized for arriving late for the funeral explaining that shortly after Mukono, a bird hit the wing of his chopper and for technical reasons it was landed safely at Lugazi and another chopper and vehicles were arranged causing some delays.
Rev. Esawu Mandera of Lumino Parish, Church of Uganda in his sermon urged the mourners to desist from being corrupted by emulating Chango.
'Chango stood with the nation and panafricanism, his panafricanism will follow him. His family stood with the Church. Can we as leaders emulate Chango so that we are not corrupted? Corruption is thieving which is against the Ten commandments of God. Do not be corrupt, emulate Chango,' he said.
Speaking on behalf of the family Dr. Peter Obanda Wanyama commended the President for honoring their father, adding that this was a clear recognition of his values and service to his country. He said that although his father denounced Christianity he still taught his family good morals, warning them against corruption, getting indebted, admiring things they could not afford and despised opportunistic politicians.
Chango Machyo: The church should not be static
Thursday, 31 October 2013 20:49
I
read Mr Charles Okecha’s article titled: “President should not blame
the church” (Daily Monitor, Wednesday, October 23, 2013) and I feel he
needs help.
I have known Mzee Chango Machyo (RIP)
since 1986 when he became my boss. The late Machyo was one of the most
honest, sincere and dignified intellectuals that Uganda could have ever
produced.
Justice James Ogoola was spot on, when he described Machyo as “the tower of integrity and the pillar of peace.”
I am one of those who admire his courage and firmness amidst the world of hypocrisy and pretence.
Machyo lived by his conscience and
beliefs. Coming to Machyo’s beliefs, what many people may not be aware
of is that the world is governed under two main opposing philosophical
lines.
As a student of applied physical
sciences, having studied philosophy, the two fundamental philosophical
directions underlying governance of society are Idealism and
Materialism.
Idealism is the philosophy that answers
the fundamental question of what is primary in the existence of life.
Their answer is “idea.”
This is also the churches’ and other spiritual organisations’ philosophy. In the book of Genesis, it was the “word.”
God created the world through command– the idea!
The teachings of spiritual organisations
are based on beliefs and fear of the unknown. Known philosophers of the
18th century like Immanuel Kant were the main proponent and developers
of advanced idealism.
One of the most challenging questions is
in one of the church doctrines: “as it was, now is and forever, Amen”.
This statement is one of the fundamentals of idealism. It is a belief
that the world is fixed and yet in reality, social and physical
evolution is ongoing.
Scientific discoveries are gradually
demystifying the churches’ beliefs. Materialism on the other hand, is
the philosophy that gives alternative answer to the question of what is
primary to the existence of life.
Dialectic materialism recognizes the
evolutionary nature of life and this has been consolidated in the works
of Karl Marx especially in his book, Das Kapital.
Karl Marx was able to point out the
evolution of society in production relationship, from the primitive
communal period of equality; to feudal mode of production, where kings
and landlords own land and the poor serfs who work for them; and finally
to capitalist mode of production, where those who own capital employ
labour and appropriate the proceeds as owners.
Appropriation under capitalism generated
labour unrest, bringing about formation of labour unions as organs
representing labour in the negotiations for the sharing of the proceeds.
After the 1917 communist revolution in Russia, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov
(Lenin), nationalised the capital.
Before Russia’s perestroika, scientists,
politicians, workers, peasant farmers, all earned about the same amount
and according to their needs, while making contributions, proportionate
to their capacity.
The communist system was based on
equality of mankind and equitable sharing of the national resources. For
the love of mankind and the poor, Mzee Chango Machyo would have
preferred a similar system to eradicate suffering by the majority poor.
He was so honest that even as minister,
whenever he travelled abroad and returned early, he gave back allowances
for the remaining days.
The evolutionary theory, the dialectic
materialism, went further to evaluate life itself. Charles Darwin
(1809-82), discovered the evolution process, as life species adapt and
conform to changing conditions on earth. Those that fail to adapt or
conform to new conditions perished like the dinosaurs.
It is scientifically proven that the
life species today are the product of evolution and quite different from
those that existed a million years ago. There is continuous evolution
not only of life, nature and the universe, but also society, as our
understanding of the environment develops.
Atheism is a derivative of the above
arguments. The church has so far failed to clearly associate itself with
evolution and therefore their teachings leave gaps.
Mr Okecha states: “God expects us to
examine our surroundings and circumstances of life and draw conclusions
about his existence.”
Yes, Machyo did exactly that and made
his conclusions. On Mr Okecha’s assertion that nothing can exist by
itself – others may also ask him, who created God?
If the church continues to maintain this
static position, more Chango Machyos will emerge and like the
dinosaurs, the church may become a casualty of the evolution.
Frederick Engels, an associate of Karl
Marx, has demystified the notion that God created man in his image, etc.
He demonstrated that, man is a product of evolution.
The questions in the minds of those who
associate with the empirical evidence of the evolution process is: If
God created human beings in his image, do we still look like him today?
The author is the minister for Disaster Preparedness, Relief and Refugees.
President should not blame the Church
During President Museveni’s address to the family and mourners
at the late Chango Machyo’s funeral, he said that factors that
influenced the deceased’s belief in Marxism and non-existence of God
were oblivious to him. He cited situations in which the church had lost
its credibility and rendered itself irrelevant and dysfunctional in the
human society. The President is, however, wise to have examined his
experiences to derive a personal conclusion which is the basis for his
belief in God. Some of these could be his common narrative about his
escapade at Maluku, Mbale in 1973. Some are recorded in his book The
Mustard Seed and many others such as Mr. Opiyo Oloya’s story of the
Gulu car breakdown.
Eastern Uganda is still in a period of bereavement
after the demise of its two brilliant pioneer intellectuals and this
article is not intended to stain their achievements. Both were
intelligent, but probably not equally wise because the Bible says ‘A
fool says there is no God’ (Psalms 14:1). God expects us to examine our
surroundings and circumstances of life and draw conclusions about His
existence. Nothing can exist by itself unless it is designed and made.
Just as it applies to man-made things like TVs,
cars and radios so are things we suppose exist naturally like anthills,
mountains, rivers, lakes, the sun, the moon, stars, trees, animals,
insects and birds. I, therefore, think that if the matter of offense
was just church alone, the late Chango Machyo should have converted to
another religion like Islam but instead he did otherwise. Were the
current sex and corruption scandals in church known to him earlier but
hidden from us?
The church is an entity established by God on
earth to transform selfish sinful man into a creature full of love,
truth and justice. It cannot do this by force, but by preaching and
practicing the truth so as to convince humankind. The managers of this
divine project are fellow humans called church leaders who are
susceptible to error, deception, compromise and rebellion.
This has been the norm since the days of the Old
Testament. The sons of Eli, for example, were corrupt, lewd and greedy
priests but the young Samuel chose to listen and obey God rather than
follow their wicked ways. Even kings like Saul and David had their own
shortcomings, but it is their response after such shortcomings that
determined their rejection or acceptance before God. In brief, in every
generation, there are sin-hating sinners who repent and sin-loving
sinners who pass the blame to God, circumstances or other people and
fail to change.
In Uganda, for example, the population has grown
nearly three-fold from 12.6 million in 1980 to about 34 million people.
But many churches have remained the same size and very few new ones have
been built locking out millions in darkness to determine their own
destiny. This is attributed to failures by the church leaders to lead by
example.
Ugandans must not, therefore, misunderstand the
President’s speech and wait for the church to play the ‘saviour of the
world’ role alone. The government must play its part and do adequate
urban planning to eliminate slums which act as breeding cells for crime.
Charles Okecha, Mbale
Posted Sunday, October 20 2013 at 01:00
http://sunrise.ug/features/features/5833-chango-macho-the-lion-of-samia-who-led-a-simple-life
The Late Communist Chango Macho
The
news of the death of Chango Macho w'Obanda early this week took most
people by surprise. True, he was elderly and had been quiet and out of
circulation for a while. But nobody thought that he would go so soon.
Few could claim to have known Boloki Chango Macho W'Obanda (born 1927) too well because he operated at all levels of sociability.While he lived in Mbale in the seventies and eighties he would often descend to Kacumbalato drink Malwa, his favourite drink, with his lowly friends, and thereafter proceed to Mt Elgon Hotel for beer and whisky with his notable elite friends.
Boloki, as he was commonly known in the Samia land, belonged to one of the largest and most influential clans in Samia, Abataboona; the other dominating clan being the Abalundu. These clans embraced early colonial education, and between them contributed most powerful county and sub-county chiefs of the area. It is not surprising that Chango Macho was well-educated to the point of earning a place among the great alumni of London College of Economics where he would graduate with a degree in land economics, planning and survey.
Nick-named "Ombutu", Macho married from one of the most famous families in Samia:he married a daughter of the late Can. Kezeroni Wejuli of Busumba, a prominent Anglican clergy in the region. They have many bright children of high moral character who now serve the country in various areas.
He was a firebrand politician of his own time. He belonged to the class of politicians with high regard to truth and integrity.In the heady days following Uganda's attainment of independence, Macho and his friends who included Bidandi Ssali, Ali Kirunda Kivejinja, Dan Wadada Nabudere and Kintu Musoke thought that Uganda's socialist agenda was not progressing fast enough. They demanded deeper democracy and accountability in government. They were considered a nuisance and were expelled from UPC in the mid-sixties.
Throughout the military rule of Idi Amin, Macho's life was generally not eventful. He ran the Eastern region branch of extramural studies department of Makerere University, based in Mbale.
He lived well, driving his sports Fiat car and managing a fuel station on Republic Street. He drank his malwa in Kacumbala,beer in Mount Elgon Hotel, and lived in the European Quarters. But as times became tougher in the country, Macho adopted coping mechanisms and resorted to a simple life.
He would often be seen with his mukeeka kikapo shopping in the market, dressed in his Nyerere suits. He never wore European suits from the time he embraced socialism in the sixties.
The early eighties were his toughest times. Macho taught economics and General Paper to A-Level students at Nabumali High School. Many times he would walk the eight miles to the school to teach.
Whenever he travelled to his home area, he would often be found enjoying local brew, i.e. malwa and Kwete with the people in local bars.
He will be remembered for a good command of his local language and wise proverbs; and preserving the indigenous Samia dialect and heritage.
People of his generation will remember that day he gave his late uncle Mbalwa a dramatic funeral. At the burial he fired a volley of bullets in the air, sending the people of Busikho Village scampering for dear lives!
He got on very well with the urban Samia community, especially those living in Kampala. He was a selfless man who never lost the opportunity to gather them at his home for malwa. He did this on most of the important national days. His friends remember the candid discussion on national politics at those sittings. Macho would sustain an argument, while stroking his long academic goatee, and never lost his cool. It was very difficult to annoy him. He respected his friends, many of whom were much younger than him. At one memorable occasion at his house, Macho served his Samia friends a bottle of whisky that he has brought from North Korea: it had a snake bottled in it!
When he lived in the lower Kololo area in Kampala, he would walk to Naguru Katale to drink his malwa.
Macho was a Humanist as well as Atheist owing to his Marxist belief. He never believed in the 'White God', but beloved in the indigenous god-'Were'. While swearing in in 1990 as CA delegate, he refused to swear by the Bible but instead held a Spear. He once moved a motion in the CA calling for the change of the national motto from "For God and My Country" to "For God and My Stomach..." meaning people should believe in God but at the same time work hard for their lives.
He hadn't been part of the Moshi arrangementthat prepared to rule Uganda after the fall of Idi Amin. So,he wasn't offered any position in the new UNLF government that ruled Uganda after Amin, as was the case with many of his friends.
When Yoweri Museveni would later on begin his own party in 1980, Macho joined and preached the UPM gospel in Eastern Uganda, particularly in old Bukedi and Elgon regions. He did his political work on foot. However, the UPM didn't have much support in those areas.
In the 1980 elections, he was barred from contesting as a parliamentarycandidate for Tororo South on account of procedure. He was supposed to produce documentary evidenceof his proficiency in English. For him, he thought the work he had done as a lecturer at Makerere and his resounding record as alumni of London College of Economics was testimony enough of his proficiency in English.
From 1980-86, Chango Macho kepta low profile in Mbaleon dwindling resources. Arguably this was his hardest time.
When President Yoweri Museveni had taken over power in 1986, he paid a visit to Mbale, and somehow the plight of Chango Macho came up. The President remembered the man who had preached the gospel of UPM in Bukedi and Bugisu regions; now that man was in dire straits. It was upon this background that Museveni appointed Chango to the post of minister.He later served as a political Commissar at the NRM Secretariat. True to his character, Macho continued to freely criticise government on bad policies and corruption.
The Samia people lay their beloved elder in his final resting place at Hasyule last Sunday. The burial was complete with a three-gun salute: one for Africa; his country Uganda; and his people of Samia. But his legacy of integrity, open-mindedness, frugality, frank political discussion, consistent Marxist-socialist beliefs will live long after him.
Fare thee well, the lion of Samia!!
Chango Macho was a great man even in his simplicity
Chango Machio (centre in African attire), with locals at a joint
drinking local brew commonly known as malwa in Lumino, his home village.
On his right is his brother Damiano Gusino. COURTESY PHOTO
By Stephen Bwire & Charles Wanyama
Posted Sunday, October 20 2013 at 01:00
In Summary
End of a life. Last week, the news of Chango Macho’s
death painted a picture of a man who dedicated his life to changing
society. Sunday Monitor’s Stephen Bwire & Charles Wanyama dig into
the politician’s life.
Few could claim to have known Boloki Chango Macho w’Obanda (born
1927) very well because he operated at all levels of sociability. He
was one man who would descend to Kachumbala on the edges of Mbale town
to drink malwa with his lowly friends, and thereafter proceed to Mt
Elgon Hotel for beer and high- class whisky with his notable elite
cronies.
Boloki, as he was commonly known in the Samia
land, belonged to one of the largest clans in Samia - Abataboona. The
other big clan is Abalundu. These clans embraced early colonial
education, largely explaining why Boloki Chango Macho was well-educated
to the point of earning a place among the great alumni of London College
of Economics where he would graduate with a degree in land economics
and survey.
Nick-named “Ombutu”, Macho married from one of the
famous families in Samia; he married a daughter of the late Canon
Keseroni Wejuli, a prominent Anglican clergy in the region. He was a
firebrand politician of his own time. He belonged to the class of
politicians with high regard to integrity.
Little wonder, when he later joined the NRM
government, it wasn’t long before he started expressing his disquiet
over cases of corruption and ‘unhealthy’ government policies. He is
among those who fought against the mass privatisation policy through
writing, seminars and debates, making his last, albeit futile stand, on
the sale of Uganda Commercial Bank (UCB) in late 1990s.
Lifestyle
He lived an unimpeachable life with a legendary legacy. Macho’s simplicity could be seen from the fact that he would walk eight miles from Mbale town to Nabumali High School to teach General Paper and prepare A-Level students for exams. He owned a prestigious vehicle at the time, a FIAT, and even owned a petrol station on High Street in Mbale town. He lived in the European Quarters; the estates for the elite community in Mbale.
Whenever he would travel to Busia to see his people while minister in the later years, he would jump out of his Pajero and hop on a boda boda bicycle and have frequent stopovers to greet and drink kwete (local maize brew) with the locals.
He lived an unimpeachable life with a legendary legacy. Macho’s simplicity could be seen from the fact that he would walk eight miles from Mbale town to Nabumali High School to teach General Paper and prepare A-Level students for exams. He owned a prestigious vehicle at the time, a FIAT, and even owned a petrol station on High Street in Mbale town. He lived in the European Quarters; the estates for the elite community in Mbale.
Whenever he would travel to Busia to see his people while minister in the later years, he would jump out of his Pajero and hop on a boda boda bicycle and have frequent stopovers to greet and drink kwete (local maize brew) with the locals.
The old man was famous for his use of proverbs and
preserving the indigenous Samia dialect and heritage. He was a
principled Marxist who until the time of his death never wore a Western
suit and tie, but preferred Nyerere suits (not Kaunda suits) – both
short and long-sleeved. He would occasionally go jogging wearing
‘Maradona’ canvas shoes (sneakers), and at times would drink wine from a
tumpeco mug. He often served his guests wine from North Korea which had
been preserved with bits of snake.
The six-foot towering figure preferred to do his
work on foot. He would get his kikapo (palm straw bag) and go shopping
in the market. He liked local fish such as Bambara (open sundried
tilapia) and Namulumba (dried or smoked tilapia). In the market, he
drove a hard bargain demanding for his change to the last coin.
He got on very well with the urban Samia
community, especially those living in Kampala. He was a selfless man
who never lost the opportunity to gather his Samia folks for malwa where
the drinking would be spiced-up with beer, chicken and nyama choma. He
did this on most of the important national days like Independence Day,
etc where we would talk politics the whole day and evening. He would
sustain an argument, while stroking his long academic goatee, and never
lost his cool. He respected us, much as we were much younger than him.
When he was living in the lower Kololo area, he
would walk to Naguru-Katale to drink his malwa. Sometimes he would come
on foot all the way from Luzira, where he once lived when he was NRM
Political Commissar, to Mbuya for the local drink.
Spiritual life
Macho was a humanist as well as atheist owing to his Marxist belief. He never believed in the ‘White God’, but believed in the indigenous god – ‘Were’. While swearing in in 1990 as Constituent Assembly (CA) delegate, he refused to swear by the Bible but instead held a spear. He once moved a motion in the CA calling for the change of the national motto from “For God and My Country” to “For God and My Stomach”...meaning people should believe in God but at the same time work hard for their lives.
Macho was a humanist as well as atheist owing to his Marxist belief. He never believed in the ‘White God’, but believed in the indigenous god – ‘Were’. While swearing in in 1990 as Constituent Assembly (CA) delegate, he refused to swear by the Bible but instead held a spear. He once moved a motion in the CA calling for the change of the national motto from “For God and My Country” to “For God and My Stomach”...meaning people should believe in God but at the same time work hard for their lives.
Worst times
Macho’s worst time was in the second UPC government. He had much earlier on fallen out with UPC in the 1960s alongside his fellow firebrands like Prof Dani Wadada Nabudere, Bidandi Ssali, Kirunda Kivejinja, Kintu Musoke, among others who were expelled from the party over differences in ideology.
Macho’s worst time was in the second UPC government. He had much earlier on fallen out with UPC in the 1960s alongside his fellow firebrands like Prof Dani Wadada Nabudere, Bidandi Ssali, Kirunda Kivejinja, Kintu Musoke, among others who were expelled from the party over differences in ideology.
He hadn’t been part of the Moshi arrangement that
prepared to rule Uganda after the fall of Idi Amin. So, to this effect,
he wasn’t offered any position in the new UNLF government that ruled
Uganda after the fall of Amin, as was the case with his friends such as
Prof Nabudere and Edward Rugumayo.
When Yoweri Museveni would later on begin his own
party, UPM in 1980, Macho joined and preached the UPM gospel in eastern
Uganda particularly in Bukedi and Elgon regions. He walked on foot in
Samia, Bugisu, Tororo talking to people about the new party, only that
the UPM didn’t have much support in the areas.
In the 1980 elections, he was barred from
contesting as a parliamentary candidate for Tororo South on account of
procedure. He was supposed to produce documentary evidence of his
proficiency in English- showing that he was educated with the minimum
qualifications for elective office. For him, he thought he was popular
enough, and the work he had done as a lecturer at Makerere and his
resounding record as alumni of London College of Economics was testimony
enough of his proficiency in English.
Hardest time
From 1980 to 86, Chango Macho lived a low profile in Mbale on dwindling resources. Arguably this was his hardest time. When President Museveni took over power in 1986, he remembered the old man who had preached the gospel of UPM in Bukedi and Bugisu regions and appointed him minister of Lands, Water and Natural Resources – fitting well into his background of land economics and survey.
From 1980 to 86, Chango Macho lived a low profile in Mbale on dwindling resources. Arguably this was his hardest time. When President Museveni took over power in 1986, he remembered the old man who had preached the gospel of UPM in Bukedi and Bugisu regions and appointed him minister of Lands, Water and Natural Resources – fitting well into his background of land economics and survey.
Chango Macho: The Lion of Samia who led a simple life
http://sunrise.ug/features/features/5833-chango-macho-the-lion-of-samia-who-led-a-simple-life
Written by Bwire Stephen
Friday, 25 October 2013 09:52
The Late Communist Chango MachoFew could claim to have known Boloki Chango Macho W'Obanda (born 1927) too well because he operated at all levels of sociability.While he lived in Mbale in the seventies and eighties he would often descend to Kacumbalato drink Malwa, his favourite drink, with his lowly friends, and thereafter proceed to Mt Elgon Hotel for beer and whisky with his notable elite friends.
Boloki, as he was commonly known in the Samia land, belonged to one of the largest and most influential clans in Samia, Abataboona; the other dominating clan being the Abalundu. These clans embraced early colonial education, and between them contributed most powerful county and sub-county chiefs of the area. It is not surprising that Chango Macho was well-educated to the point of earning a place among the great alumni of London College of Economics where he would graduate with a degree in land economics, planning and survey.
Nick-named "Ombutu", Macho married from one of the most famous families in Samia:he married a daughter of the late Can. Kezeroni Wejuli of Busumba, a prominent Anglican clergy in the region. They have many bright children of high moral character who now serve the country in various areas.
He was a firebrand politician of his own time. He belonged to the class of politicians with high regard to truth and integrity.In the heady days following Uganda's attainment of independence, Macho and his friends who included Bidandi Ssali, Ali Kirunda Kivejinja, Dan Wadada Nabudere and Kintu Musoke thought that Uganda's socialist agenda was not progressing fast enough. They demanded deeper democracy and accountability in government. They were considered a nuisance and were expelled from UPC in the mid-sixties.
Throughout the military rule of Idi Amin, Macho's life was generally not eventful. He ran the Eastern region branch of extramural studies department of Makerere University, based in Mbale.
He lived well, driving his sports Fiat car and managing a fuel station on Republic Street. He drank his malwa in Kacumbala,beer in Mount Elgon Hotel, and lived in the European Quarters. But as times became tougher in the country, Macho adopted coping mechanisms and resorted to a simple life.
He would often be seen with his mukeeka kikapo shopping in the market, dressed in his Nyerere suits. He never wore European suits from the time he embraced socialism in the sixties.
The early eighties were his toughest times. Macho taught economics and General Paper to A-Level students at Nabumali High School. Many times he would walk the eight miles to the school to teach.
Whenever he travelled to his home area, he would often be found enjoying local brew, i.e. malwa and Kwete with the people in local bars.
He will be remembered for a good command of his local language and wise proverbs; and preserving the indigenous Samia dialect and heritage.
People of his generation will remember that day he gave his late uncle Mbalwa a dramatic funeral. At the burial he fired a volley of bullets in the air, sending the people of Busikho Village scampering for dear lives!
He got on very well with the urban Samia community, especially those living in Kampala. He was a selfless man who never lost the opportunity to gather them at his home for malwa. He did this on most of the important national days. His friends remember the candid discussion on national politics at those sittings. Macho would sustain an argument, while stroking his long academic goatee, and never lost his cool. It was very difficult to annoy him. He respected his friends, many of whom were much younger than him. At one memorable occasion at his house, Macho served his Samia friends a bottle of whisky that he has brought from North Korea: it had a snake bottled in it!
When he lived in the lower Kololo area in Kampala, he would walk to Naguru Katale to drink his malwa.
Macho was a Humanist as well as Atheist owing to his Marxist belief. He never believed in the 'White God', but beloved in the indigenous god-'Were'. While swearing in in 1990 as CA delegate, he refused to swear by the Bible but instead held a Spear. He once moved a motion in the CA calling for the change of the national motto from "For God and My Country" to "For God and My Stomach..." meaning people should believe in God but at the same time work hard for their lives.
He hadn't been part of the Moshi arrangementthat prepared to rule Uganda after the fall of Idi Amin. So,he wasn't offered any position in the new UNLF government that ruled Uganda after Amin, as was the case with many of his friends.
When Yoweri Museveni would later on begin his own party in 1980, Macho joined and preached the UPM gospel in Eastern Uganda, particularly in old Bukedi and Elgon regions. He did his political work on foot. However, the UPM didn't have much support in those areas.
In the 1980 elections, he was barred from contesting as a parliamentarycandidate for Tororo South on account of procedure. He was supposed to produce documentary evidenceof his proficiency in English. For him, he thought the work he had done as a lecturer at Makerere and his resounding record as alumni of London College of Economics was testimony enough of his proficiency in English.
From 1980-86, Chango Macho kepta low profile in Mbaleon dwindling resources. Arguably this was his hardest time.
When President Yoweri Museveni had taken over power in 1986, he paid a visit to Mbale, and somehow the plight of Chango Macho came up. The President remembered the man who had preached the gospel of UPM in Bukedi and Bugisu regions; now that man was in dire straits. It was upon this background that Museveni appointed Chango to the post of minister.He later served as a political Commissar at the NRM Secretariat. True to his character, Macho continued to freely criticise government on bad policies and corruption.
The Samia people lay their beloved elder in his final resting place at Hasyule last Sunday. The burial was complete with a three-gun salute: one for Africa; his country Uganda; and his people of Samia. But his legacy of integrity, open-mindedness, frugality, frank political discussion, consistent Marxist-socialist beliefs will live long after him.
Fare thee well, the lion of Samia!!
