Mapesa rose from warder to executive director of UWA. File photo
Family, friends and colleagues will today pay their last respects to Moses Wafula Mapesa, the former executive director of Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) who on Monday, succumbed to leukemia at a clinic in Busia District.
Mapesa, 50, who was described as a “loving man” by his spouse Nafuna Mapeesa not long ago sought Shs299 million from well-wishers to undergo a bone marrow transplant surgery in India.
That operation did not take place by the time of the veteran conservationist’s death on Monday morning although well-wishers had collected the money for the said cause, according to Mr Joshua Muhangi, the UWA public relations officer.
“We set up a task force to fundraise for our former ED [executive director] and we collected Shs50m and another Shs70m from conservationists,” Mr Joshua Muhangi, the UWA public relations officer, said yesterday by telephone.
His death comes just two weeks after he came back from theUnited States where he made tests ahead of his planned transplant.
Dr Henry Ddungu, a consultant in haematology and oncology at the Uganda Cancer Institute, who was attending to Mapeesa at the time he sought financial assistance, explained Mapesa’s condition as Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a disorder that affects the bone marrow.
“MDS is usually a disease of those aged above 60 years. It is not an easy condition to detect because it doesn’t have symptoms and diagnosis usually takes place when the patient goes for a different medical problem,” Dr Ddungu explained then.
Mr John Makombo, director conservation UWA, who worked with the deceased for a long time ,described Mapesa as “incorruptible leader who did not love money” but fought to preserve the boundaries of parks and animals.
“He never loved a fancy life even when he rose through the ranks to become the executive director… He initiated a fixed account that enabled us build permanent offices…,” Mr Makombo, said yesterday, adding, “He treated his colleagues as a father and never entertained bureaucracy. He also never entertained lies about others.”
Another conservationist, Ms Lilly Ajarova, the executive director of Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust, (CWSCT) said Mapesa was a brilliant man who was passionate about conserving nature and his death, is a big loss to sector.
Mr Sam Mwandha, a family friend of the deceased, said Mapesa will be buried at Buwembe in Busia District after a requiem service at St. John’s Church Busia.
Mapesa rose from a warder to executive director and he is credited for seeking a partnership between UWA and security forces to guard against poaching at a time when many parks acted as hiding places for rebels.
While working as the UWA executive director in 2010, Mapesa’s five-year tenure was cut short by one year when then Trade minister Kahinda Otafiire ordered for his sacking and appointed a new board to run the activities of UWA.
This was after a long standing dispute between the two to the extent that Maj. Gen. Otafiire accused him of treason.
In fact, at one of the press briefings, Gen Otafiire said of the late: “I heard that there was rebel activity in one of the parks, but Mr Mapesa did not tell me, neither did he inform the Permanent Secretary who is a civilian, but when he was confronted by security organs, he admitted. So he committed mis-treason of treason.”
Mapesa, after being sacked, petitioned the High Court challenging the decision which Justice Yorokamu Bamwine in judgment agreed that Mapesa was unfairly sacked.
The late Mapesa went to St. Peters College in Tororo District from 1979 to 1985 for his O-Level and A-Level. He later attained a degree in Forestry in 1988 from Makerere University before enrolling for Masters in Environment and Natural Resources management in 1991.
He leaves behind six children.
ptajuba@ug.nationmedia.com
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