MARGRET BABA DIRI EULOGIZED FOR BEING AT THE HEART OF DEVELOPMENT OF WEST NILE

Hon. Feta Geoffrey (Second left) and former MPs Hon. Ayaka Rose Atima and Hon. Moses Angundru. All photos by Godwin Abedican.
 
By Godwin Abedican
 
Arua
 
Late Hon. Margret Baba Diri, the Former Member of Parliament for Koboko district has been praised for having been central in the advocating for major developments in West Nile.
  
The late breathed her last on Thursday January 9, 2025 while being rushed to the hospital.
 
According a medical report presented by Richard Sanya to the mourners during a requiem mass that took place at Ediofe cathedral in Arua, the late has had High Blood Pressure and Diabetes for over 20 years and has been on medication all this time.
 
Around November 2024, she noticed that she was getting tired easily and developing difficulty in breathing. Subsequently, she was taken to International Hospital Kampala, and tests indicated that her heart was failing because it was beating much slower than the normal heart beats.
 
As a result, a temporary pace maker was inserted which did not work and later a permanent heart pacemaker was inserted from Case Hospital.
 
Later on, blood clot tests were done which all indicated negative and she was discharged and lived normally until New Year’s eve when she developed cough and chest pain which she was treated for and got discharged from the hospital on January 4, 2025.
Until January 9, 2025 when she suddenly developed a complication in breathing and when she was rushed to Ruth hospital Kawempe which was the nearest hospital, she was pronounced dead on arrival.
 
The pathology report from Mulago hospital on the Postmortem indicates that she succumbed to a massive heart attack. 
  
Aluluke Julie, the Acting Town Clerk, Oraba Town Council said in Hon. Baba Diri, the women have lost such a huge inspiration.
 
“She was a lover of education, always looked at it that literacy levels are improved. She had a lot of passion for issues to do with women, always wanting women to grow from where they are especially in relation to improving their livelihoods.  Her death is going to live us with a very big gap,” she said.
 
Anguyo Jimmy, Police Regional Gender Officer for West Nile could not hold his tears while speaking about the late whom he termed as a turning point in his life.
 
“I am what I am because of the late. I went to the university, my siters went to the university all because she stood for us. It’s very hard for a police man to speak crying but you will know where I feel this. It is because she touched my soul, she touched my family and she touched me,” Anguyo said in tears.

Mourners paying their last respect to the late during the requiem mass.

Wadri Kasiano Ezati the chief mourner at the requiem mass notes that the contributions of the late to the region of West Nile will never be forgotten.
 
“When I went to the parliament in 2001, I found the late Hon. Baba Diri together with her other colleagues had already laid the foundations for mega projects in the region like the Arua- Pakwach-Karuma road. Even today as we are talking about the region being connected to the national grid, they were the people who stood firm to initiate this. During debates in the parliament, much as she was in the Movement party, she would never take party lines but presented herself as a leader from West Nile,” Hon. Wadri narrated.
 
In his concluding remarks while presiding over the requiem mass Rev. Fr. Bazil Dravu Aliga said, people need to understand everyone has a role to play for the children of God.
 
“It is difficult to talk about our lives especially after death.     But when you hear people talk about a person’s life lived well, that means we all have to do our part. What do you want people to talk about you when you die? At such moments even if a person didn’t live a worthy life, people will look for something positive to but later on they will say the truth. This in therefore an invitation for each and every one of us to learnt to do our parts properly. Whatever roles we have in the society, do your part properly, he called.
 
Rev. Fr. Bazil Dravu Aliga blesses the casket containing the body of the late during the requiem mass.
 
By 1 pm the body left Ediofe cathedral for Koboko where she will be laid to rest in Wednesday January 15, 2025 at the catholic cemetery.
 
May Her Soul Rest In Peace
 
 

Written by admin