Parents of boy killed in gate tragedy speak out
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Parents of boy killed in gate tragedy speak out

Just like his parents, Sami-Kamal Mujuzi Bashir was looking forward to his first academic report on April 28. He was, however, fatally wounded on April 25 when a sliding gate at his home in Nakuule Zone in Nansana Municipality fell on him.
Sami was just three years and four months old. His birth on December 18, 2019, was an emergency C-section at Mengo Hospital. Aisha-Ahmed Nalule, the communications lead of diaspora affairs in the Office of the President, had long-braced herself for a C-section after she was told a natural childbirth was off the table.
The over activity of Ms Nalule’s thyroid gland resulted in a rapid heartbeat and an increased rate of metabolism that put her life and that of the unborn baby at risk during a vaginal delivery.

 

Upon birth, Mr Basir Mujuzi Sebuuma, a businessman, named the bundle of joy Sami-Kamal. The Islamic names translate to ‘transcendent’ and ‘perfection’, respectively.
His grieving parents say unlike most babies who mutter their first words anywhere between 12 and 18 months, Sami achieved the milestone at seven months. His first teeth popped out at three months. Aged two, he was able to say his name, his parents’, his clan and totem.
Sami always knew when his mother was not in a good place. After initially being unsettled by the arrival of his brother (Arshad-Isran), 16 months after his birth, Sami quickly took on the role of a big brother.

Anyone who knew Sami appreciated his early understanding of Allah. He would effortlessly recite at least four chapters from the Quran off head.
Mr Monday Silas, a close neighbour of the deceased’s family, says Sami always greeted everyone with the famous “As-salamu alaykum” (peace be upon you) greeting in Arabic.
Although Sami attended a Christian school, Ms Lillian Mulindwa Bulega—his headteacher—says he was well conversant that Friday was his prayer day.
“Being in baby class, I did not expect Sami to know days of the week but there was this time he asked me why I do not pray on such a day. He had realised it was a Friday,” she recalls.
Always up by 5:30am, Ms Nalule says the first thing her son used to do was pray. It would also be the last thing he would do before going to bed.
In January, Sami’s parents decided to enrol their first child at Sammaline Day Care and Infant School, Nansana.
Ms Halima Namyalo, a teacher at the school, remembers Sami “cried a lot when they dropped him off.”

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She adds: “I had to drag him from the gate to class. He would later cope up and in the subsequent days, they only dropped him at the school gate and he would take himself to class.”
At school, he loved to study. Although he was friendly to everyone, he was very selective with his close friends.
“His selectiveness towards close friends and other school staff was served in equal measure,” Ms Mulindwa Bulega, the headteacher, notes.
Ms Namyalo says Sami never picked fights not least because “he understood the power of the word ‘sorry’.”
It didn’t take long for Sami to prove himself as a fast learner. Ms Namyalo tells this publication that the report he never took home captured glowing results.

Last moments 
On the fateful day, Sami was in a jovial mood with his father. Mr Mujuzi had just returned home from a work trip. At around 10:30am, Mr Mujuzi decided to drive away for some errands, leaving Sami and his brother playing in the compound.
One of their maids, who had opened the gate, was closing it when Sami moved to peep at his dad as he drove off. The gate dropped, hitting Sami. Mr Mujuzi, who had pulled over the car to converse with a neighbour, was informed about the tragic incident minutes later.
Leaving the car where it was, he returned home and found his son with blood profusely pouring out of his nose and mouth. Sami was taken to a nearby medical facility on a boda boda. Mr Mujuzi was advised to transfer his stricken son to Mulago Hospital. He offered to drive the medical facility’s ambulance himself. Sami was, however, pronounced dead on arrival in Mulago. Ms Nalule told this publication that the hospital’s casualty ward leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Sami had previously battled a fever that deterred him from writing his final exam. He later did it on April 24. His teachers had no idea that they were seeing him alive for the last time. The little boy who beat birth difficulties and childhood diseases would die at the hand of a sliding gate a day later.
“Deep inside me, I am strengthened. I know Sami’s soul is alive and with God,” Ms Nalule said, adding: “We only stored his body in the ground. He will intercede for us in Heaven.”
Sami was buried at 5pm on Tuesday at Nkoowe Muslim Cemetery off Hoima Road. He is survived by his parents, brother Arshad-Isran Mujuzi and other relatives.

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