Isabirye

Like father, like son, Jinja’s Isabirye to receive a medal in Oct.

(Last Updated On: 14 August 2022)

Jinja’s Isabirye is to receive a medal in October, TND News has learned.


By Nelly Otto

Jinja, August 6, 2022: You could have heard or used the idiom, ‘Like Father, Like the Son’ but have never bothered to find the exact origin, meaning and context in which it sprouted.

Two anonymous Latin sayings, ‘Qualis pater, talis filius’ (as the father, so the son) and ‘patris est filius’ (he is his father’s son) have for centuries been cited as the source for the English proverb.

This popular idiom simply means children often look and act similar to their parents. Some have gone as far as saying children are the true reflection (mirrors) of their parents.

The idiom is believed to have existed in its current form since at least 1616 when it appeared in a book called Bibliotheca Scholastica instractissima, (a treasury of ancient adage) which included proverbs collected by an Englishman named Thomas Draxe.

The idiom also existed in other cultures and languages before English.

A similar version exists in nearly all tribes where fathers are quick to take credit for a child’s positive attributes but the child with bad characteristics is always donated as belonging to the mother.

Even the Bible has a parallel female version of this expression, like mother like daughter as recorded in the Book of Ezekiel 16:44. So this expression is sometimes changed to be like mother, like a daughter to refer to women.

Well, this article is not necessarily about the idiom or expression but at times certain things act as windows to transport certain key basics to the faculties of the mind.

We are talking about John Richard Isabirye, who served for 30 years at Kiira College Butiiki (Ka CB) as a teacher, deputy head teacher and retired as head in 2001.

Isabirye, now 76 years of age is due to be awarded a medal most likely on 9 October 2022 when Uganda celebrates 60 years of independence for his distinguished services as an educationist in Busoga.

This is something the First Deputy Prime Minister/Minister for East African Affairs Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga promised to make sure it happens very soon.

Isabirye, upon retirement, settled to manage his Nakanyonyi Girls School founded in February 1998 as an O and A level secondary school that admits children from all parts of the country.

Asked about the imminent accolade, the soft-spoken Isabirye says he is extremely happy to follow the footsteps of his father Akisoferi Kafuko (RIP) who received the Nalubale Medal on 26 January 2014 in Mayuge during celebrations to mark NRM Liberation Day.

The late Kafuko was critically ill and so Isabirye received the medal on his behalf eventually the father passed away in June of 2014 at the age of 95. This is where the theme of the article, Like Father, Like Son was derived.

Akisoferi Kafuko served as sub-county (gombolola) chief for many years and later became the LC3 (RC) chairperson for Busedde Sub County for many years.

“…I am anxious to receive this medal just like my father also got his before going to join his ancestors, it’s a great legacy for us as a fa mily…” Isabirye told this reporter in an exclusive interview.

Isabirye who is the second born out of 10 children says they are now 8 still alive adding their mother Yunike (Eunice) died at the age of 94 years in 2018.

He hails from the Baise Makiga clan (buffalo) whose members are scattered in many parts of Busoga, but concentrated in Iganga district.

Among the students who passed through his hands include Brig Ivan Koreta (UPDF), Maurice Mugisha (UBCTV), John Nakabango a retired educationist and proprietor of Joy Dominion SS along the Jinja-Iganga Highway, Justice Geoffrey Kirabwire and a host of professionals in law, medicine, engineering among others who are now serving in both public and private positions.

His message is summed up as Love Your Job because teaching is a noble profession, a vocation from God and the only source of blessings, adding that a teacher can never be stranded in any part of the country where his former students are.

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