Engineer George William Obityo Owaraga, Civil Engineer (C.ENG), Member of Institution of Civil Engineers (MICE), Member of Institution of Municipal Engineers (MIME), Member of Institution of American Institute of Civil Engineers (AMICE), and Fellow of Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers (FUIPE).
Papa, Eng. George William Obityo Owaraga, is a recipient of the National Heroes award; but he never ever graced the ceremony. He made loads of jokes about it; but which, in honor of his legacy, I will not repeat here.
From 1968 to 1973, first as the Project Engineer and later as the Chief Airports Engineer, he was the Ugandan engineer in charge of overseeing the design and the construction of Entebbe International Airport.
Thereafter, from 1973 to 1987, he served, scandal free, as the Permanent Secretary and Engineer-in-Chief of the Ministry of Works.
He was so good that after his retirement he was frequently consulted and also requested to serve on boards, for example, the Uganda Civil Aviation Board.
Papa, was indeed a proper civil servant.
His illustrious career, as an engineer who was proud of his craft and working in the civil service, spanned 30 years from 1957 to 1987, when he retired.
At the time papa retired from the civil service, he was serving in the highest position in the civil service – a Permanent Secretary.
He started his career as an Engineering Assistant seconded to the Road and Highway Authority (1957-58).
Still as an Engineering Assistant, but deployed with Ministry of Works, he was in charge of road maintenance and water supply schemes (1958-63).
Papa’s excellent work as an Engineering Assistant got him noticed, and he was selected to go abroad for further studies.
Plymouth Polytechnic United Kingdom
And so, from 1963 to 1966, he was a student at Plymouth Polytechnic (now university) in the United Kingdom, where he obtained a Diploma in Civil Engineering.
Legend has it that when he was given the scholarship, he insisted on taking along his wife, my mum, Mrs. Betty Anne Apio Owaraga.
Mrs. Betty Anne Apio Owaraga, wife of Eng. George William Obityo Owaraga
He gave an ultimatum that it was either or. Because he was that good, he ultimatum was honored and he was allowed to bring his wife along. My mum traveled along with her husband.
While in Plymouth, they had their first child as a couple, my sister, Pamela Asire Isukali, hence Pamela’s British citizenship.
On his return in 1996 and until 1968, papa was Project Engineer.
Other Notable Projects
Some of the notable projects that he was in charge of include the:
- Ntungamo-Kabale Road
- Ruizi River Bridge
- Kakitumba-Ishasha Road
- Mbale-Tirinyi Road
- And others.
The Engineer at work, dressed in his signature suspenders …
Logical Thinker
The month of June for Uganda is one that is packed with activity that celebrates heroes. The controversial:
- Uganda Martyrs’ Day on 3rd June.
- National Heroes’ Day on 9th June.
- Fathers’ Day on 22nd June.
Can papa, be defined as heroic in his religious faith?
Perhaps, if one goes by how he contributed to the Church financially and materially.
But, then again, papa gave land to the Kiwafu Mosque, as well, case in point.
To the extent that he would have defied the Kabaka on grounds of his faith, maybe not.
I think that papa was a much more logical thinker to have blindly done so.
As a father
Was papa a good father?
To me he was.
At my college dorm at Queen Margaret College (now university) in Edinburg Scotland, where I did my first degree. Papa regularly came to visit and check his daughter. He sponsored all costs for my first degree in Scotland.
Let’s Chat…