The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
By Agnes E. Nantaba
Dr. Sam Lyomoki is a medical doctor turned trade unionist of over 20 years. The 49-year old spoke to Agnes E Nantaba about recently discovering his life’s purpose as a vessel in the service of workers, mothers and children.
Any three things we don’t know about you?
My childhood dream to study medicine dates back to the 1970s. My mother, a midwife lost a patient because there was no doctor. I graduated in the 1990s but refused to flee the country for greener pastures like others did. I joined a team that founded the Uganda Medical Workers’ Union. I am therefore a medical doctor turned trade unionist. I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior at a young age in 1976 and since then I have not looked back. I am married to Margaret Lyomoki with whom we have three children.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
It is when someone achieves his or her calling in life. It’s not about material things.
What is your greatest fear?
The failure to fulfill my purpose in life.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Sometimes I become so aggressive in some matters which might not be fruitful yet we are meant to be people of humility.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Strife and pulling others down through blackmail or any other forms.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Tithe is something I’m obliged to give.
What is your current state of mind?
Relaxed except that I am just rebuilding my life coming from a tensed up season of campaigns.
On what occasion do you lie?
Only to escape from death but not anything meant to deny God.
Which living person do you most admire?
Bishop Joshua Lwere is one of my mentors; he has understood God and how to serve Him even in a market place.
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Knowing God and living a meaningful life of no waste.
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Knowing God and being a person of integrity.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
It used to be long hair but I have learnt to maintain it trimmed.
Which living person do you most despise?
I don’t have the power to despise any of God’s creations.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
I haven’t been so observant on my words; it is something to think about.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
It is God who has seen me through life. However, I also love my wife and children.
When and where were you happiest?
It still happens; when I receive the Holy Spirit with God directing my paths.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
If I could understand God more and give in more of my time to meaningful deliberations.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Discovering my mission and purpose in life four years ago.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
The same Dr. Lyomoki but start life at 45 years when I discovered God’s purpose in me; others have been wasted years.
Where would you most like to live?
God created me for Uganda.
What is your most treasured possession?
My knowledge and relationship with God cannot be substituted for anything.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Terminal illness without anyone to take care of you.
What is your favorite occupation?
Working as a vessel for workers and to reduce maternal and infant mortality.
What is your most marked characteristic?
I am a servant leader.
What do you most value in your friends?
Honesty, integrity, and spiritual connection.
Who are your favorite writers?
Myles Monroe and Sunday Adelaja; they manage to link the concepts in the bible to the real life that we are experiencing.
Who is your hero of fiction?
I am only for the real world.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Paul and David in the bible; they understood their calling and fulfilled it.
What is your greatest regret?
There are sometimes in parliamentary sessions where we have taken wrong decisions some of which I became unnecessarily overzealous about.
How would you like to die?
Not a painful death
What is your motto?
The grace of God is sufficient.
After I was pierced with an object that contained poison by the Kenya security agents, I suffered paralysis on one side of my body and I started to lose eyesight. When Dr. Sam Lyomoki learnt about my predicament while attending a Trade Union meeting in Nairobi Kenya, he asked me to travel to Uganda for treatment since I could not seek treatment in Kenya because of the fear that I could be followed in a hospital and dosed with more poison as had happened to many others. Dr. Sam Lyomoki paid for my treatment in Uganda. Not only that, after I escaped Kenya eventually with my family to Uganda, he helped me a lot. It is hard to forget Dr. Lyomoki in my life. He is a true man of God. He is a kind, a merciful and a man of high integrity. I was not a Ugandan but a Kenyan, but he treated me more as a blood brother. This is a great man. This is a great Ugandan. This is a man of God. I honor and respect him. I developed a lot if admiration if the Ugandan people because of him. May our Lord God Jehovah continue to bless him and his family.
After I was pierced with an object that contained poison, by the Kenya Security Agents, I suffered paralysis on one side of my body and I started to lose eyesight. When Dr. Sam Lyomoki learnt about my predicament while attending a Trade Union meeting in Nairobi Kenya, he asked me to travel to Uganda for treatment since I could not seek treatment in Kenya because of the fear that I could be followed in a hospital and dosed with more poison as had happened to many others. Dr. Sam Ltomoki paid for my treatment in Uganda. Not only that, after I escaped Kenya eventually with my family to Uganda, he helped me a lot. It is hard to forget Dr. Lyomoki in my life. He is a true man of God. He is a kind, a merciful and a man of high integrity. I was not a Ugandan but a Kenyan, but he treated me more as a blood brother. This is a great man. This is a great Ugandan. This is a man of God. I honor and respect him. I developed a lot of admiration of the Ugandan people because of him. May our Lord God Jehovah continue to bless him and his family.