Tikhala Chibwana

Sincere condolences to a gentleman, leader, brother and a metnor par excellence all rolled into one. Very sad indeed on this sad loss!

A great leader and manager. We worked closely and you guided the path of our work. The greatest thing about your leadership is that you listened before you spoke. You incorporated my opinion in all decisions. I will miss our trips together. They will never be such a compatible team again but with you gone, I am using the lessons I learnt from you to take the Programme forward. Rest In Peace Dr T

I first met Dr. Tikhala Chibwana in May 2017 at a roundtable in Nairobi discussing gender policies in the work place. My first impression was of a father, he reminded me so much of mine. Coincidentally about one and a half years later I joined the WIN programme where we met again and he was simply Dr. T. My memory of him is of a gentleman and a professional coach dedicated to seeing women in media ascend to the highest level of leadership and management. I still keep and treasure a pen he gifted me during our last national gathering in July 2019 in Nairobi. Heartfelt condolences to his loved ones. Rest with the angels Dr. T.

Dr. T was a good listener. For the time I have been a part of the WIN family, I have never met a man so alert to the little details of life. He enjoyed life and this radiated to those around him. His was not just about gender equality but a good life for the women in the newsroom. He believed in me and his magic pen changed my career as a journalist. I have grown and continue to grow from the time I joined WIN because you spoke life into me to not give up on my dreams. For the time we chatted, it felt like a father talking to a daughter. He makes you feel like life has more to offer than what we zero on. His empathy enabled him to lead like a man who understood what women go through in their private life and how it affect their work. Thank you for believing in me and making me the mentor that I am today. Your memory will forever live in us through doing that which you taught us to pass on to others. That voice of reason will ring in my voice for now but with time, your shared humanity will be replicated for others to celebrate your life on earth. It was a blessing knowing you, Dr. T. Rest In Peace.

Dr. Tikhala Chibwana, you will be dearly missed. I had brief encounters with Dr. Tikhala during the recently concluded WIN sessions and he welcomed me with such warmth seeing as he and I were the only men in a sea of women. His humility, compassion, resourcefulness, calm and care for us all was evident for me to see. I was just getting to know him and then his life is taken away. God bless you Dr. T and may your legacy live on.

The family of Dr. Tikhala, The WIN family, the media fraternity, and the congregation that joins together today to celebrate Dr. Tikhala’s life. As Women in the News in Uganda, we mourn with Dr. T’s family, the Media fraternity in Africa, and the people whom Dr. T touched. In a special way, I thank his family for allowing him to share his life with us. Dr. T had a larger family than you can ever imagine, and a heart of gold. And I know as soon as the Lord called you back to Himself, celebrations began in heaven because even the angels could not resist the sweet personality you were. I thank God for the life He gave you of which you shared with us all. Personally when I first received an email from you congratulating me for have been selected to be the WIN- Uganda mentor, I addressed you as a Doctor and sometimes as SIR. However; the two titles ceased to be in my vocabulary when I met you in Naivasha, Nairobi during the Women in the Media Boot camp. From our interaction, as you took me through what was expected of me as a mentor, my inner being told me that I was giving you wrong tittles and my psychology said, “he is not a doctor and not a sir to you Hope but “a Paapa and a REAL FATHER”. From then on, I called you Paapa because that’s what exactly you were to me and I believe to other WINNers. Paapa you came into my life at a critical time when I was considering leaving the News Room due to multiple challenges in the sector, but your words of wisdom and encouragement helped me to refocus my mind on the media that you wholeheartedly believed in. Your patience, tolerance, calmness, sense of humor, and the largest listening ears I have ever had, made me stay in the professional. Paapa I want to tell you that even if I am to leave the News Room in the future, and God gives me the grace, I am 100 percent sure that I would remember the counsel you gave me, before making a personal decision to quite the media. 2nd Timothy 4: 7: says “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and kept the faith”. You indeed fought a perfect fight for women in the media and the media at large, you kept your faith in us that you have mentored, counselled, trained and nurtured, you kept the fire burning within us even when things did not make sense to some of us anymore. And you have finished your race gracefully. To us whom you have touched and nurtured will continue this race to the heights you dreamed about. I and the Win programme across Africa will forever miss you. Sleep Well Paapa.

Dr Tikhala will always be remembered by all of us as the extraordinary man he was. His kindness, his wisdom and his calm manners will always be a path to follow. I'm terribly sad and want to send my deepest condolences to his family and close friends. The spirit of Tikhala will rest with us, I have no doubt. Thank you Dr. T for showing us how to live!

Dr T. This happened so suddenly. I was just getting to know you and share in your wisdom. Thank you for speaking for, and with women in the media. Go well. Your wisdom and guidance lives on.