A tribute to ITM alumnus Professor Doctor Eric Mukomena Sompwe
'A tribute to Professor Doctor Eric Mukomena Sompwe'
by fellow former student and colleague Maxwell V Madzikanga
"In the quiet hush of Lubumbashi’s red earth, where the baobab stands sentinel over the Congo’s restless heart, we bid farewell to a son who became a giant. Professor Doctor Eric Mukomena Sompwe slipped into eternity on the night between the third and the fourth of April in the year two thousand twenty-six. A severe headache struck him while he sat in vigil beside the family of a colleague’s friend who had just passed. Even in his final hours, the profession he served so faithfully could not save him. He gave until the very end, selfless and unyielding. His last breath was offered in the same spirit of sacrifice that defined his life.
I first met Eric in the grey chill of Belgium. Two young African hearts beat far from home. From the very first day, he became more than a classmate. He became my buddy, my brother, my friend. We both carried the same fire, a fierce and unquenchable love for Africa. That passion bound us like the mighty Congo River binds its banks. Together we crossed oceans in search of knowledge and skills. The young boy from the Democratic Republic of the Congo answered a sacred call to medicine and human flourishing. At the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, during that gruelling Disease Control degree course, we shared the same desk. Day after day, Eric, mature beyond his years, respectful, full of Congolese laughter and dance, mentored me through the labyrinth of complex epidemiological methods. He did not simply teach. He lifted. He genuinely wanted every one of us in our cohort to rise above the bar, to become instruments of healing for a continent crying out for hope.
After completing his Master’s Degree, Eric returned immediately to Lubumbashi to serve his people in the Congo. He could have stayed in Belgium to work in one of the hospitals. Yet his thirst for knowledge led him to acquire a Doctoral Degree in Tropical Medicine. At the time of his death, Eric was a full Professor of Tropical Medicine. He was an avid writer and contributor to many world-renowned medical and public health journals. Eric loved his country with the devotion of a true son. He loved his province of Lubumbashi with the tenderness one reserves for a first love. His dream was simple yet monumental, an Africa free of malaria, an Africa where children laugh under mosquito nets and grandmothers live to see their grandchildren grow strong. He was committed body and soul to a disease-free world and a continent brimming with promise.
I remember our graduation day as if the sun still shines on it. After months of intense study and sleepless nights, Eric rose and danced. Oh, how he danced. To the amazement of every delegate, his feet stamped the rhythms of the Congo. His laughter rose like ancestral drums. It was no mere celebration. It was a victory chant. It was a poetic culmination of sacrifice and vision. The young African scholar declared to the world that knowledge gained across oceans would now be poured back into the soil of home.
As the African proverb teaches us, “When an elder dies, a library burns to the ground.” Yet Eric’s library still stands alive in the students he mentored, the policies he shaped as Director and later Honorary Director of the Programme National de Lutte contre le Paludisme, and the research that bridged academia and the suffering villages of Haut Katanga. He was our grand baobab, roots deep in Congolese soil, branches sheltering generations. Another proverb whispers truth today. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Eric chose the longer road, walking beside us all.
He was selfless, humble, and radiant with humour, the kind that could turn the heaviest burden into shared laughter and dance. He embodied the spirit of true African brotherhood, mature, respectful, and forever pointing us toward excellence. Even in death, he reminds us that the greatest lives are those poured out for others.
To his family, those who gave him birth and those he claimed through friendship, to his colleagues at the University of Lubumbashi, to the young warriors of the Corps des Jeunes contre le Paludisme, and to every heart that feels this wound, hold fast. The river may bend, but it never forgets its source. Eric’s light still guides us.
Rest in perfect peace, dear brother, dear Professor. Your laughter echoes in the wind over Lubumbashi. Your dance lives on in every step we take toward a healthier, freer Africa. You crossed oceans for us. Now the ancestors welcome you home with open arms and heavenly drums."
Maxwell V Madzikanga.
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'Tribute to Eric Mukomena Sompwe'
by Marjan Pirard, Former MDC/MPH course coordinator and educational coordinator of the PH department
"Last week, about 18 months after my retirement as educational coordinator, I finally have the courage to open the cardboard boxes labeled ‘ITM students’. While putting order in the piles of paper my eyes fall on the picture list of the Master in Disease Control (MDC) students of 2004/05. I scan their names: Nine, Yibeltal, Andrea, Lydia, Fabien, Tine, Tanilú, Somony, Soy Ty, Maxwell, Nguyen, Nilza, Patrick, Elise, Aminur, Eric, Ngak, Jonathan, Winnie. A few minutes later I receive a notification from the alumni platform. I open Maxwell’s message: it reads like a poem but it contains very sad news. Eric Mukomena Sompwe passed away. We lost a precious member of the ITM family, MDC 0405 alumni lost a dear friend, I lost one of my MDC children.
After the first shock I enter memory lane. I recall Eric as a student who did not hide his ambitions, both academic and political. But his main goal was a healthier life for the people of his beloved country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. He kept his promises. Eric used his MDC acquired competencies to lead the malaria control programme. He believed he could best contribute to public health at the newly created provincial level and he became the provincial health inspector of Haut Katanga. To enhance the evidence base of his work, he obtained a PhD in Tropical Medicine. He shared his insights with numerous students at the University of Lubumbashi and with the international research community.
Dear Eric, you made me proud. You were an exemplary ambassador of the MDC and the ITM community. But in the first place you were a major cornerstone in the advancement of disease control and health care in your country.
Your bright star in the sky will always guide us.
Our thoughts are with your family and friends."
Marjan Pirard
Former MDC/MPH course coordinator and educational coordinator of the PH department
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'Words of condolences'
by Bart Criel, Former MPH co-director and Professor emeritus, Department of Public Health, ITM
Legend: BBQ near de Schedle with the MDC group 2005-2006. Dr Eric Mukomena Sompwe is the man in blue on the left. Next to him, in blue, is Maxwell Madzikanga.