Achilla Orru: Heart Disease

Godfrey Sekijoba Dept: Just as he had a way of playing that made people forget the Ugandan thumb piano was considered lowly and simple, he had a way of living that made people forget he could not see. Blind since a boyhood bout with measles, he recognized people by the timbre of their voices, and the way they gripped his hands in greeting, according to The Star. The celebrated musician was found dead in his apartment near Dawes Rd. on Feb. 4. Friends say the cause of death was heart disease, complicated by diabetes and high blood pressure. He was 53 and for years, Achilla Orru stood inside the yellow dots on the weathered TTC floor and played the lokembe the way a teenager texts, his thumbs swiftly plucking the metal spokes, the gentle, warm sounds drifting across the subway platform into the ears of commuters. Say we re sharing a meal, I m bringing a plate to him, he would just reach out, like a sighted person, hands at the right place, and I d think to myself, Is this guy really blind? said Godfrey Sekijoba, who played bass guitar in Baana Afrique, Orru s band. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.