Bashir Semakula is the first Ugandan to summit Mt Everest Base Camp. Together with a group of 15 other mountain climbers, they were able to scale 8,848 metres in a period of five days.
Bashir is a cybersecurity professional based in Brisbane, Australia. He is the co-founder and security advisor at Cyberlastic, a company that offers cyber advisory to businesses and governments in Australia and across the world.
He is the firstborn of 16 siblings born to two retired secondary school teachers from Butambala, Uganda.
Before relocating to Australia, Bashir lived in Uganda with his parents. He attended Kibuli Secondary School where his father was a teacher before joining Kyambogo University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in International Technology.
He later moved to Kingston University in the UK where he obtained a Master’s Degree in Network and Information Security System. Upon his return to Uganda, he briefly worked as a consultant on cyber security for private companies in Uganda and Rwanda.
He later joined Kampala International University, Arusha as a lecturer. While in Arusha, he joined an expatriate group that introduced him to adventure. It was there that he fell in love with running and mountain climbing.
In 2016, a window then opened up for the soft-spoken IT guru leading him to Brisbane. Together with his adventure group, they signed up to summit Mount Everest in March 2017, a challenge that required two years of preparation.
Airtel Africa and SpaceX Announce Strategic Partnership to Launch Starlink Direct to Cell Connectivity Across AfricaOf the 16 people that set out for this adventure, only two were unable to make it. The rest- including senior citizens in their 60s did.
Bashir talks about his experiences “as nothing but a lifetime challenge”.
He believes; “through prayer and surrounding yourself with the right-minded people, anything can be achieved.”
He looks forward to doing the Boston Marathon, climbing the Rwenzori and Kilimanjaro in the near future. Later in life, he plans to go back and scale Everest with his daughter.
Away from his adventure life, Semakula runs a cyber security mentorship program, especially for those interested in working overseas. His advice to young people who seek to get professional work abroad is “to understand the market they are going in and also to know their stuff. In addition, understanding the culture of the people they are going to will help a lot.”
Story adapted from Bashir’s Conversation with Robert Kabushenga while on 360 Mentor
