A senior official in President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni has proposed that fallen former security minister Gen Elly Tumwine be laid to rest in Kololo, Kampala.
Gen Tumwine, the soldier famous for firing the first shot that launched Museveni’s National Resistance Army (NRA) bush war in 1981, passed on in a Nairobi Hospital on Thursday after weeks of hospitalization.
By the time we filed this report, government was yet to release the official burial program. But preparations for the funeral at the general’s home in Kazo District are underway.
The body of Gen Tumwine arrived at the Entebbe International Airport on Friday, August 26, and was driven to Bombo Military Barracks where it spent the night. It is expected to spend Saturday night at the home of the fallen general in Kampala where a vigil will be held.
Even when the official burial program has not been released, government spokesperson Zephaniah Ofwono Opondo has proposed that Gen Tumwine should be buried at Kololo.
Ofwono Opondo, who is also the Executive Director of the Uganda Media Centre, says Tumwine was a hero who deserves to be laid to rest at the Kololo Cemetery.
“My thought. Our National Hero Gen Elly Tumwine deserves burial at the Kololo Cemetery,” proposed Opondo.
Some of the prominent people buried at the Kololo Heroes Cemetery include Ignatius Kangave Musaazi, the man who founded Uganda’s first political party, the Uganda National Congress (UNC) on Sunday March 02, 1952; and Yusuf Kironde Lule, the man who served as the fourth president of Uganda between April 13, 1979 and June 20, 1979.
It remains to be seen if government and Gen Tumwine’s family will buy Ofwono Opondo’s proposal to bury the general at Kololo.
Meanwhile, a senior minister has blasted some ‘heartless’ Ugandans celebrating Gen Elly Tumwine’s death, reminding them that death is an equalizer. (Read Story Here).
MUST READ: See Gen Elly Tumwine’s Final Public Message and Warning to Museveni HERE.
MORE STORIES ON GEN ELLY TUMWINE DEATH BELOW:
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Winnie Byanyima: Gen Elly Tumwine Apologized to Me
Gen Elly Tumwine Danced With Death All the Time — Says NRA Bush War General
WHY DO MUSEVENI GENERALS END UP LIKE THIS? Bobi Wine’s Reaction to News of Gen Elly Tumwine’s Death