Former Security Minister, Gen Elly Tumwine who died on Thursday will be buried on Tuesday in Kazo, Western Uganda.
The funeral programme released by Defence Spokesperson, Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye, indicates that an official vigil for the deceased will be held tomorrow Sunday 4pm at his home in Nakasero, Kampala.
On Monday August 29, a requiem service will be held at Kololo Independence grounds starting 10am before moving the body to his ancestral home at Mukuru village, Kazo District in Western Uganda.
Kulayigye says a requiem service will then on Tuesday August 30 at his ancestral home. He will thereafter be buried at the very place in the afternoon on the same day.
The Defense Spokesperson however says there will be invitations for some categories of mourners for the requiem service at Kololo Independence grounds.
“Those to be invited will be contacted by the Directorate of Protocal and will be required to undergo COVID-19 tests at Kololo Independence grounds on Sunday August 28th, 2022. The rest of the mourners willing to join the requiem service at Kololo are equally welcome and will be duly guided by Protocol on the sitting arrangements, in view of the prevailing situation of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he says.
Tumwine’s body was returned to the country on Friday evening from Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi Kenya where he died on Thursday morning.
The body was received by senior officers of the UPDF and his immediate family at Entebbe International Airport at around 7pm.
He succumbed to lung cancer from Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi.
From the airport, the body was taken to Bombo Military barracks for further management.
Gen Tumwine was one of the founder members of the National Resistance Army (NRA), which fought a five-year war that brought President Yoweri Museveni to power in 1986.
It is believed that Gen Tumwine fired the first shot as the then-rebel group attacked a military barracks and launched its bush war uprising in central Uganda.
He became commander of the rebel army in 1984 – holding the position until 1987, a year after it had taken power.
He had held several positions in government over the last couple of decades, including security minister and deputy defence minister. He was also a long-term member of parliament representing the army.
As security minister he made controversial comments following election campaign protests in November 2020 after the security forces had killed at least 50 protesters, saying: “The police have a right to shoot you and kill you, if you reach a certain level of violence.”
He was dropped from cabinet last year and retired from the army in May.