President Yoweri Museveni has mourned Shinzo Abe, the assasinated former Japanese Prime Minister, describing him as an unwavering ally of Uganda.
Shinzo, 67, was shot on Thursday from behind in Nara in western Japan while giving a campaign speech, leading to his death.
“I, with profound sadness, learnt of the death of H.E Shinzo Abe, the former Prime Minister of Japan. The late Shinzo Abe will be remembered as an outstanding leader of Japan and unwavering ally of Uganda who served his country selflessly with dedication and distinction,” said President Museveni on Saturday.
“On behalf of the Government and people of the Republic of Uganda and indeed my own behalf, I wish to convey our deepest thoughts and condolences to H.E Fumio Kishida, the family of the late Abe and the Japanese people. Our prayers are with you during this difficult time,” he added.
Meanwhile, Police in Japan have arrested a Nara resident in his 40s, who allegedly used a handmade gun to shoot Shinzo, a tragedy that has shocked Japan which has some of the strictest gun laws in the world.
Japan mourns
A steady stream of mourners on Saturday visited the scene of the bloody assassination in Nara.
“I’m just shocked that this kind of thing happened in Nara,” said Natsumi Niwa, a 50-year-old housewife, said after offering flowers with her 10-year-old son near the scene of the killing at a downtown train station.
Shinzo, a conservative and architect of the “Abenomics” policies aimed at reflating the Japanese economy, inspired the name of her son, Masakuni, with his rallying cry of Japan as a “beautiful nation”, Niwa said. “Kuni” means nation in Japanese.
Campaigning resumed on the final day of electioneering before polling for the upper house of parliament, which is expected to deliver victory to the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, an Abe protege.