Family, friends mourn UPC’s Patrick Mwondha.
NRM Secretary General, Ms Kasule Lumumba lays a wreath on the casket of the late Mr Patrick Mwondha. Photo by Dominic Bukenya.
What you need to know:
At a funeral service held at All Saints Church located in Nakasero on Thursday to pray for his body, Ms Edith Mwondha, a widow to the deceased, said her husband lived a simple and happy life
Family, friends, clergy, UPC party members and government officials have eulogised Patrick Mwondha, who died on Wednesday at Mulago Hospital, as a kind man, faithful, a loving father, a committed statesman and encyclopedia to his party.
Mr Mwondha, senior UPC party member, succumbed to cardiac arrest at the Uganda Heart Institute in Mulago. He was aged 67.
At a funeral service held at All Saints Church located in Nakasero on Thursday to pray for the soul of deceased. Ms Edith Mwondha, said her husband lived a simple and happy life.
“He held several government positions and one expected that he would have built mansions but he didn’t. He was very conscious with government money and the children have emulated his trustworthiness,” said Ms Mwondha.
“We looked at him as pillar as a family and he lived a simple life,” says Ms Mwondha, adding that Jimmy Akena, the son to UPC’s founding father and his mother Maria Obote have lost an encyclopedia to the party.
“He had a lot of information on his finger tips and people asked him how he could remember all that information,” said Ms Mwondha.
Mr Akena eulogised the fallen UPC cadre as a firmly committed congressperson, who never abandoned the party and country when the going got tough.
“As a Minister in the second UPC administration, he was an effective straightforward person and remained firm even after UPC government was overthrown and accused of rigging,” said Mr Akena.
Mr Ivan Mwondha, who stood by his father while in hospital, said the legislator had a kidney problem and a weak heart.
“I will thank the lord for the person he was. Dad was a kind man,” he said as tears rolled down freely, adding that the UPC has a congressman in heaven.
At the church service, old boys of his former school, Busoga College Mwiri sung the school anthem as a sign of solidarity and memory of their olden times as students.
In a condolence message delivered by NRM Secretary General, Ms Justine Kasule Lumumba, President Museveni described Mwondha as a committed person with a heart of servanthood.
He has left behind a widow, six children and eight grandchildren. His body will be laid to rest tomorrow in Itanda, Bugiri district.
He was a member of the Parliament Bukooli North 1980 to 1985 and from 2001 to 2006. He also served as the member of the Constituent Assembly 1993 to 1995. He was UPC treasurer from 2005 to 2010, Transitional Chairman of the Party, and the Party Vice President to Akena’s UPC till his death.
