Family wants Karegeya buried at home in Uganda
Col Patrick Karegeya’s mother, Ms Jane Kanimba (C), his sister Jeanette Mukose and an unnamed relative at their home in Rwenjeru village, Biharwe Sub-county in Mbarara District yesterday. Photo by Alfred Tumushabe
What you need to know:
The deceased’s wife, Ms Leah Karegeya and his two sons: Elvis Karegeya, 21, and Richard Karegeya, 19, live in the US while his daughter, Portia Karegeya, 24, lives in Canada.
MBARARA- The family of the fallen former Rwanda intelligence chief, Col Patrick Karegeya, has asked the government of Uganda to help them return his body for burial at their home in Rwenjeru Biharwe Sub-county, Kashari County in Mbarara District.
Speaking to the Daily Monitor yesterday, the mother of Karegeya, Ms Jane Kanimba Kenshuro, said, “I ask the government (of Uganda) to bring him and I bury him here. His father and all other relatives were buried here.”
Ms Kanimba, 87, also appealed to the government to help Mr Karegeya’s wife and the children to come and attend his burial.
The deceased’s wife, Ms Leah Karegeya and his two sons: Elvis Karegeya, 21, and Richard Karegeya, 19, live in the US while his daughter, Portia Karegeya, 24, lives in Canada.
The colonel’s father, John Kanimba, died and was buried in Rwenjeru Biharwe in 2004. They lived in Rubaare Rushenyi, Ntungamo District before they relocated to Mbarara in 1990.
“I want his body to be buried here because I am a Ugandan and his father was a Ugandan,” Ms Kanimba said.
She said she last saw Col Karegeya in February last year when she visited him in South Africa. They also talked on phone towards Christmas and on December 26.
“I asked him how he was preparing for Christmas; he told me he was not preparing much. We talked a day after the Christmas Day; we congratulated each other for observing the day. In all the occasions he never told me he was sick, he said he was very fine,” the mother said amidst sobs.
The family members received the news of his suspected assassination on New Year’s Day at around 9.40 pm.
“We were celebrating the New Year and our relative in South Africa telephoned us that Karegeya has been killed; the family was gripped by shock,” said Ms Jeanette Mukose, Karegeya’s sister.
Neither government of Uganda nor that of Rwanda has contacted them about the death.
Relatives from near and far were thronging the deceased’s home on Thursday evening, wailing and others lost for words.
“We are in shock, we don’t know who to ask and who to contact. The government has not talked to us. We don’t know what is going on,” Ms Mukose said.
