Mzee Kaguta is dead

Gone. President Museveni’s father, who had been admitted at a private hospital in Kampala after complaining of abdominal pains, dies at 96.

Mzee Amos Kaguta, the father of President Museveni, is dead. He was 96. Mzee Kaguta died at 7am on Friday at the privately-owned Kampala International Hospital where he had been in intensive care since last weekend.

“Mr Museveni and all the Kaguta family wishes to announce the death of their father Mzee Amos Kaguta, 96, which occurred today (yesterday) February 22 at 0700hrs at International Hospital, Ms Linda Nabusayi, the State House deputy spokesperson.

“The family thanks all the doctors that cared for Mr Kaguta in his last moments. Burial arrangements will be announced later. May his soul rest in peace.”

Ms Nabusayi declined to divulge any information on the cause of Kaguta’s death, saying it is a matter to be handled by the family.

“The body is at the IHK and we will give any more details as and when the family releases them,” she said.

In a statement sent to newsrooms yesterday afternoon, Information Minister Mary Karooro Okurut said Mzee Kaguta, who had been admitted to the International Hospital, Kampala for “observation after complaining of abdominal pains”, saw his condition deteriorate on Thursday night before he died on Friday morning.

“His sad passing is a colossal loss to the country,” the statement said.
“Mzee Kaguta has been an inspiration, God-fearing and a resilient person, a disciplinarian whose vision, wisdom and guidance will be missed by his family in particular, and the country at large. The resilience in him saw him raise a solid family in a then largely rural, cattle-herding community with modest resources.”

Ms Okurut added: “He gave his children a good education with a blend of solid traditional character later blended with strong Christian values after embracing the faith.”

The statement also noted that the old man offered “unwavering moral support” to his eldest son Yoweri, as he struggled for Uganda’s liberation.

It also cites Mzee Kaguta’s two other “prominent” children; Caleb Akandwanaho and Dr Violet Froerich Kajubiri, who have “also immensely contributed to struggles of the country and the progress that Uganda enjoys today”.

Ms Okurut said the family was still piecing together a burial programme which would be communicated “at the earliest time possible”.

Last moments
President Museveni had visited his father at the facility several times this week, the last time being Thursday morning.

In his autobiography, Sowing the Mustard Seed, President Museveni describes his father as a strong disciplinarian.

In the book, the NRM leader recounts his father’s struggles to bring them up in a rural and cattle-herding community with modest resources, embracing Western education and imparting in them traditional values even after converting to Christianity in the 1950s.

“My father [is] a very kind person, except occasionally when he would drink [traditional beer] and become rather violent,” Mr Museveni writes.
“He was [during my childhood] a person [to] whom I would ask many questions – and if I didn’t ask, he would tell me.”
He also praises his father for clinging on the virtues of African tradition and keeping as a liberal Anglican.