Former Masaka mayor Ssemwogerere dies

Former Masaka Municipality mayor, Mr Gerald Ssemwogerere has passed on.

According to family members, Mr Ssemwegere died Tuesday evening after visiting a clinic in Masaka Town where he had gone to measure his blood pressure.

“Doctors have told us that he suffered a heart attack which led to his death,” Mr John Kawanga, a cousin to the deceased said.
Mr Ssemwogerere, 83, served as Masaka mayor between 1992 and 1996 and is remembered for installing the first set of street lights on the streets of Masaka town.

Mr Godfrey Kayemba Afayo, the incumbent Mayor Masaka Municipality, has eulogized the deceased as a hardworking man who tirelessly developed Masaka after it had suffered destruction during the 1979 Tanzanian invasion.

According to Mr Kayemba, although Ssemwogerere wasn’t elected by the public, he was instrumental in improving service delivery and development in the war torn town.

The deceased was widely considered as perhaps the richest man in Masaka sub region, owning a number of assets including shopping malls, rental houses, chunks of prime land and petrol stations not only in Masaka Town, but also in Kampala and Mukono.

He is survived by a wife and 15 children.