My son’s death caught me by surprise - Kateihwaho
Patrick Muhumuza Kateihwaho
What you need to know:
- Mr Didas Kateihwaho, a renowned businessman in Kampala, described his late son as a generous person who took every burden for his friends and relatives.
- Patrick Muhumuza Kateihwaho reportedly slid and fell in the bathroom while at his residence at Minister’s Village in Ntinda, a Kampala City suburb . He was later pronounced dead at Kampala Independent Hospital in Ntinda.
Mr Didas Kateihwaho, a renowned businessman in Kampala, has said the death of his son, Patrick Muhumuza Kateihwaho, took him by surprise.
While narrating to mourners the final moments of his son at St Charles Lwanga Catholic Parish Ntinda in Kampala yesterday, Mr Kateihwaho shared how he was shocked by the news of Muhumuza’s death in the dusk of Friday last week, a person he had talked to hours earlier.
Bathroom slip and fall accidents on the rise
Muhumuza reportedly slid and fell in the bathroom while at his residence at Minister’s Village in Ntinda, a Kampala City suburb . He was later pronounced dead at Kampala Independent Hospital in Ntinda.
“On Friday evening at 9pm, while at home with my wife, Dr Aisha Ssekalala walked in…wearing a sad face. When I asked what the matter was, they kept quiet but later broke the news that Patrick had died,” Mr Kateihwaho recalled.
He added: “I got the shock of my life because Patrick had called me at around 7pm, very jolly and seemingly in perfect health. He asked how I was and I told him that I was okay. It was too much news for me to bear a couple of hours later to learn that my son had died.”
Mr Kateihwaho told an all quiet church filled with mourners that he had only cried twice in his adult life; when his brother died and then, at Patrick Muhumuza’s death.
“When my father and mother died, I did not cry because I knew they were sickly and advanced in age. However, when my brother Carter died, I cried and it took me too much time to recover from it. The second time is now,” he told the mourners.
Mr Kateihwaho never wanted to speak much after he acknowledged the perfectly-fitted eulogies to the true character of his departed son.
However, he said the late Muhumuza was a very generous person and described him as a person who took every burden for his friends and relatives.
“If Patrick owned anything, it was for his friends or relatives. He was very kind that the number of mourners who came to my house on Saturday and Sunday perfectly manifested who Patrick was,” he said.
Mr Kateihwaho further said he took his late son to the best schools of the time like Buganda Road Primary School where the deceased scored Aggregate Four, after which he joined St Mary’s College Kisubi for his secondary education.
It was at Makerere University where he attained a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and later joined business. Mr Kateihwaho said the deceased preferred self-employment to joining the public service.
“He was a very intelligent and hardworking man. We are going to miss him so much. He has left behind three children and the best we shall do is to love them and be with them so that they don’t miss their father much,” Mr Kateihwaho concluded.
Among hundreds of mourners were several dignitaries from the central government who included former Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda.
Racheal Mbabazi and one of her sons lay a wreath on the late Patrick Muhumuza Kateihwaho’s casket at St Charles Lwanga Church in Ntinda, Kampala on May 6, 2024. PHOTO/STEPHEN OTAGE
Dr Rugunda described the deceased as one who exhibited patriotic credentials and never looked at Uganda in a narrow sense. He also thanked the deceased’s parents for raising him with profound values.
“I salute Didas and Cecilia for bringing up Patrick in a good manner. Patrick has been raised with good values and good behavioural conduct which made him into the man he was,” Mr Rugunda said.
He added that the deceased had left behind a legacy of loving his country and heavily contributed to the energy sector. He remembered him as a person who was very knowledgeable and held very informed engagements on a wide range of issues in the country and around the globe.
The deceased’s former classmates and friends eulogised him as a person who had friends from different regions in Uganda and beyond its borders, a good Catholic and conservative who believed in strong values.
Mr Keith Kalyegira, a board member of Airtel Uganda, who spoke on behalf of the alumni of St Mary’s College Kisubi, described the deceased as a very generous student while in high school, one who loved football even when he never made it to the school’s football team.
The deceased was born on December 23, 1969. He was the first of four children, a seasoned businessman with rich experience in the energy, property, and the oil and gas sectors.
