Prime
Oulanyah to be buried next to mum, wife
Speaker of Parliament-elect Anita Among, Speaker of East African Legislative Assembly Martin Ngoga and Deputy Speaker-elect Thomas Tayebwa pay respects to deceased former Speaker Jacob Oulanyah at Parliament in Kampala yesterday. PHOTOS / DAVID LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- According to the source, the burial site has already been handed over to A-Plus Funeral Management, who will take charge of the body upon arrival this Friday.
The family of late Jacob Oulanyah, the Speaker emeritus of the 11th Parliament, has said his remains will be interred next to the graves of his mother Keren, and first wife Dorothy Nangwale.
On Tuesday, a family member, who declined to be named due to fears of reprisal, told Daily Monitor that they, together with the clan leaders, resolved to “lay [Oulanyah’s remains] next to his [former] wife and mother”.
The decision, alongside to have his body lie in his unfinished house during the final wake, were reached during a meeting on Sunday.
According to the source, the burial site has already been handed over to A-Plus Funeral Management, who will take charge of the body upon arrival this Friday.
The army has taken over security at the home, and turned away our reporter seeking audience with members of the deceased’s family.
Oulanyah’s body is set to arrive in the country on April 1 aboard Ethiopian Airlines and after a series of wakes in Kampala, it will be airlifted to his village at Ayomlony, Jaka parish, Lalogi in Omoro District on April 6 ahead of an interment planned a couple of days later.
The exact place picked for burial of the former Omoro County lawmaker lies between his multi-billion mansion, which is still under construction, and the main house that he built for his father, Mr Nathan Okori.
In an interview on Tuesday, Mr Douglas Peter Okello, the Omoro District chairperson, also the chairperson of the local organising committee, said the grave had not been hollowed out, but the family “had already mapped a spot”.
He said there is ramped up effort to complete and furnish part of the humungous Oulanyah building in readiness to receive his body during the last vigil.
“As local organising committee, we have agreed with the family and clan that his body will spend the night inside his house and, therefore, we are going to do all it takes to ensure that the house is ready to welcome the body,” Mr Okello added.
Meanwhile, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) is racing against time to complete construction works on a part of the multi-billion shilling mansion to have it in a presentable condition, as the funeral ceremonies get underway.
Earlier on, Mr Frank Mugisha, the project coordinator of Gada Engineering Company, the firm undertaking the construction of Oulanyah’s mansion, noted that the progress of the work was at 70 percent and that Oulanyah’s demise severely impacted progress.
By Tuesday evening, the army engineering brigade personnel could be seen conducting several works on the incomplete building, including painting, fixing the windows, as well as landscaping.
DON'T MISS: Oulanyah body set to arrive on Friday
Several other soldiers painted the family’s main house from one side, while mourners huddled at another end. It is believed that with the intervention of the UPDF, the contractor is expected to achieve a 90 percent completion rate of the house by the time Oulanyah’s body reaches in the village.
