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Catholic priest dies in car crash
Deceased priest, Rev Fr Lawrence Yawe Mudduse (inset). He died following an accident involving his car and a taxi on November 26, 2023.
What you need to know:
- At the time of the crash, Rev Fr Mudduse was reportedly driving back to Lwebisiriza Catholic Parish in Kyankwanzi District where he was parish priest.
The Catholic Church is mourning the demise of Rev Fr Lawrence Yawe Mudduse from Kiyinda-Mityana Diocese who died on Sunday in a car crash on the Kampala-Hoima Road.
The crash is said to have occurred at Kabagaya Village in Butemba Sub-county, Kyankwanzi District at around 7.30pm vehicle in which Fr Mudduse was travelling in collided head-on with a commuter taxi.
Ms Racheal Kawala, the Wamala regional police spokesperson, said Fr Mudduse was first taken to Kiboga Hospital in critical condition but died while being transferred to Nsambya Hospital in Kampala for further management.
At the time of the crash, the priest was returning to Lwebisiriza Catholic Parish in Kyankwanzi District, where he had been serving as parish priest. He was from Kiyinda-Mityana Diocese headquarters for the diocesan day celebrations, which were attended by Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba and other officials.
Ms Nabakooba described the late priest as a committed servant who served his church wholeheartedly.
Rev Fr Stephen Lusiba, the Kiyinda-Mityana Catholic Parish administrator, said they had lost a great preacher and researcher.
“He [deceased] has been a resourceful person and always delivers humorous sermons punctuated with examples, making them easy to understand by any person,” he said.
Fr Lusiba added that the church will miss him because he has been one of the multi-talented priests.
Mr Joseph Kawuki, the Buganda Kingdom state minister for local government, said the country has lost a clergyman who has been very resourceful.
“He has been a knowledgeable and resourceful clergyperson who has been promoting his culture regardless of being a priest, he has been also a routine facilitator at the annual clans head seminar organised to promote cultural values in Buganda,” he noted.
In August 2019, Fr Mudduse and six others were implicated in the killing of a landlord, Muhammad Kamada Kimbugwe, 50, a resident of Minaana Village in Mityana Municipality as he distributed letters to tenants occupying a contested one square mile piece of land.
Fr Mudduse, whose siblings are occupying the disputed land, was particularly accused of financing assailants who killed Kimbuggwe. He was remanded to Luzira Prison where he spent 18 days before being granted bail.
Fr Mudduse served in Mubende and also tutored at St Paul’s National Major Seminary –Kinyamasika in Fort Portal for many years.
Burial programme
According to Fr Lusiba, there was a requiem Mass yesterday at St Noah’s Cathedral, Kiyinda-Mityana Diocese.
He will be laid to rest today at the diocesan cemetery at 2pm and the occasion will begin with the mass e led by Bishop Joseph Anthony Zziwa.
Jesca Nabukenya, Enock Matovu, Edison Ndyasiima & Antonio Kalyang
