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Mbuya bedroom death puzzles UPDF generals
Pallbearers wheel out the casket bearing the remains of Henry Katanga, a businessman, from All Saints Cathedral Nakasero in Kampala on Friday. PHOTO | STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
- Ugandans are still trying to wrap their heads around the shooting. Only last weekend, the patriarch of the Katanga household gave away his eldest daughter’s hand in marriage.
A man with a fatal firearm-related head injury, his wife barely clinging on with a shattered skull by their marital bed. This is the scene that first responders walked into when a shooting in the upscale Kampala suburb of Mbuya was reported in on Thursday morning.
Since then, the grapevine has gone into overdrive. At a funeral service held in All Saints Church Nakasero on Friday for Henry Katanga, the slain man whose wife—Molly—is fighting for her life in hospital, Ugandans were advised to dial down on the rumours.
“How can we make conclusions on what exactly happened in a bedroom of two people who have lived together for more than 30 years? Who are you to conclude that so and so killed so and so?” Maj Gen Sam Kavuma, the deputy coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation and a friend of the deceased, told mourners, adding that the public should let the police do its work.
Ugandans are still trying to wrap their heads around the shooting. Only last weekend, the patriarch of the Katanga household gave away his eldest daughter’s hand in marriage.
Described by many as a businessman, Katanga had recently been appointed treasurer of a 20-strong investment group.
One of the members of the investment club, Lt Gen James Mugira, the managing director of National Enterprises Corporation, disclosed that Katanga, who turned 61 in June, showcased a high level of integrity while executing any task.
“Even prominent people in revolutions die when they are young: Patrice Lumumba died when he was 35, Thomas Sankara when he was 37, Che Guevera at 39,” he said, adding, “... Henry has played his part. Two weeks ago, what was happiness in the family [has now turned into] sadness.”
Many questions, few answers
The State Minister for Agriculture, Mr Bright Rwamirama, also the deceased’s uncle, said he found it “difficult to speak when there are many questions and not many answers.”
Mr Rwamirama conceded the difficulty of stopping people from saying what they wish because nature abhors vacuum.
He requested the people handling the matter to do it expeditiously to put it to rest.
Katanga will be laid to rest today at his ancestral home in Kikatsi, Nyabushozi, Kiruhura District.
