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Security marshal 4,000 to guard Speaker burial
The body of former Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah at Entebbe airport on April 1, 2022. PHOTO/MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
What you need to know:
- Police spokesperson Fred Enanga tasked all mourners to respect security protocols, including physical searches.
Joint security agencies have marshalled 4,000 personnel, all likely to be armed, during the burial of former Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah this Friday in Omoro District.
The police plan to provide at least 2,000 officers while the army and prison services will mobilise the rest in preparation for a interment that intelligence expect to be tense after the deceased’s father, Nathan Okori, made claims that his son had been poisoned.
A security source said the guard numbers are likely to rise depending on the evolving situation.
Assembling 2,000 officers, or roughly 4 percent of the police strength, means the personnel will be pooled from various districts since the guard numbers alone outstrip the Force personnel in Omoro District.
Uganda Police Force spokesman Fred Enanga yesterday declined to disclose the number of security personnel planned for Oulanyah’s burial, indicating in generic terms that there will be a formidable presence to guarantee a peaceful burial.
“Our colleagues from Uganda Police Defence Forces (UPDF) and the Uganda Prisons Services are actively involved in funeral arrangements of the former Speaker Oulanyah,” said Mr Enanga, a commissioner of police.
President Museveni on March 20 announced that the 56-year-old had died in the United States.
His body will be taken to lie in state at Parliament today. Tomorrow, a state funeral will be held at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds after which the body will be airlifted to Omoro District.
What killed Oulanyah, who had been Speaker of the 11th Parliament for less than 10 months, is yet to be officially announced.
Mr Enanga said yesterday that they expect a big number of people to attend the events related to the burial of the former Speaker.
“We expect more than 20,000 people at Lalogi Village to participate in this burial ceremony and for that matter we have drawn sufficient manpower to ensure that there is safety and security,” he said.
Mr Enanga added: “Our security posture at all levels of this journey of escorting the Speaker is very robust but we continue to effectively review it to help counter any new form of threats and vulnerabilities…”
The hospitalisation, and eventual death of Oulanyah, polarised the country. For instance, Uganda’s Diaspora community protested outside his University of Washington Medical Centre hospital.
ALSO READ: Oulanyah’s children, Lumumba speak out
After he died, Uganda’s Chief Justice Owiny-Dollo had to apologise to Mengo after claiming, without evidence, that the Buganda king was airlifted in Uganda’s presidential jet for treatment in Germany, yet his subjects did not protest wasteful spending of public resources as they did in the case of Oulanyah.
He called the protesters, many of them wearing the red T-shirts associated with the National Unity Platform, “wicked people…lumpens”, triggering an avalanche of criticism that the head of Judiciary was fanning tribalism. He stood by his description.
Yesterday, Mr Enanga asked all mourners to respect security protocols, including physical searches.
Chaos at previous burials
Previous burials of high-profile persons such former Member of Parliament of Arua Municipality Ibrahim Abiriga, the former deputy Inspector General of Police Paul Lokech and Assistant Superintendent of Police Muhammed Kirumira, who died in disputed circumstances, turned chaotic.
During the burial of Col Abiriga, who died in a hail of bullets in Wakiso District, youth turned rowdy and seized his deceased’s body upon arrival at Arua Airfield while irate mourners at his home in Anyafiyo exploded in chaos, and broke hundreds of plastic chairs and tables in the belief the lawmaker was murdered by elements in government.
One person was shot dead by security agencies and property worth millions of shillings was destroyed in the fracas.
During the burial of the murdered ASP Muhammed Kirumira, who had prophesied that some elements in state security planned to snuff him out, mourners expelled government officials, including the Internal Affairs minister Gen Odongo Jeje.
Before the burial of Lt Gen Lokech, security officers arrested three people they alleged to be Allied Democratic Force (ADF) terrorists who they alleged planned to blow themselves and mourners up in Pader District.
