Those insulting Gen Tumwine are wasting time, says Museveni

President Museveni on Monday said, “those insulting Gen Elly Tumwine were wasting time” as he eulogised the serviceman whose August 25 death has been marred by divisive rhetoric across mainstream and social media.

“Dying at 68, Gen Elly Tumwine was very young but had achieved a lot,” he added.

The controversial army officer August 29 described by one of his daughters as “unapologetically himself”, succumbed to lung cancer in Nairobi, sparking debate over his double-edged legacy.

On Monday, President Museveni told grievers who were mainly government officials and relatives- that Gen Tumwine who he first met in 1967 will be remembered as a resilient hero.

“He was injured badly at Bukomero but he came back and continued…and has been continuing. Young people should learn from that spirit of patriotism and sacrifice,” Mr Museveni said of his 1979 recruit militaristically celebrated for firing first on February 6, 1981- to start a liberation struggle that brought the Ugandan leader to power in 1986.  

Citing First Son and UPDF land forces commander, Lt-Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Mr Museveni, 77, urged Christianity to “accommodate perpetuation through children.” 

“Tumwine has not died. He is abundantly here. When you have children, you are eternal. When I die, my children will be here,” he told the gathering at Kololo Grounds.

Speaking at the same event, Mr Museveni had earlier appealed to Ugandans to always aim at “establishing dominion over nature.”

“If God wanted us to be in heaven, why did he bring us here? He brought us to do something- at least to improve something. What you do on earth really matters,” Mr Museveni said emphasising that his guerilla’s maiden discharge by Gen Tumwine manifested a “hand of God and efforts of man.”

Draped with the Ugandan flag, Gen Tumwine’s casket Monday evening arrived aboard a military chopper in his ancestral Kazo District in Western Uganda- where he will be buried with military honours.