UPDF construction team putting final touches on Kazini’s grave at Ssanga in Kiruhura district on Friday

By Vision Reporters

THE body of the late Maj. Gen. James Kazini was on Friday afternoon laid to rest at his country home in Ssanga, Kiruhura district in the presence of an estimated 2,000 mourners.

The former army commander received a seven-gun salute, usually accorded to army officers from the rank of brigadier and above. The army conducted all the ceremonies, including digging and building the grave.

The brown coffin, draped with the army flag, was lowered into a white grave dug in a fenced off grassland, a five-minute drive from his ranch’s main entrance.

The UPDF brass band played somber music.

Military delegations in attendance included officers from SPLA, led by Brig. Gen. Martin Kenyi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.

Also present was Lt. Gen. Ivan Koreta, the deputy Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Elly Tumwine, a member of the UPDF High Command, Lt. Gen. Katumba Wamala, the head of the land forces, and former army commander Mugisha Muntu.

Kazini’s sister, Irene Nuwagaba, thanked President Yoweri Museveni and the UPDF, especially Wamala, for their assistance in this trying time.

She said Museveni kept in close touch with the family from the time the death of her brother was announced.

The President had been calling her several times to see how he could assist in the preparations for the burial, she told the mourners.

She described her brother as caring and not selfish, noting that Kazini helped bring them up them since they had lost their parents when they were young.

Kazini died at 6:00am on Tuesday at Wabigalo parish in Namuwongo. His girlfriend, Lydia Draru, later confessed having hit him with an iron bar during a scuffle at her residence. His body was found lying in a pool of blood with multiple cuts on the head.

Before his death, the late general was facing several charges before the Court Martial. In March 2008, he was convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment for causing financial loss of over sh61m to the Government. He was still battling in court to overturn his conviction.

He was also facing a string of other charges that included causing financial loss, forgery, uttering false documents, conspiracy to defraud and disobedience of lawful orders.

But his trial by the Court Martial was put on hold after he petitioned the Constitutional Court challenging the legality of the trial.