Museveni mourns Canon Benjamin Karakure’s death
Museveni told mourners that the family of the late John Wilson Nsheka had contributed to the liberation struggle.
Canon Benjamin Karakure. (Courtesy)
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President Yoweri Museveni has mourned the death of Canon Benjamin Karakure, who was buried on November 8, 2026, at his ancestral home in Kakinga village, Kebisoni town council, Rukungiri district.
Karakure, who is survived by his wife, Elinah, and their nine children, died from a heart condition on November 6, 2026, at the age of 76, just four days before his 77th birthday.
According to his family, the heart condition was triggered by an accident in December 2016, when Karakure was knocked down by a Uganda Police Force vehicle and sustained serious injuries.
Karakure was also a prominent businessman and farmer in the neighbouring districts of Mbarara and Isingiro.
In a message delivered by gender minister Lt Gen. (rtd) Henry Tumukunde, Museveni told mourners that the family of the late John Wilson Nsheka had contributed to the liberation struggle.
“The President has given me a clear message to thank the family of Nsheka for what they did and the sacrifices they made. He also sent me to thank you for being sane in your country,” the minister, who is also the Rukungiri Municipality MP, told the Nsheka family.
“He has also told me to assure you that there is nothing that you did that is not remembered. He also said that if Col Samson Mande (one of Nsheka’s children) knows anything he (Museveni) has not done for the family, he should let him know in writing through me,” Tumukunde added.
Tumukunde contributed sh2m towards the burial expenses. “I want us to thank President Museveni for remembering what this family did in liberating this country. This role played a key role in supporting and training UPM (Uganda Patriotic Movement) members,” he said.
The former bush war fighter also hailed Karakure for being a people person. “He loved people and represented his father well where he wasn’t.”
Karakure was a long-serving manager of the now-defunct New Western Hotel on Buremba Road in Mbarara city.
Col Mande clarifies
Speaking on behalf of the Nsheka family, Mande, also a former bush war fighter, used the burial ceremony to explain the circumstances surrounding his return from exile in Sweden last year.
Mande, who lived in Sweden for more than two decades after fleeing into exile with the late Lt Col Anthony Kyakabale, emphasised that he had been fighting the “wrong people” in the sitting government.
“I fought the wrong people who were in the government—the ones whom Mzee Museveni referred to as kawukuumi (weevils) when he learnt about them. The kawukuumi attacked us for a long time without his (Museveni) knowledge, and kept fighting us, telling lies about us... When he came to know them, and I also got to know that he had known them, I knew I had seen the path to return home,” he said.
He also hailed Museveni for enabling him to return home.
During last year's Independence Day celebrations at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala, Museveni said he was happy to welcome Mande back into what he called peaceful Uganda.
He noted that Mande had fled into exile apparently because of some internal intrigue. “While in exile, he tried to engage in some rebel activities. When, however, our cadres contacted him in Sweden, he happily agreed to come back and disconnect himself from the rebel activities,” the President said.
Museveni recalled that in 1979, Mande was operating as a volunteer scout for the Task Force Division of the Tanzania People's Defence Forces under Maj Gen Silas Mayunga in Mbarara.
“I was commanding the 9000 strong FRONASA (Front for National Salvation) fighting force. Later, Mande did a good job as commander of the 15th battalion in the Siege of Masaka in 1985 and in subsequent assignments. We welcome him,” the President added.