Jimmy Dean dead

By Douglas Mazune THE motor rally fraternity was yesterday hit by the shock death of Uganda Motor Club (UMC) veteran administrator and former national champion Jimmy Dean whose body was found in his bedroom at 2:30pm. On realising that Dean was unusually still in bed, his curious house girl informed neighbours and local authorities that broke into the bedroom only to find him dead. The cause of his death was not yet established by press time, as his body was still in Mulago hospital where it was taken for post-mortem. Dean last appeared in public at 11pm on Thursday after the UMC weekly meeting at Joker's Sports bar on Buganda road. Crestfallen mourners most of whom members of the rally fraternity gathered outside his home on Wampewo Avenue in Kampala after police locked the house. Mourners described Dean as a jolly and likeable man. "Kinno Kitaalo, Jimmy Dean is dead, it's very sad, we will miss him," veteran driver Karim Hirji who was among the mourners said. "I rallied with him and he was a good man." Burial arrangement were yet to be released pending confirmation from his wife and brothers in America. Dean who started rallying in 1984 won the national championship in1986, 1987 and 1988 before he retired in 1994. He retired after rolling his car while chasing lowly rated Godfrey Katende, who had embarrassingly overtaken him on road. He has since been an administrator and at the time of his death he was UMC competitions secretary. He will be remembered for having successful organised the only cross-boarder ARC rally, the Mbarara-Kigali fraternity rally last year. He was once a director of Uganda Television and will be missed by many people especially journalists for his openness. Ends