Minister’s Daughter Dies In Pool

By Steven CandiaA Nine-year-old daughter of the State Minister for Defence, Ruth Nankabirwa, died on Sunday evening of head injuries she suffered when she dived into a swimming pool.Christine Tanna Nassanga, a Primary Four pupil of Sir Apollo Kagwa Primary School, was swimming at former Kololo High School’s swimming pool at 6:00pm. The school has two swimming pools, for adults and children. It is suspected that the girl dived into the shallow end of the pool for adults. She was rushed to Kololo International Hospital but was pronounced dead upon arrival. A composed Nankabirwa said, “I was baby-sitting when the first call came in that one of my children was involved in an accident and had been rushed to Kololo International Hospital. We rushed there with my husband thinking it could be a fracture,” Nankabirwa said.“My husband and other sympathisers had to chase and grab me when I was told that Nassanga had died. I was out of my senses,” she added. Her father, Fred Segujja Mwanga, told the mourners at the funeral service held at the family residence in Bulange zone, Lunguja parish, Rubaga division, that he was equally devastated.“She was a very lovely, joyful and caring girl,” he said.Nassanga was the second born in a family of six children.She and her older sister Rachael Nakandi, left home shortly after lunch for the swimming pool for their routine holiday swimming lessons.A sombre mood engulfed the home as shocked friends and relatives tried to comprehend the news. The National Political Commissar, Crispus Kiyonga, the Minister of Defence, Amama Mbabazi, the Minister for Energy and Mineral Development, Syda Bbumba, the deputy Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, and a number of MPs were among the mourners.Nankabirwa told mourners yesterday that a family friend, a girl who had just completed Makerere University, picked the girls and took them for the lessons.“It was kind of routine. She used to pick them and take them for swimming lessons. I would give her the money for the lessons,” Nankabirwa said.She added, “We cannot tell what was the real cause of her death. By the time she was pulled out of the pool, she had sustained a head injury and was vomiting.”Nassanga’s brother, Moses Kakembo, 7, a Primary One pupil of the same school, moved the mourners when he joined his mother and very emotionally eulogised his sister. Nassanga was buried yesterday afternoon at Ndejje Kabuye, Bulemezi in Luweero.Ends