Wapakhabulo

Mar 29, 2004

<li></li><b>Born March 23, 1945; Died March 27, 2004</b><br><li></li><b>State funeral and burial Friday in Sironko</b><br>THE Government will accord a state funeral to the Second Deputy Premier and Minister for Foreign Affairs, James Francis Wamboko Wapakhabulo. He died at 4:00pm on Saturday at h

By Alfred Wasike and Milton Olupot
THE Government will accord a state funeral to the Second Deputy Premier and Minister for Foreign Affairs, James Francis Wamboko Wapakhabulo. He died at 4:00pm on Saturday at his home in Bugolobi, Kampala.
Born on March 23, 1945, Wapakhabulo died of breathing difficulties and other complications in the chest after he was hit by a minor stroke last year. He was the Mbale Municipality MP since 1989.
A special Cabinet meeting yesterday discussed the funeral arrangements.
Information minister Dr. James Nsaba Buturo said yesterday, “He will be accorded a state funeral. The Cabinet has formed several sub-committees to deal with different aspects of the funeral arrangements. Cabinet will sit again on Monday.”
“He will lie in state in Parliament on Tuesday. Prayers will be held in Kampala most likely at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Namirembe on Wednesday. The body will be taken to his constituency in Mbale for prayers on Thursday.
He will be buried in his village (Mafuddu), in Sironko district on Friday,” Buturo said.
Wapakhabulo was President Yoweri Museveni’s roommate in Dar-es-Salaam University, Tanzania from 1967 to 1970.
Museveni mentions Wapakhabulo in his “Sowing The Mustard Seed” as a founder member of the Front for National Liberation (Fronasa) in 1971 in Dar-es-Salaam.
“His health deteriorated recently and was flown to London for treatment. He has been on bed rest since he returned.
“He has been under medical supervision by Dr Ddumba. He had actually improved. We are all shocked,” a visibly shaken Lydia Wanyoto, one of the East African Assembly delegates and a relative said.
Mourners converged at his Plot 11 Younger Avenue, home in Bugolobi immediately after news of his death spread.
Wanyoto said Wapakhabulo, her uncle, had been on sick leave.
He returned From Papua, New Guinea, near New Zealand in the Pacific Ocean where he lived in exile with his family in 1987.
Wapakhabulo, a lawyer, served in the archipelago of islands as principal legal officer from 1983 to 1986.
He also served as senior legal draftsman from 1977 to 1979 on the islands.
He served as minister for Cooperatives and Marketing, minister for tourism, wildlife and antiquities, among other portfolios.
Wapakhabulo chaired the Constituent Assembly from 1994 to 1995.
He was the Speaker of Parliament from 1996 to 1998. He was National Political Commissar from 1998 to 2001. After 2001 elections he was appointed Second Deputy Premier and foreign affairs minister.
He was one of the longest serving ministers since the National Resistance Movement came to power in 1986.
Ends

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