Movement mourns Miyingo

Mar 13, 2006

The late state minister for internal affairs Dr. Kezimbira Miyingo was a politician with vast experience, President Yoweri Museveni said yesterday.

By Cyprian Musoke
The late state minister for internal affairs Dr. Kezimbira Miyingo was a politician with vast experience, President Yoweri Museveni said yesterday.

In a speech read by Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi at a requiem mass at Rubaga Cathedral yesterday, Museveni said, “We needed his contribution in the new political dispensation. His long experience in government, track record in the Movement and his commitment to work had prepared him for an invaluable contribution that death has deprived us of.”

Museveni said he was proud of having worked with Miyingo and commended him for chairing the African group discussions during the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Durban, South Africa.

He lauded him for having been instrumental in advising African countries on the importance of dams in energy provision.

The Government met the burial expenses and gave the family sh3m.

Nsibambi, on his part, said he met Miyingo at Makerere University where he was lecturing veterinary studies. Nsibambi was a lecturer of political science.

Nsibambi said Miyingo was a practical academic who was also good at breeding Boer goats and dairy cattle.

He described him as a nationalist who did not allow sectarian interests to supersede national interests.

“We must learn from him that national interests take precedence over local and personal interests,” he said. He remembered him for having stayed at the university to teach even during Amin’s turbulent days.

Deputy speaker Rebecca Kadaga, on behalf of Parliament, said it was always good to see Miyingo on the floor of the House defending his ministry, a duty that he did with diligence.

Internal affairs minister Ruhakana Rugunda lauded him for having worked on the amendment of the Police Act.

Meanwhile, Mary Karugaba reports that MPs yesterday thronged Parliament to bid farewell to Miyingo. Miyingo was the 8th member of the 7th Parliament to pass away. Miyingo’s body only stopped at the parliamentary central lobby where several MPs and mourners paid tribute.

Parliament spokesperson Bernard Eceru said funeral arrangements were tight and it was impossible to call back MPs to accord Miyingo the full sendoff ceremony. He said that would be done at an appropriate time in future.

Miyingo, who was also the Bukoto Mid-West MP, died on Saturday at Mulago Hospital. Nsibambi said the NRM had lost one of its strongest men. “Farewell, my dear friend. We will greatly miss you,” he said.

Outgoing Gulu Municipality MP Norbert Mao described Miyingo as “a level-headed leader with characters that are rare in most politicians. Many of our politicians are mixed up in the head but Miyingo was cool.”
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