Funeral service held at Namirembe Cathedral, Namaganda hailed
A FUNERAL service was held at Namirembe Cathedral yesterday for the 20 pupils who perished in the fire at Budo Junior School on Monday.
By Conan Businge, Carol Natukunda & Henry Mukasa
A FUNERAL service was held at Namirembe Cathedral yesterday for the 20 pupils who perished in the fire at Budo Junior School on Monday.
There were no coffins, since the bodies were still at Mulago undergoing DNA tests for identification.
During the service led by Bishop Balagadde Ssekadde, mourners praised 10-year-old Yvonne namaganda, the dormitory leader who lost her life as she tried to save others.
For her sacrifice, the LC5 chairman of Wakiso district, Ian Kyeyune, proposed that she be named a national hero. “She deserves it.
She did it for them, you, and this nation. If all of us could sacrifice like this, it would be great.â€
A survivor, Susan Atieno, said Namaganda woke her up “from deep sleep.â€
“She started waking up other friends and bringing them out in turns but the last time she went back, she did not come back. She died,†narrated Atieno.
Ssekadde appealed to the government for “serious investigation, to punish the culprits.â€
Outside the Cathedral wailing parents, some carrying portraits of their dead children, asked angrily where the adults were as the pupils battled the fire. “Namaganda goes in, brings out a child and returns for another. Where were the adults? Where were they?â€
relatives of Namaganda mourned.
After the service, Ssekadde invited the bereaved parents to go to the altar so that the bishops could pray for them.
The mobiliser of the Old Budonians, Edward Kayondo, apologized for the tragedy. “We, the old students, could have done more. We pledge that from now on we shall assert ourselves in the running of the school.â€
The headmaster, Dr Livingstone Ddungu, said police investigations barred him from speaking much about the tragedy but called for calm.
Catholic Archbishop Dr Kizito Lwanga said the tragedy was alarming and called for investigations to get to the cause.
The Nnabagereka, Sylvia Nagginda, FDC leader Kizza Besigye, DP’s Ssebaana Kizito, education state minister, Gabriel Opio, youth minister, James Kinobe and Buganda health minister, Nelson Kawalya attended. Prof. Peter Matovu represented the Orthodox Church.
A FUNERAL service was held at Namirembe Cathedral yesterday for the 20 pupils who perished in the fire at Budo Junior School on Monday.
There were no coffins, since the bodies were still at Mulago undergoing DNA tests for identification.
During the service led by Bishop Balagadde Ssekadde, mourners praised 10-year-old Yvonne namaganda, the dormitory leader who lost her life as she tried to save others.
For her sacrifice, the LC5 chairman of Wakiso district, Ian Kyeyune, proposed that she be named a national hero. “She deserves it.
She did it for them, you, and this nation. If all of us could sacrifice like this, it would be great.â€
A survivor, Susan Atieno, said Namaganda woke her up “from deep sleep.â€
“She started waking up other friends and bringing them out in turns but the last time she went back, she did not come back. She died,†narrated Atieno.
Ssekadde appealed to the government for “serious investigation, to punish the culprits.â€
Outside the Cathedral wailing parents, some carrying portraits of their dead children, asked angrily where the adults were as the pupils battled the fire. “Namaganda goes in, brings out a child and returns for another. Where were the adults? Where were they?â€
relatives of Namaganda mourned.
After the service, Ssekadde invited the bereaved parents to go to the altar so that the bishops could pray for them.
The mobiliser of the Old Budonians, Edward Kayondo, apologized for the tragedy. “We, the old students, could have done more. We pledge that from now on we shall assert ourselves in the running of the school.â€
The headmaster, Dr Livingstone Ddungu, said police investigations barred him from speaking much about the tragedy but called for calm.
Catholic Archbishop Dr Kizito Lwanga said the tragedy was alarming and called for investigations to get to the cause.
The Nnabagereka, Sylvia Nagginda, FDC leader Kizza Besigye, DP’s Ssebaana Kizito, education state minister, Gabriel Opio, youth minister, James Kinobe and Buganda health minister, Nelson Kawalya attended. Prof. Peter Matovu represented the Orthodox Church.