We shall handle only emergencies tomorrow-Internal affairs

By Carol Kasujja

Internal affairs ministry will not close tomorrow as alleged by some members of the public, says Jacob Simiyu, the public spokesperson for the directorate of citizenship and immigration control.

According to Simiyu, although they’re mourning the death of their minister, they cannot close the offices because tomorrow is not a public holiday.

“For a Government department to be closed, it has to be a public holiday but since Parliament did not declare the day as a holiday, many of us will be going for the funeral service, but a few officials will be around to handle emergencies like life threatening cases,” said Simiyu.

Simiyu also noted that though all staff members would love to attend the funeral service at Kololo, if Gen Aronda was to find out that we all closed our offices to attend his funeral service, he would be disappointed because he believed in service delivery.

Most internal affairs staff members have described the late as a person who had transformed the ministry and given them visibility in the public.

“There are so many things to remember about him, as a Public officer, he made my work easy because he advocated for better service delivery. It is under his leadership that we opened up passport offices in Mbarara and Mbale. We are going to miss him because we were in the process of setting up another passport office in Gulu to help Ugandans get passports without coming to Kampala,” said Simiyu.

“Most people are saying that here at internal affairs we are jubilating, but we are not. We had understood him and the tension which was there when he had just joined had gone. Gen Aronda was a knowledgeable person. I always liked listening to him. Our ministry had got equipment because of him,” said Wilberforce Ngonde, the Assistant commissioner at Internal Affairs.

“Gen Aronda was particular to details. He always signed his documents with a black pen. Even if you offered him a pen, he would stand up and pick his black pen. He was hard working. He told me that he came to Kampala when he was 27 and he has never taken leave off his work. He was a great man,” said Benjamin Katana, the deputy spokesperson of the Directorate.

Meanwhile, the mood at internal affairs is normal. Work is in progress.