Museveni mourns fallen Kayunga NRM big shot

President Yoweri Museveni has praised former Member of Parliament for Bbaale County in Kayunga district and resident district commissioner (RDC) for Rukungiri, Elijah John Herbert Kitaka-Gawera as a patriot and selfless dedicated servant.

Kitaka-Gawera passed on last Sunday at Nsambya Hospital where he was hospitalised after an intestinal obstruction following a long battle with hypertension and diabetes.

The President's message was on Thursday delivered by the chairperson of Buganda parliamentary caucus and Mukono South MP, Johnson Muyanja Ssenyonga, who read it to the mourners during a requiem service at Saints Philip and Andrew's Church of Uganda Cathedral in Mukono. Museveni also donated shs 20m towards burial arrangement.

Kitaka-Gawera who died aged 83 years, was a Member of Parliament between 1981 and 1985, and an RDC for Rukungiri district between 1997 and 1998.

Mourners outside Saints Phillip and Andrew's Cathedral in Mukono

"The National Resistance Movement (NRM) has lost a committed cadre and ardent supporter. I pray that he passes on the mantle of hard work, charisma and unwavering spirit to the next generation" the president's message read.

It added that the nation shall always be grateful for the crucial role he played and Museveni prayed that his outstanding personality will be a source of inspiration and motivation to many people.

In his own message, MP Ssenyonga appealed to the deceased's children to emulate their father by upholding their father's virtues.

"Work with the Government and maintain the bond he had with all calibers of leaders in his career," the MP Ssenyonga said.

Gawera is survived by six children. He worked with the defunct Lint Marketing Board and Produce Marketing Board as a general manager, before joining politics. Besides serving as an MP, he was also a district councilor for Mukono town council between 1996 and 1997.