Fallen MP Ssegirinya to be buried Sunday in Masaka

Kampala, (UG): Kawempe North Member of Parliament, Hon Muhammad Ssegirinya aka ‘Mr. Update’ who died Thursday at Lubaga Hospital in Kampala will be buried on Sunday, January 12, in Masaka District.

The President and leader of the Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine confirmed the burial arrangements while addressing the media at Lubaga Hospital shortly after the legislator’s passing.

According to the tentative program released by Mr Kyagulanyi, the proceedings will begin with a vigil at NUP headquarters today at 4 pm where party supporters and constituents are expected to pay final tribute and their last respects to the Kawempe North MP.

“Tomorrow, Muhammad Ssegirinya will be honoured in the Parliament of Uganda. We shall also proceed in the afternoon with all prayers for him and for the soul,” Kyagulanyi told journalists at Lubaga Hospital.

Ssegirinya will on Friday, January 10, be taken to Parliament for fellow legislators to pay final respects. This will be followed by prayers at Mbogo Mosque, Kawempe in the afternoon. The body will spend the night at his residence in Kasangati.

His body will then be transferred to Masaka District on Saturday and laid to rest at Kaddugala village on Sunday, January 12, 2025.

Bobi Wine explained that despite Ssegirinya being a devoted Moslem, who by religion is supposed to be buried on the same day of his death, his family (of Ssegirinya) requested the burial to be extended to Sunday, for relatives who are abroad to fly and be part of the funeral.

“We understand that Muhammad Ssegirinya was a devoted Muslim and we respect the Muslim religion. However, his family has requested the leaders of this religion to allow his relatives, brothers and sisters to fly into the country. Many of them are flying in on Saturday. That is why they requested the burial to be held on Sunday,” he noted.

At the time of his passing, Hon. Ssegirinya was under the dedicated care of the medical team at Lubaga Hospital, and despite all efforts to ensure his recovery, he passed away Thursday, 9th January 2025, at 12:10 pm, according to an official statement by the Hospital.

ALSO READ: PROFILE: The Life and Times of MP Muhammad Ssegirinya aka ‘Mr Update’

Mr Ssegirinya was elected to Parliament in the 2021 general election. Formerly Lord Councillor for Kawmpe Division, the MP has been in and out of the hospital both within and out of the country undergoing treatment ever since his health worsened upon release from Kigo prison.

Ssegirinya often said that the origin of his sickness started at the government prison facility where he and fellow MP Allan Ssewanyana (MaKindye West) were jailed for more than a year, over ‘trumped up’ murder charges in connection to deadly attacks that claimed over 20 lives in the Masaka Sub Region.

The two were released on bail in February 2023 but Ssegirinya has since then undergoing treatment in various facilities in Uganda, Kenya and the Netherlands.