The former Democratic Party President, Dr. Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere was accorded a 17-gun salute as he was laid to rest today at his ancestral home in Nattale-Nkumba despite a plea from the widow Prof. Germina Namatovu Ssemogerere to disassociate the late husband from guns.
In her speech, Prof. Namatovu Ssemogerere asked the state not to accord her husband a gun salute during burial, because he never wanted to associate with guns while he was alive adding that he was a peaceful man.
“My husband detested anything related to guns, no gun salute for him,” Mrs Ssemogerere said.
However, government went ahead and gave him a 17-gun salute in respect to his services as a former Prime Minister of Uganda.
Ssemogerere died on Friday, November 18, 2022 at the age of 90 at his home in Rubaga Division in Kampala.
President Yoweri Museveni on Saturday directed that Dr. Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere should be accorded an official funeral.
Ssemogerere served as President General of the Democratic Party for 25 years after succeeding Benedicto Kiwanuka. He was also a two-time presidential candidate, first in 1980 against former President Milton Obote and in 1996 against the incumbent President Yoweri Museveni.
