State Minister for Internal Affairs, retired Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, has urged Criminal Investigations Directorate Director Maj. Gen. Tom Magambo to step away from work temporarily and allow himself time to grieve following the death of his son, Timothy Muganzi Magambo.
Speaking during a requiem mass held in Mbuya, Otafiire said Magambo had continued carrying the weight of official responsibilities despite suffering one of the deepest personal losses a parent can experience.
According to Otafiire, Magambo has remained actively engaged in sensitive national assignments and had not properly rested even after receiving news of his son’s death.
The minister described the CID chief as an officer whose dedication to duty has often come before personal interests but said mourning should not be postponed.
“Tom, don’t hug your grief. Let Timothy’s soul go. I feel for you. I feel your grief. I was only in New York about five or six days before he passed on, so for you and your wife, I understand what you are going through,” Otafiire said.
He added, “It is a burning sensation. But relax. Time is still working and yes, you must have time to cry. Whatever happens, however strong you are, you get time to cry otherwise you suffer.”
Otafiire used the occasion to reflect on the inevitability of death and the temporary nature of life, telling mourners that loss, however painful, remains part of the human experience.
“Life is eternal in that it moves in cycles. Nobody knows the beginning and nobody knows the end. Whether you believe it or not, that reality is inevitable,” he said.
He urged the family to release their grief in faith and prayer and expressed hope that Timothy’s soul would rest peacefully.
The minister’s remarks came after an emotional address by Magambo, who revealed that his son’s death occurred at a time when he was under intense pressure handling sensitive state assignments.
“This week has been very dangerous for me,” Magambo said.
Without elaborating on specific operations, Magambo said his office had in recent weeks been dealing with politically sensitive matters and maintaining order amid what he described as increasing political indiscipline.
“We also have political indiscipline. I happened to have some tasking which I was supposed to do. As I was doing it, my son had also gone,” Magambo told mourners.
He reflected on the difficult choice between private grief and public responsibility.
He asked,“Now what do you do? Do you tell your troops to cry and run away? As a commander, you continue.”
Magambo praised his deputies and colleagues for stepping in while he dealt with the shock privately.
“I don’t know whether Sheriff is here, my deputy. He took over the mantle while I was crying in my own private space and I want to report to you that we delivered on the task from the President,” he said to applause.
He further disclosed that on the morning of the tragedy, he had first spoken to security leadership about ongoing operations before later revealing what had happened.
He said,“In the morning, Afande CDF called me around six to check on me about the operations we are doing. I briefed him about how far we had gone and later I said, ‘Afande, I have lost my son.’”
Magambo said the news eventually reached President Yoweri Museveni, who followed up to understand the situation.
The CID Director then recounted the final moments leading to Timothy’s death.
According to Magambo, Timothy had travelled with close friends for a swimming outing, something he had done before without incident.
“Timothy used to swim with those friends. They had grown up more or less together. It was not the first time they went swimming,” he said.
Magambo addd that but on that day, tragedy struck, particular time he got a problem in the middle of the water. By the time his colleagues started looking again, they could not see him.
Magambo said Timothy’s friends made every effort to rescue him and medical teams were contacted immediately.
“They tried their best. They picked him out. The doctor was called and we got on the phones. The mother jumped on the next plane. Unfortunately, by the time she was midway, we were told that our son had died,”he noted.
