Prof. Apolo Robin Nsibambi was accorded a 17 gun salute as his body lowered into his eternal home at Kasero Church of Uganda, Buloba in Wakiso District.
Vice President Edward Ssekandi, who represented President Museveni at the funeral service at Namirembe Cathedral said that Nsibambi, Uganda’s longest serving Prime Minister was given a state funeral due his honest service to the country.
Nsibambi was buried on Tuesday next to his father and late wife, Rhoda.
During the requiem mass, speaker after speaker praised the late Nsibambi.
His daughters praised him as the ‘best daddy’ as well as ‘a mentor who shaped them to be what they are today.
Nsibambi’s widow Esther, praised him as a loving man who ‘loved her with all his heart’.
“When my friend told me that she had given in my name when Prof Nsibambi was looking for a woman to marry, I was not happy because I had decided not to get married again. But I later prayed and asked God what I wanted in case I get remarried. Indeed Nsibambi has been what I prayed. He has loved me and I have felt happy always. I call upon men who are here to love your wives because we feel happy when we are loved,” said Esther.
She also urged the family of the deceased to focus on the unity and the love that the late has always been preaching.
“Let’s not allow our hearts to be taken by Nsibambi’s wealth but let’s look at what he has always preached – love and unity. Bye bye my Apolo,” she added.
Archbishop of Church of Uganda Stanley Ntagali who led the requiem mass challenged politicians who were present to emulate the legacy Nsibambi has left.
“Whoever has come here has been praising Nsibambi but I want to challenge all the politicians present here, to emulate Nsibambi. Many of you have said that he was an incorruptible person. He has completed his job now the ball is your hands. Our politicians have drowned in the sea of corruption which has affected us I call upon you to follow his footsteps,” said Ntagali.
Prof. Nsibambi, 78, also a onetime chancellor of Makerere University, is said to have been battling prostate cancer. Close sources say he refused to seek for government help and decided to keep his illness a secret with his family till his death last Tuesday.
