Remains of liberation struggle hero Gen Elly Tumwine have been repatriated to Uganda from Kenya, where he had been receiving treatment.
The chartered flight carrying the freedom fighter’s remains touched down Entebbe International Airport at about 19Hrs on Friday, 26 August.
They were received by his family, friends and comrades in arms as NRA freedom struggle songs played.
“…. Wazalendo… pamoja… Ushindi wetu ni wa lazima…. (Swahili).
Gen Elly Tumwine's Remains Repatriated from Kenya to Uganda
Received by family, friends, and comrades in arms at Entebbe Airport as #NRA freedom struggle songs played.
🎶 Wazalendo.. Pamoja..Ushindi wetu ni wa lazima..(Swahili)#SoftPowerNews #RIPGenTumwine #RIPGenEllyTumwine pic.twitter.com/taxbZkrFew
— SoftPower News (@SoftPowerNews) August 26, 2022
Gen Tumwine succumbed to lung cancer on Wednesday, in Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi.
He served as Army Commander of the National Resistance Army (NRA) in 1986 and later as Director-General of National Intelligence. He also served as UPDF representative in Parliament from 1996 to 2021 and as Minister for Security from 2018 to 2021.
At the time of his death, Gen Tumwine was a Senior Presidential Advisor and a member of the UPDF High Command, where he had served since the NRA took charge of the country in 1986.
H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President and Commander-in-Chief of Uganda’s armed forces, eulogised Tumwine as a dedicated and hard-working cadre who had fired the first shot during the attack on Kabamba barracks that launched the 1981 – 1986 people’s resistance against the illegitimate and oppressive regime of old.
Gen Tumwine’s name will forever be ingrained in Uganda’s liberation history.