Whereas it is true that the creeping use of funerals to make political statements is a distressing development that should be discouraged, and whereas funerals are indeed very sensitive occasions held in solemnity, I want to point to some of the unique facts about Dr Sulaiman Kiggundu's burial that rendered these two generalizations not exactly applicable and therefore why I am happy Professor Nsibambi was never allowed to talk at the old doctor's funeral.

I know and we all know that Professor Nsibambi was not delivering a personal condolence message, nor was it on behalf of a certain class of relatives or friends. It was a message from the president, Yoweri Museveni.

Honestly and conscientiously, we can all reasonably estimate that Museveni did not, during Kiggundu's last days feature among the 10,000 closest friends or sympathizers, needless to mention that he is not Kiggundu's relative. On the matter of turning funerals into political arenas therefore, my submission is that President Museveni's speech was the very first attempt to politicize Kiggundu's funeral, as clearly it was a political intervention, unless one can argue that the president has got the right to deliver his speech at a funeral or other function of any Ugandan - a claim no sane person can assert.

It is an open secret, to what lengths the president has personally gone to see to it that he put Dr kiggundu in the place he was in, good or bad. Sincerely, then, why the pretence? Why should the world be so unfair as to allow a man torment a fellow man to the extent of allowing his words of mockery to be aired freely into the ears of thousands of genuine sympathisers? Does it not echo into the hearts of every keen observer what kind of speech was in the offing? Is it going to be that anyone who can come up with a few millions in condolence money should just be let to say what they want at funerals, regardless of the message contained therein, and most of all, the legitimacy thereof?

To blame "the opposition" for having mobilised the mourners to act like that is merely hiding away from the facts of the situation ostrich-style.

From the radio and television news, out of ten people that were interviewed at the funeral, at least seven would find the opportunity to mention Kiggundu's loss of his business empire and attributed it to Mr Museveni's Government. Was it not unreasonable then, to expect that the same crowd would listen to, or even if they did, take the president's condolence speech seriously?

On a personal level, I sincerely feel sorry for Professor Nsibambi for having suffered such unkindness for the sake of his boss, who chose to send him to read the wrong speech at the wrong funeral, in addition to the humiliation at the scene, but still strongly believe that the Presidents's words were not called for in the circumstances as the essence of an earnest condolence would have been totally lost.

 10 Jul 2008