KAMPALA. The family of the late Kampala Mayor Al Haji Nasser Ntege Ssebagala has said they regret the coming of Kyadondo East Member of Parliament Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine to the funeral of the deceased.
Ssebagala who died in September was buried at his ancestral home in Kisaasi, a Kampala suburb but his funeral took a swift political turn with the arrival of the singer-cum politician and his cohort of youthful supporters.
The rowdy youth heckled different speakers and hijacked the program in demand for Bobi Wine to address the mourners.
Speaking to the Kampala Post about the incident, several family members who preferred anonymity said they were disappointed with the decision to allow the attendance of the NUP leader.
The family members castigated Bobi Wine's and his supporters' behavior as well as elements in his speech which they say were misleading to the well-wishers that had gathered for Seya's send-off.
"He is a fraud star, his behavior and that of his supporters can never be forgiven. It was disrespectful and embarrassing," one of the family members said.
According to the family, Bobi Wine used the platform to mislead the youth yet he continues to earn from his political activities and aggrandizing himself.
"We have it on good authority that he and his wife have since purchased apartments in prime areas like Naguru, Ntinda and Najjera yet he keeps inciting the youth to disrupt their growth," another family member said.
The family members are also unhappy that Kampala Woman MP and Lord Mayor hopeful Nabbilah Naggayi Ssempala abandoned Ssebagala when he needed her most.
Family sources claim that the late Mayor helped Nabbilah launch her political career but she snubbed the deceased's mandatory Dua prayers to attend the inauguration of the NUP manifesto in Mbarara.
Ssebagala, 72, succumbed to cardiac arrest at Kampala International Hospital (IHK) on September 26. His family said he fell in his bathroom in Munyonyo on September 7 and was taken to IHK with abdominal complications.
President Museveni paid tribute to the former Kampala mayor as one of the pioneers of entrepreneurship in Kampala and Uganda in general.
“On behalf of the government and on my own, I wish to convey my heartfelt condolences to the family. Uganda has lost a great entrepreneur. He was among the first Ugandans to establish big enterprises. He devoted his prime years of life to serve Ugandans. We pray that his outstanding service will be a form of inspiration to most Ugandans,” Mr Museveni said in a message read by Second Deputy Prime Minister Ali Kirunda Kivejinja.
