Ugandan soldier killed by Somali rebels buried

14 June, 2010

By: Wilfred Mulliro

Kampala (Alshahid) – A Ugandan serving as a peacekeeper in war-torn Somalia Private Eriya Kabuye, 33, who was killed by rebel militias in the Mogadishu capital was buried over the weekend at his ancestral home in Kibula, Luwero district.He was one of the two UPDF peacekeepers killed recently in Somalia during a fierce fight between government forces backed by AU peacekeepers and insurgents. The late was attached to the Somali State House as one of the official presidential drivers. Lt. Michael Turiraba, a political commissar in the office of the UPDF’s chief of personnel and administration, said Kabuye was killed by a mortar bomb as he returned to his base after dropping off Somali president Sheikh Ahmed Sharif at the airport.Addressing charged mourners during the burial, Turiraba said Kabuye and a colleague, whose identity he did not disclose, were killed when a mortar bomb was fired at their parked car.
A death certificate from the African Union peacekeeping mission headquarters in Mogadishu, which was read to the mourners during the burial, stated that the soldier died of ‘severe burns from a massive bomb blast’.
Tempers flared during the funeral when soldiers blocked relatives from viewing Kabuye’s remains saying they had instructions not to open the coffin. Viewing the body is part of the traditional last respects.Kabuye, who left a wife and three children, joined the army in 2003 and was described by the commander of the UPDF peacekeeping contingent in Somalia, Col.Tumusiime Katsigazi, as an exemplary soldier.In addition to buying the coffin, the army contributed sh300,000 to the construction of the grave and gave sh1m to the bereaved family.Burundi and Uganda are the only contributors to the 5,000 AMISOM force in the war-torn Somalia. A total of 8,000 soldiers are needed.About 38 soldiers have been killed since the force first deployed in March 2007. Of these, 19 were Ugandans.