Former Information and Communication Technology (ICT) minister Aggrey Awori was on Saturday laid to rest in Kibimba Village, Buwuni Town Council, Bugiri District, in a grave he constructed 10 years ago.
Ms Nafula Awori, his daughter, said although her father had built a house and constructed a grave inside, he had not disclosed it to family members.
“We simply saw the house as any other extension because Dad even kept it a secret to two of his confidants,” Ms Nafula said, adding that the family only came to learn about the grave after his death.
Awori, who is also a former MP for Samia Bugwe North, passed away aged 82 last week at a Kampala hospital due to Covid.
The ‘scientific’ burial brought together representatives from Kenya and Uganda, with the Kenyan team being led by Mr Dennis Awori, the deceased’s nephew, and Dr Robert Barasa, the Bishop of Nambaale Archdiocese in Western Kenya.
“We crossed the border from Kenya to witness the burial of our own despite the Covid-19 restrictions,” Dr Barasa said.
Speaker after speaker eulogized Awori, who represented Samia Bugwe North in the Constituent Assembly and Sixth Parliament, as a “Christian, accomplished politician and man of the people”.
Ms Cecilia Ogwal, the Dokolo Woman MP, said Awori stood tall in all his endeavors.
“Awori stood tall in politics, academics, sports, diplomacy and generally tall in everything,” she said.
Mr Awori, the deceased’s nephew, delivered a condolence message from Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta, who described the deceased as “a Pan Africanist who supported employment in Kenya and pioneered the teaching of journalism at Nairobi University”.
His daughter, Ms Nafula, said Uganda’s State House was responsive when the family called informing them about her father’s death.
“State House contributed Shs70m towards hospital bills and funeral arrangements, and we appreciate the good gesture by President Museveni,” she told mourners.