Ugandans On Twitter Mobilise Funds To Support Family Of Pte. Sabiiti Who Killed Minister

Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye, the spokesperson for the Defense, stated that the UPDF is not required to bury a soldier who commits suicide or a crime like Sabiiti.
Due to reports that Pte. Sabiiti, 33, had been carrying a significant financial burden for his family and revelations from his family members about their financial struggles, the online campaign that has drawn criticism from some commentators was started.
A group of Ugandans using social media have started a fundraising campaign to aid the family of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldier who killed the country’s state labor, employment, and industrial relations minister.

Col. (rtd) Charles Okello Engola was assassinated by Pte Wilson Sabiti on Tuesday morning at his residence in Kyanja, a Kampala suburb.

Due to reports that Pte. Sabiiti, 33, had been carrying a significant financial burden for his family and revelations from his family members about their financial struggles, the online campaign that has drawn criticism from some commentators was started.

According to this source, the fundraisers have been using her cell phone to send money to Sabiiti’s young sister Oliver Musiimenta so that she may plan the soldier’s funeral and keep taking care of his kids.

The campaign was started when Pte Sabiiti’s past and financial troubles were revealed by his close family members in a piece that this publication published on Friday.

The family’s largest issue, according to Ms. Musiimenta, was providing food for the mourners who had flocked to their home in Mubali Village, Kijura Town Council, Kabarole District, since Wednesday.

We do not now have enough food to serve the mourners, and we were not able to create a budget for the funeral because we did not know when it would happen. When my brother’s body would be sent home has not been officially communicated by the authorities, she said.

According to Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye, the spokesperson for the Defense, UPDF is not required to bury a soldier who commits suicide or a crime like Sabiiti’s.

“The family typically handles the arrangements, however out of sympathy the UPDF will assist the family in getting the body to the funeral location. We will disperse as soon as the body is delivered,” he stated.

But Ms. Musiimenta praised the sympathizers who have been giving her gifts for the family.

“I have received numerous calls from sympathizers. We still need additional support, but I do not know their names,” she stated.

According to reports, Pte Sabiiti has been the family’s primary provider since his father, John Karimuda, passed away in 2016.

His mother, who is currently in her 80s, three siblings, and six children—four of whom are his—have been under his care.

“I am not sure what I am going to do to take care of this family he leaves behind. He brought all the kids to me after his two wives [left him]. Uwezeyi Keduresi, the mother of Pte. Sabiiti, said, “He was paying their school expenses, but now I am going to be trapped.