The State Minister for foreign affairs Henry Okello Oryem confirmed to theGrapevine that the family of the late celebrated international cardiologist Dr. Aggrey Kiyingi Ssebowa has to first seek permission from President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s government for his body to be allowed into the country for burial at his ancestral home in Busukuma Division, Nasana Municipality, Wakiso district.
Last week, Mariam Nakayiira, wife to Dr. Kiyingi through her social media platforms, announced that the father of her kids had died.
In the early 2000s, during the burial of his mother Norah Kiyingi Ssebowa at Seeta village, then Busukuma Sub county Wakiso district, Dr. Kiyingi declared support for the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
By then, he revealed that his family is political and has members supporting different political parties. He gave the example of his young brother Samuel Kagulire Ssebowa who was a staunch supporter and a founding member of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and Dr. Kizza Besigye.
He welcomed opposition legislators who attended the burial led by Winnie Byanyima, wife to Dr. Besigye.
The NRM was highly represented and President Museveni sent his condolence message. Among the government officials who attended the burial included; the late Gen Elly Tumwine, Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala the current senior works and transport minister, Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi the current security minister among others.
Dr. Kiyingi’s father the late Azalia Ssebowa was a strong supporter of Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) and Dr. Milton Obote murdered him because of politics.
Dr. Kiyingi was praised for loving his mother to the extent of taking her to good medical facilities some of the most expensive hospitals.
Because Dr. Kiyingi was an international cardiologist based in Australia, this attracted to him popularity countrywide particularly in Buganda and his name was always mentioned on Buganda Kingdom’s Central Broadcasting Services (CBS) where he was always praised as the only black cardiologist who operated hearts of the rich and powerful of the world including American presidents.
Dr. Kiyingi through his Dehezi Computer International built CBS radio website and he started donating computers to schools in Buganda including Namulonge Primary School where his mother was a board member sitting on the PTA Committee before her death.
He also started donating money and other requirements to churches and one of the beneficiaries was Katuso church at Buziga in Makindye Division Kampala city where he was given a special seat which no one was allowed to use even while he was away.
Dr. Kiyingi started meeting and holding meetings with high level clergy from the Church of Uganda especially West Buganda dioceses and Namirembe dioceses.
M7 GET CURIOUS AFTER INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING
Highly placed sources at Mengo revealed to theGrapevine that President Museveni was later briefed by intelligence that Dr. Kiyingi was building a political base in Buganda and had started meeting key Buganda Kingdom decision makers and church leaders privately with former Vice president professor Gilbert Bukenya and they were cooking a political coalition.
As Museveni carried out clandestine investigation, sources claim that Dr. Kiyingi started getting suspicious that his first wife Robinah Kayaga Kiyingi was being used by the State to spy on him.
He was advised to file a divorce case at Mengo court accusing her of adultery.
Sources claim that Dr. Kiyingi’s suspicion increased when his secured a well paying job at Transparency International, an organisation fighting corruption.
Before joining Transparency International, Robinah was struggling with her Kiyingi and Company Advocates.
ENTER THE NASTY DIVORCE AND DEATH OF WIFE
When Dr. Kiyingi filed for divorce, his wife opposed it.
She explained that Mengo Court lacked jurisdiction to handle the matter.
She filed similar proceedings in an Australia Court, where she thought and believed her property interests and other interests would better be catered for because of the property the family had in Australia and by the fact that the petitioner had a dual citizenship in Australia and Uganda.
She also further accused Dr. Kiyingi of plotting for her death and she expressed this plot overtly by talking to various.
She reported one such incident to police and to her relatives whereupon she expressed fear that Dr. Kiyingi, was after her life.
As the legal battles proceeded in Uganda and Australia, Robinah was gunned down on 11th July, 2005 at around 9.00pm while she was entering her gate in Buziga at 8pm and the prime suspect was Dr. Kiyingi.
Kiyingi was humiliated at the burial of his wife and his mother-in-law nearly slapped him.
His children also refused to greet him, his brothers-in-law insulted him and he was saved by security.
Sources claim that a decision was taken to arrest Dr. Kiyingi at the burial of his wife but Gen. Tumwine advised that he should be given time to mourn his wife’s death as investigations proceed.
However, detectives at the police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) claimed that the Australian government was planning to help him run out of the country to survive arrest.
Security was heavily deployed at his Buziga home.
He was slapped with murder charges together with Charles Berwanaho and No. 22682 D/C Mugisha Bob.
The late Joan Namazzi Kagezi, a nonsense prosecutor with the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP), who was also a close friend to Robinah led the prosecution team.
They told the now late Justice Robby Opio Aweri that Dr. Kiyingi masterminded the brutal murder of his wife because she was threatening to have a share of their multibillion empire.
Dr. Kiyingi was saved by the criminal law giant MacDosman Kabega who put up a spirited legal fight and he was exonerated when Justice Aweri ruled that he had no case to answer.
Once the judgment was delivered, Dr. Kiyingi immediately ran out of the country after being advised to do so to avoid re-arrest because the State was planning to appeal the ruling.
Counsel Kabega was supposed to attach some properties of Dr. Kiyingi because he disappeared without paying him fully.
Another remembered scenario in Kiyingi’s case was the death of the prime suspect whom State accused of pulling the trigger that ended Robinah’s life, he died in the prison’s bus while he was being driven back to Luzira prison.
KIYINGI CURSES HIS FAMILY
Dr. Kiyingi was humiliated to the born marrow in court when his own children testified against him in the murder case. He later told his close friends that his young brother Kagulire Ssebowa and their maternal and paternal uncles and aunties influenced them and he cursed them.
Sources in the Ssebowa family told theGrapevine during our investigations that Dr. Kiyingi claimed that his family members wanted him to be sentenced to death so that they could grab his multibillion empire.
However, theGrapevine has learnt that he forgave them and by the time he breathed his last, he was on good terms with children.
Sources told theGrapevine that as years went by Dr. Kiyingi’s fellow doctors here and in Australia advised him to get another wife because he was lonely, always in deep thought.
That is how he was connected to Nakayiira, a singer from Gomba in Masaka District.
They later got married and had children but some of the family members told theGrapevine that she has been controlling him and preventing them from talking to him.
These family members also allege that they want the Australian government to investigate Nakayiira because they are not buying her narrative concerning the cause of Kiyingi’s death.
“We haven’t yet received the postmortem report, we are sure that the Australian government is investigating the death of Dr. Kiyingi because has been an asset,” a family member told theGrapevine.
Nakayiira is a young sister to Aisha Nakasibante who was charged with terrorism, murder and treason charges together with tabliq sheikhs led by Sheikh Yunus MUhammad Kamoga and her boyfriend Sheikh Multerd Bukenya who is also young brother to Sheikh Kamoga.
They were later exonerated at the Court of Appeal after appealing at the Crimes War Division of the High Court.
CURSES OPPOSITION POLITICIANS
Former Makindye East legislator Ibrahim Kasozi was among the many opposition politicians and journalists who survived charges and detentions on allegations of cooperating with Dr. Kiyingi to overthrow President Museveni’s government.
Former Inspector General of police Gen. Edward Kale Kayihura, in one of the briefing to President Museveni told him that Dr. Kiyingi had entered a deal with Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) founding Commander Jamil Mukulu Kyagulanyi and he had become one of the funders of the terrorism group.
Gen. Kayihura also accused Dr. Kiyingi of masterminding the murder of Sheikh Ibrahim Hassan Kirya, Sheikh Mustafah Bahiga and government officials.
During the whole saga, Gen. Kayihura wrote to the then speaker of parliament Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga asking her to pass over criminal summons to MP Kasozi asking him to appear before Kibuli CID to record a statement on allegation of supporting terrorism and rebel activities in the country.
Sources claim when summoned to collect his summons, Kasozi cried in Kadaga’s office and pleaded with her not to hand him over to Kayihura’s men.
He denied being a supporter of Dr. Kiyingi. Kadaga told Kasozi that the only thing she can do for him is to help him get audience with President Museveni which Kasozi welcomed with open hands.
Kadaga herself drove Kasozi to State House and they met Museveni and he pleaded his innocence. Museveni made a phone call to Gen. Kayihura stopping him from pursuing Kasozi.
When Dr. Kiyingi received the information that Kasozi had betrayed him, he revealed to his supporters that he had dismissed Kasozi as his director for mobilization under his political party the Uganda Federal Democratic Organisation (UFDO).
Dr. Kiyingi through political journalists like Siraje Lubwama kept on threatening that he is coming back to contest for president in 2016.
However, Gen. Kayihura influenced the move to slap criminal charges on him noting that the State was going to arrest him once he steps foot on Ugandan soil.
Gen. Kayihura even planted spies and commandos to follow Dr. Kiyingi’s movements.
He survived being arrested in Nairobi Kenya when he came for a high level meeting with his party mobilizers from Uganda. He had to change the venue of the meeting to South Africa.
During the course of investigating this story, theGrapevine has established that Dr. Kiyingi never talked to Jamil Mukulu even though he sent him a number of requests to meet him so that they discuss plans to overthrow Museveni. However, Mukulu did not trust him since was not a Muslim.
Sources in intelligence told theGrapevine that because Dr. Kiyingi wanted to meet Mukulu, he decided to start recruiting Muslim sheikhs through his sister-in -law Aisha Nakasibante but before meeting Mukulu, he was arrested in Tanzania and extradite back to Kampala.
Mukulu is currently detained in Luzira prison while he awaits for his trial on murder, terrorism and treason charges.
By Sengooba Alirabaki
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