President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, also the Commander in chief of the Armed forces, has released a statement on the fallen former Security Minister General Elly Tumwine .
In a brief statement, Museveni says Tumwiine succumbed to lung cancer at around 5:46 am Thursday morning in Nairobi, Kenya.
Museveni says he talked to the deceased’s wife on the phone, who passed the message of his demise. He describes Tumwine as an active student of his, at Burunga Primary School in 1967 where he served as a student teacher. He also describes him as a dedicated and hard-working cadre.
"Gen. Tumwiine was now 68 years old. I had taught him at Burunga Primary School in 1967, after our A-levels, as a student teacher, before going to University, later that year." he said
President Museveni also hailed Tumwine as a loyal cadre who has served in the Army from the times of the National Resistance Army (NRA) to the now National Resistance Movement (NRM). Museveni recalls how Tumwine fired the first shot that led to the NRA war in Kabamba.
“He joined FRONASA with 9000 others in 1979, went to Monduli Military School in Tanzania, and was the one who fired the first shot on the 6th February 1981, at Kabamba, at the beginning of the 1981-1986 war of Resistance. Gen. Tumwiine has been part of the leadership of the NRA- UPDF as well as serving the government in various capacities. Those capacities included being Army- Commander, member of the High Command, Director-General Intelligence, Minister of Security, etc.
The former security Minister and four-star retired General died at the Aghakhan hospital in Kenya’s Capital, Nairobi.
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Tumwine reportedly collapsed at a wedding and was admitted to Nakasero Hospital in Kampala, in July 2022. When his condition deteriorated, he was flown to the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi.
The former security Minister retired from active military service in July 2022. On Monday 16 May 2022, Tumwiine was among 34 generals who retired from the UPDF.
