Parliament on Thursday afternoon held a moment of silence after receiving information about the demise of Kawempe North Member of Parliament, Muhammad Ssegirinya and former Koboko District Woman Representative Margret Baba Diri.
Ssegirinya’s death has been confirmed by the Management of Lubaga Hospital where he has been under medical treatment.
Following his death, the Speaker of Parliament Anita Among announced to parliament’s plenary session that there will be a special sitting tomorrow to honour the late Ssegirinya for his contribution to the country as a Member of Parliament representing Kawempe North constituency.
The late Ssegirinya born in 1988, served as Lord Councilor for Kawempe North in the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Council from 2016-2021 and later elevated to the seat of MP for Kawempe North in the 2021 general elections on the National Unity Platform (NUP) party.
Trouble for Ssegirinya and his Makindye West counterpart, Allan Ssewanyana started on September 3rd, 2021 when the Commissioner of Police, Paul Kato Tumuhimbise on behalf of the then Criminal Investigations Director Grace Akullo wrote to the Speaker of Parliament summoning them to appear before detective Moses Taremwa at Masaka Police Station on September 6 to record statements in connection with the Greater Masaka machete killings.
They were subsequently arrested, charged in Masaka High Court and remanded for more than a year.
Eventually the duo was granted bail to enable them have access to medical treatment due to their deteriorating health conditions. They paid a cash bond of 20 million Shillings and deposited their passports with the court while their sureties paid 50 million Shillings non-cash bond.
On 13th February 2023, the Masaka High Court Judge Lawrence Tweyanze released MPs Ssegirinya and Ssewanyana after spending 15 months on remand following alleged murder of 20 people in the Greater Masaka region in August 2021. Despite gaining his partial freedom, Ssegirinya’s health deteriorated.
Despite being pinned to different hospital beds in Uganda, the Netherlands and Kenya, he recently indicated that he would contest for another term in Parliament in the 2026 general election but this hasn’t come to pass with today’s sad news of his passing.
Similarly, former MP Baba Diri was also announced dead as she was being rushed to the hospital. She served in parliament from 1999 till 2021.
By Francis Lubega
9 Jan 2025
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