By Naome Kiwala
Kawempe North Member of Parliament, Hon Muhammad Ssegirinya aka ‘Mr. Update’ has been confirmed dead.
Ssegirinya, 37, who was attached to the Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) breathed his last Thursday at Lubaga Hospital in Kampala at around 12pm.
“With deep sorrow, Lubaga Hospital announces the passing of Hon. Muhammad Ssegirinya, the Honorable Member of Parliament for Kawempe North,” the Hospital announced in an official statement.
“Hon. Ssegirinya has been under the dedicated care of our medical team at Lubaga Hospital. Despite all efforts to ensure his recovery, he passed away today, Thursday, 9th January 2025, at 12:10 pm,” the statement added.
“On behalf of the hospital, we extend our heartfelt condolences to the Parliament of Uganda, the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Members of Parliament, his family, and the people of Kawempe North, whom he represented with passion and commitment. We join the nation in mourning a dedicated servant of the people. May his soul rest in eternal peace.”
The Hospital statement came hours after NUP President, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine earlier clarified that the medical doctors at Lubaga had declared Ssegirinya just ‘brain dead’ with a pulse still alive from his heart.
The NUP leader’s statement was reechoed by the Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Joel Ssenyonyi who said Thursday that Ssegirinya was still battling for his life with just his ‘brain dead’.
“The doctors said he’s brain dead. They said all his internal organs have shut down. But there’s that small pulse. The doctors said they cannot pronounce him dead because it’s ethically wrong. We ask Ugandans, especially his constituents in Kawempe North to pray for him,” Mr Ssenyonyi told journalists at Rubaga Hospital where the legislator was admitted.
Mr Ssegirinya was elected to Parliament in the 2021 general election. Formerly Lord Councillor for Kawmpe Division, the MP has been in and out of the hospital both within and out of the country undergoing treatment ever since his health worsened upon release from Kigo prison.
Ssegirinya often said that the origin of his sickness started at the government prison facility where he and fellow MP Allan Ssewanyana (MaKindye West) were jailed for more than a year, over ‘trumped up’ murder charges in connection to deadly attacks that claimed over 20 lives in the Masaka Sub Region.
The two were released on bail in February 2023 but Ssegirinya has since been undergoing treatment in various facilities in Uganda, Kenya and the Netherlands.
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