Aggrey Awori dug his grave 10 years before his death; Security takes over his final resting place

Former ICT minister Aggrey Awori will be buried in a grave he dug in preparation for his death almost 10 years ago.

Situated in a quiet place where he decided he wanted to rest after breathing his last, the grave has been empty for about a decade.

But on Monday, Awori, the occupant the grave has been waiting for died in Kampala after a month of sickness.

He suffered from hypertension according to family sources.

Covid19 has also been listed by some as cause of his death.

Now, security has been beefed up at the grave ahead of burial that will happen in coming days.

Locals have been visiting the the grave, well aware that a few people will be allowed to attend the funeral due to Covid19 lockdown restrictions.

Family members have been quoted as saying Awori prepared his grave to save his friends and relatives of the expenses of digging the grave.

AGGREY AWORI PROFILE

Date of birth: February 23, 1939, in Budimo Village, Busia District

Position: 10th born of 17 Children

Prominent siblings: 1) Ninth Kenyan vice-president Arthur Moody Awori; 2)Mary Okelo (first woman in East Africa to head a Barclays Bank branch; founder of Kenya’s women only bank [the Kenya Women Finance Trust]; founder of Makini Schools)

Parents: Canon Jeremiah Musungu Awori, a pioneer African priest of the Anglican Church in East Africa; Mariamu Odongo Awori, a nurse and community teacher

Education

Attended Nabumali High School

1959-1961: King’s College Budo

His father blocked him from joining Sandhurst Military College

1961-65: Harvard University (Switched from nuclear physics to Political Economics)

Harvard Sporting Record: became the first person in heptagonal track history to win three events – the long jump, high hurdles, and 60-yard dash, tying the heps record in the hurdles and setting the mark in the dash

Ran for Uganda in 110-metre hurdles at the 1960 Summer Olympics and the 1964 Summer Olympics

Later: Attained a Master of Arts in economics from Syracuse University

Career and politics

1967: Appointed the first local director of Uganda Television (UTV)

1971: Jailed for two months after Idi Amin’s coup for refusing to broadcast Amin coup speech

1971-76: Exiled in Kenya, teaching political journalism at the University of Nairobi

1976-79: Toured Tanzania, Senegal and Liberia, before returning to Nairobi and later Uganda after Amin fell.

1979: Lost National Assembly Election

1979: Appointed Uganda Ambassador to the US

1985: Tito Okello Lutwa transferred Awori from US ambassadorial role

1985-87: Uganda ambassador to Belgium

1987: Started Force Obote Back Again (FOBA) after Museveni dropped him as envoy and NRA reportedly confiscated his property

1992: Dissolved FOBA

1993: Awori reconciled with Museveni in New York

Elected to the Constituent Assembly to make the Constitution and as a MP

2001: Ran for president but polled 1.4 per cent

2001-2006: Represented Samia-Bugwe North in Parliament

2007: Crossed from UPC to NRM

February 2009-May 2011: ICT minister

2011: Lost Busia Municipality election to Kevinah Taaka Wanaha of FDC

Spouse: Thelma Awori (who worked as Director for Africa at the United Nations Development Programme). Aggrey and Thelma had six children