By Mulengera Reporters
Led by his son Justice Allan Nshimye, members of the fallen retired Supreme Court Justice Augustine Ssebutulo Nshimye used the Easter Sunday vigil to thank President Museveni for financially standing with them.
Allan narrated to the mourners, who on Eastern Sunday gathered at the deceased’s Mawanda Road home in Kamwokya, how the deceased’s children used personal money to prolong and save the life of their dad as they struggled to access him to expensive treatment. He specifically thanked his brother Arnold, a medical doctor, and their sister Angela for their relentless efforts.
Justice Nshimye, who retired from active Judiciary work in 2017 upon clocking the mandatory retirement age of 70 years but stayed on as a retained mediator, was in 2022 diagnosed with stage four lung cancer-and the family thanked Prof Galukande and Dr. Omoding for relentlessly being there for him and for prolonging his life.
After symptoms persisted, it was Galukande who correctly diagnosed what it was and Omoding became his personal doctor all through.
He had complex symptoms including his lungs continuously producing a yellowish fluid which complicated breathing and required him to visit IHK twice a month for the same to be squeezed out. As the condition advanced, the fluid turned reddish. He could only breath and have effective oxygen flow if it was flushed out.
At first, upon diagnosis, the deceased’s children were assured there was no need to waste money, time and effort flying him abroad because this was a terminal condition relating to a very complex form of cancer and all they had to do was investing in palliative care. Allan told mourners his dad was originally assured he had just 8 months to die (as of 2022) but prayer and Dr. Omoding’s efforts prolonged that to four years.
“Another doctor said he would be dead within one and half years and my sister Angella said no I’m going to pray for dad to overcome this and we ended up doing four years. Dad was also a good patient because he religiously took his medicine. There was a daily drug Dr. Omoding prescribed, which helped to shield him against infections, and dad took it religiously. Those who were close to him know whenever it reached 4pm, he disengaged and rushed home. It was because he had to take his medicine at exactly 4pm as was advised by Dr. Omoding.”
Because he was generally a very secretive person who also never wanted to stress or burden anyone with his personal problems, Justice Nshimye ordered his children to strictly keep quiet about his lung condition. He only personally confided into a few close friends and Anglican clerics like Rev Canon Justus Miranda Njagala (who led prayers during Sunday vigil) about it while asking them to pray for him.
Allan explained that to shield him against infections (to which he was now very susceptible because of the fragile state his lungs were in), it had long been advised that Justice Nshimye regularly wears a face mask (like Gen Museveni does) whenever he goes for community engagements but he vigorously refused that saying it would attract curiosity as to why, and in the process people would get to know what he was suffering from. “He liked his privacy and didn’t want to have to explain himself all the time as to why he is wearing the mask.”
Allan explained that his dad had become used to his condition, always responding well to medication, until a few months ago when he noticeably developed general body weakness, which those close to him took note of and began being inquisitive about. This naturally disturbed him a lot. In the ensuing consultations, Dr. Omoding proposed change of the medicine he was on. Allan said there was also a drug Omoding recommended but couldn’t be got anywhere in any of the pharmacies in Kampala yet it was very important to stabilize his dad’s condition.
And the decision, as to which new drug he should be moved onto going forward, could only be appropriately made after diagnosing his condition afresh. This required access to better diagnostic laboratories than was readily available in Uganda or anywhere else in the region.
At first as of 2022, his tests were done by way of getting specimen (blood and flesh samples) which were carried to labs in Nairobi, South Africa and beyond. That is how it was discovered that his lung cancer was at stage 4.
This time round (March 2026) he needed to be flown out of the country and an advanced facility in Turkey had been identified as ideal. “We had already mobilized ourselves and prepared the money and were ready to go for that,” Allan told mourners, many of them were his fellow Judges.
The family commenced on visa acquisition processes which proved complicated because of the ongoing Trump/Netanyahu war against Iran in the Middle East. As the visa processes played out, the patient’s condition kept getting worse though he would still move around including driving to Mityana to see his cows and interact with community members in his native Namutamba village Sekanyonyi Sub County.
Ten days before his death, Justice Nshimye returned from Mityana where he checked on his farm workers, saw his cows and interacted with community members. He drove himself back to Kampala but the next day, his condition worsened (because he had become exposed to a strange infection while interacting with community members). He was having breathing difficulties while repeatedly complaining of general body weakness. He could hardly sit nor walk unaided.
He was reluctantly rushed to Nakasero hospital and on some other days Kampala hospital where specialists attended to his multiplicity of symptoms. Allan says he kept saying he didn’t like being in the hospital and kept demanding to be taken back to his home at Mawanda Road. He would clock 80 years December this year.
There were plans to secure air ambulance services and evacuate him at least to Nairobi for better management (as the Turkish visa was being awaited for) but the medics advised against it saying he was too weak and that wouldn’t make much difference.
Because he insisted on being managed from home, three huge oxygen cylinders were procured to get him through the Easter festive season as the Turkish visa was being awaited. He never made it and passed on at his Mawanda Road home from where he was being medicated as Ugandans got into the holy week.
It was revealed that after his death, the Judiciary top leadership made it clear to the family through Justice Allan that there was no money to foot funeral expenses because, having retired from active service, Justice Nshimye wasn’t entitled to such.
That’s how Chief Justice Flavian Zeija, who described the old man’s passing as big loss to the judicial fraternity, rang President Museveni who granted an official burial which among other things means the state taking care of all the burial expenses.
Allan thanked the President for his largeness of the heart and explained that, even when the financial burden had been taken off their shoulder, they decided to bury Justice Nshimye without much delay (including waiting for his body to be taken to Parliament for a special session) because in his life time, he resented having to burden anyone else in any way. He is to be buried on Tuesday (tomorrow) at his ancestral home in Mityana district’s Namutamba village, which famously is home to many Ugandan banyarwandas.
In his life time, Nshimye served as Judge, Regional Cooperation Minister and MP for Mityana South up to 2006 when he was ousted by veteran CBS radio news anchor Ssozi Kaddu Mukasa. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
