Man who gave Kabaka bridal car, dug own grave, dead

A personal friend to Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi, who offered his Lincoln as the royal bridal car, has passed on at the age of 97.

Rabbi Can. Ezekiel Mulondo, also a pioneer founder of EA General Insurance, passed on at his home in Ntebettebe near Bweyogerere Tuesday evening.

                                                                                                  Mulondo had for long

been battling hyper tension and diabetes. His wife, Ekiriya Mulondo, said her husband passed on, surrounded by his family, including his children who had travelled from abroad.

The Lincoln parked at Mulondo's home in Ntebettebe

How the bridal car looked like on the day of Kabaka Mutebi's wedding. PHOTO/FILE

St.Francis chapel in Kyaliwajala that Mulondo constructed. He was a devoted man of God

Patrick Kizito, a friend to the late Mulondo narrateds about the grave. PHOTO/Amon Mukasa

Mulondo was so fond of the Kabaka that after the royal wedding in 1999, he, as a sign of respect to his king, never drove the car again. He kept it as a souvenir.

Mulondo was a devoted church goer and servant of God he built St. Francis chapel in Kyaliwajjala.  

Built grave in 1997

The LC3 chairperson of Namataba, Patrick Kizito, a friend to Mulondo, told this reporter the old man built his grave in 1997.

Kizito said he witnessed the construction of the grave. Mulondo had decided to build his grave after the late Bishop Misaeri Kauma's grave caved in a few days after his burial. Bishop Kauma passed away in 1997 owing to a suspected heart failure.

Mulondo's first house in Kyaliwajjala is now a hospital

Mulondo then said of the incident that people were untrustworthy so he would construct his own grave.

"My friend let me tell you; you see the Bishop's grave caved in and an awful smell emanated from there. I have decided to build my own grave not to cause people suffering and to avoid shoddy work on my resting place," Kizito quotes Mulondo having said then.

Kizito however noted that the resting area had not been completed as he had planned.

"He had wanted the place to have lighting around it and comfortable chairs around for people to come and reflect,"
 Kizito said.

Mulondo's resting place in Namataba was built in 1997. PHOTO/Amon Mukasa

Godfrey Kisule, one of the people charged with maintaining the grave said Mulondo had instructed that he did not want to be embarrassed in death. He had therefore decided to construct his grave and that of his wife and fence them off.

He said he had been cleaning the graves twice daily since their completion to keep them neat. 

The tiled graves have specific measurements. They are 8-feet deep and have a fence beyond which people who will attend the burial will not go.

There is a pipe that runs from his grave to that of his wife through which he will be communicating in the afterlife, according to his brother, Joseph Mukiibi. The graves already have fitting covers.