Fallen former IGP Kisembo to be Buried on Sunday

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  The fallen former Inspector General of Police (IGP) John Kisembo, will be laid to rest on Sunday at his ancestral home in Kitema village, about two kilometres along Mugalike-Isunga Road in Kagadi District.  

Kisembo, 64, Uganda’s IGP from 1998 to 2001 succumbed to lung cancer, on Thursday. According to a programme released by Police Spokesman Fred Enanga, a requiem mass in honour of the deceased will be held at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Mbuya on Saturday morning.  

According to family sources, Kisembo’s condition stretches to 2017 when he started developing lung-related illnesses. However, the hospitals in Kampala hospital couldn’t confirm cancer until he was flown to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. At the time of the diagnosis, the cancer was beyond remission and was in and out of hospital until he breathed his last.  

Catherine Kabonesa, the younger sister to the deceased confirms the burial programme to take place on Sunday.  

Former Buyaga East Member of Parliament Ignatius Besisira described the later as a humble police officer who contributed immensely to the growth of the region. He is also credited for advocating and contributing to the construction of Kibaale police station headquarters.  

At the time of his death, Kisembo was the acting Director of the United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders (UNAFRI). Before his appointment as IGP, Kisembo was deputy to John Cossy Odomel who was IGP from 1992 to 1998.  

Born on October 1, 1955, at Kitema, kyanaisoke Sub County in the then Mubende District, Kisembo went to Mugalike Primary School and later joined Moroto Municipal Primary School before joining St Mary’s College Kisubi for his Ordinary Level education which, however, he completed at St Edward Secondary School Bukuumi.   

In the early 1970s, Kisembo joined Old Kampala SS for his advanced level education and was admitted to Makerere University to study Sociology. His leadership skills started to manifest when he was voted the information minister of Northcote Hall from 1976 to 1977.

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