The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
By Independent Team
President Museveni will today join as many as 90 heads of state in South Africa to attend a mass memorial service to pay homage to Nelson Mandela in the 95,000-seat FNB Soccer City stadium.
The memorial service is likely to be one of the biggest gatherings of international dignitaries in recent years.
The former South African president died aged 95 last Thursday after many months of battling with a lung infection.
Hundreds of people began assembling outside the stadium during the night in order to secure a place for the memorial service as police warned some people would eventually have to be turned away when the stadium gets full since it is not a ticketed event.
Museveni will join other world leaders including Barack Obama and former US presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
South African President Jacob Zuma will address the crowds and there will be eulogies from other heads of state, including US President Barack Obama, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Cuban President Raul Castro.
In his condolence message President Museveni said of Mandela, “he went to jail where he spent 27 years. Out of his 95 years on earth, given to him by God, it is only in the last 22 years, since 1991, that he has lived as a free man. What a sacrifice!!”
“Mzee Mandela and his colleagues in the ANC have fulfilled their mission of throwing out the oppressors. It is the duty of the present generation to immunize Africa against future colonisation.” Museveni added in his message.
The former president of South Africa will be buried at Qunu in the Eastern Cape on December 15.
