Busoga mourns former Bugiri chairman Lyavala
Lyavala
Jinja- Former Bugiri District chairperson Siraji Lyavala has died.
Lyavala yesterday succumbed to kidney cancer at Norvik Hospital in Kampala where he has been admitted for about a month.
His death drew condolence messages from friends and relatives.
The Opposition Justice Forum (Jeema) party paid tribute to Lyavala.
“Hajj Lyavala Siraji Samanya will be remembered in the recently concluded Bugiri Municipality MP election when he went against his party position and supported Candidate Asuman Basalirwa,” Jeema wrote on their Facebook wall.
Lyavala, who stood in the NRM primaries and lost to Ms Jane Francis Oketcho, contested for the Bugiri Municipality MP race only to pull out in favour of Mr Basalirwa, the current MP.
Explaining why he never supported his party candidate, Lyavala then told Daily Monitor: “I also wanted this seat but I discovered that Bugiri was bigger than me. I then looked among all contestants and discovered that Basalirwa was the right man.”
NRM Secretary General Justin Kasule Lumumba paid tribute to the deceased.
“May the Almighty Allah be pleased with all his good deeds and may the most high forgive him all that went astray. Burial arrangements will be announced later,” Ms Lumumba said.
Lyavala is also said to have campaigned for Ms Lumumba to become the current Woman Member of Parliament for Bugiri.
Lyavala served as a councillor in Iganga District before it was carved out of present day Bugiri. He was at the forefront of fighting for the formation of Bugiri District in 1997.
When the district officially started, he became its first chairperson until 2011 when he was defeated by the incumbent, Mr Malijani Isabirye.
He was later appointed senior presidential advisor for Busoga affairs.
He leaves behind a widow and five children, according to his son, Mr Meddy Lyavala. The burial is likely to take place tomorrow in Bugeso Village, Lwemba Sub-county in Bugiri.
