We have established from family members that Melina was born in Kitokye, Rwanyamahembe sub-county in Mbarara district.
She is a daughter of James Rwabushagara. On Saturday, residents of Mbarara expressed shock at the killing.
“We are in total shock losing our colleague and a friend, Melina, and other Ugandans who have been killed,” Bright Muhumuza, a resident of Mbarara, said.
“Melina has been a well-disciplined lady, I taught her at Nyampikye Primary School and her parents are my good friends. Sincerely, we have lost as a family, as Mbarara and as Uganda,” Richard Tabaro, a family friend, who is also a Resident District Commissioner of Hoima district, said.
Kamukazi will be buried today in Kashongi, 15km from Mbarara town.
Husband of Merina Tumukunde Kamukazi speaks out
Mark Rugenza, Merina Tumukunde Kamukazi’s husband has said he did not expect his wife in Kampala on the day she was shot dead.
In an interview with the Sunday Vision , Rugenza said he travelled with his wife from Kampala to Mbarara on Tuesday.
“I then travelled back to Kampala on Wednesday, leaving her at home in Mbarara. But I am now getting to learn that as soon as I left, she teamed up with friends and travelled to Kampala without my knowledge,” Rugenza, the owner of Desert Bar in Mbarara and Gabs Lounge in Bugolobi, said.
He said he was informed on Thursday night that his wife had been shot dead in Kampala. “I called a friend in Mbarara to go and find out if she was not at home. The friend later confirmed that she did not spend the night at home.”
Row over burial erupts
Meanwhile, a row has erupted after Nteireho’s paternal and maternal relatives disagreed on where to bury him.
His paternal relatives wanted to bury him at either his mother’s burial site in Kashari, Bushenyi- Ishaka Municipality or near his father’s grave in Rwenjeru ward, Nyakabirizi in Ishaka town. The maternal side ordered that the body be taken to his maternal uncle’s place in Kazo sub-county, Kiruhura district.
The deceased’s elder brother, Martin, said they were disheartened that some powerful people on their late mother’s side had dictated that he be buried at his uncle’s place in total disregard of their customs.
“This is a big disappointment to us. We have, therefore, as a family resolved not to go to Kazo for burial,” he said in a statement on behalf of the Rushegyera family.
“We asked for the body to be taken to Kashari, but we were told by the people at the mortuary that it could only be released after we have resolved the matter,” he said.