The alumni of Namasagali College have earmarked over shs 280 million for the burial of their former head teacher, the late Fr. Damien Grimes, whose body arrives in the country from the United Kingdom (UK) on Thursday.
The budget shall cater for all expenses, including airlifting to Uganda, the requiem masses at the designated chapels, feeding mourners at the wakes, and finally the burial at Namasagali chapel in Namasagali College, Kamuli district.
Fr. Grimes, who served in Namasagali for over 37 years, died aged 93 in the UK and willed that his body be repatriated to Uganda for burial.
Among the itinerary, Shs70 million will be allocated to construct the expensive mausoleum at Namasagali Chapel, while Shs19 million is for improving the college’s infrastructure in the bid to befit the burial event.
The organising committee, headed by Baker Magunda, is holding both physical and virtual crisis meetings to ensure that all is set before the body arrives on Thursday.
Daniel Bazira, a member of the committee and former Namasagali College Head teacher, said, “As the alumni and friends are united and working together to ensure that all goes well until the final sendoff.”
Across the villages in Namasagali Sub County and the neighbourhoods, communities are eager to receive “their friend,” who, during his tenure, put Namasagali’s to the limelight for close to four decades.
“During his times, money flowed through the village paths. The school bought both livestock and agricultural products from the communities, and many lives changed,” Moses Basooma, the resident of Kasozi, said.
Ezekeri Buyinza, 75, a former worker who undertook security, labour, and cleaning services, said the “Grimes’ regime was outstanding. Salaries came as early as the 27th, and we at times got advance.”
Business in Namasagali Trading Centre boomed due to the rich students in the college, translating to brisk businesses that collapsed after Grimes exit in 1998.
In his eulogy, Moses Kizige, an old student and also the Ugandan Ambassador to Russia, said that owing to the well-positioned and prominent men and women in Uganda and the diaspora he mentored, Fr. Grimes deserves the prestigious send-off.
“Fr. Grimes mentored many, including me. He imparted in me talents that include leadership, singing church music, sports, and accounting,” Kizige said.
Kizige added that although Fr. Grimes is dead, the fact remains he’s still alive, quoting Soccer Star Pele, who said, “A lion is a lion, even in its sleep.”
Fr. Grimes, a Mill Hill missionary, first taught in different colleges before he was deployed to Namasagali College, which he turned into the then nation’s best academic hub.
