President Museveni lays a wreath on the casket containing Chango Macho’s body in Busia District yesterday. The President praised Macho for advising him on oil-related issues. PHOTO BY STEPHEN WANDERA
BUSIA- The chopper carrying President Museveni made an emergency landing at Lugazi yesterday after it hit a bird in Mukono airspace.
The chopper was then abandoned and the President took another to attend the burial of former Presidential Adviser Chango Macho in Busia.
“When we were flying over Mukono, a bird hit the propeller of the helicopter and because of that, we were forced to land safely in Lugazi town,” Mr Museveni told mourners.
By press time, the mechanics were still examining the extent of the damage on the chopper.
“It was a UPDF chopper and the landing was precautionary. Another UPDF chopper was called from Entebbe to take him to the burial,” the Special Forces spokesperson, Capt Chris Magezi, said last evening.
“We could not take any risk, and the mechanics are assessing the extent of the damage. You cannot take chances when dealing with the plane. For any such situation the best option is to stop the flight,” he added.
President Museveni described the late Chango Macho as a Pan-Africanist, who fought against corruption.
He also revealed that the late helped the government discover oil in the Albertine region and was the first person to support the idea of sending Ugandans to study oil abroad.
He castigated the opposition for “making noise about oil yet they did not contribute to its discovery”.
Awori confesses
Former Samia Bugwe MP Aggrey Awori revealed to mourners gathered at Bukwekwe P/S how the Uganda Peoples Congress party in 1980 rigged out Chango and blocked his nomination for Samia Bugwe after he failed to prove that he could speak English.
Mr Awori also revealed that aspiring candidates were held at road blocks until nominations were completed.
Chango was laid to rest in Hasyule in Lumino, Busia with a 3-gun salute.
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