What high profile Funerals has Uganda Funeral Service handled ?

UFS has made a lasting mark on high profile funerals. “We have handled disasters, for example; we single-handedly handled the funeral and outward repatriation services in the Entebbe Air crash situation where five foreigners perished in Lake Victoria in October 2000 in a CESSNA210 Aircraft,” she says.

The funeral and inward repatriation of fellow Ugandans in the incident of John Garang and 13 others who perished in a helicopter crash in July 2005 near the South Sudan border were handled by UFS. Another incident was when UPDF Air force crew enroute to Somalia crashed in the Kenya Mountains in August 2012, the funeral management was also handled by UFS. It is noteworthy that all these events were handled without closing their normal operations.

“We have two private storage facilities, and we are in the process of establishing more countrywide. We also have a large fleet of hearses for transportation to any part of the country and beyond the borders. We also have a sister company dealing in coffins/caskets. These combined with our trained youthful workforce make us a formidable force with the capacity to handle a sizable disaster,” she says.

Mukiibi(RIP) explained that UFS is fortunate in that it has both national and international membership to several Associations. When it comes to repatriations in-ward or outward, this membership plays a key role. “We have connections with Funeral Homes virtually all over the World. Mention the country and we have a contact.” she explains.

Impact on traditional funerals

The birth of UFS was a response to the already disintegrating ties that used to bind us together as a society.

“Our work pressures had started taking us away from our villages to towns, across borders and out of the continent. When death occurs however, we all need a quick shoulder to lean on. UFS today quickly provides that shoulder.” she explains.

Mukiibi (RIP) says with traditional funerals, one of the most significant features was the terror of death. “These days more and more human remains are prepared for viewing, they are therefore not as frightening as they used to be,” she says.