By Paul Ibanda
Sgt Stanley Ssempala aka Kifulugunyu, the NRA bushwar singing soldier, is dead
The deceased ex- soldier is remembered for composing some of the morale-boosting songs during the National Resistance Army (NRA) bush war that brought President Yoweri Museveni to power.
Following his retirement from the army, Kifulugunyu retreated to a life of poverty and when this website last caught up with him in September this year, he was selling kaveera water, music CDs in public places and pop corns for a living.
He narrated to PML Daily how the house he had constructed using his retirement package of Shs8 million had been attached by a bank because of failure to clear a loan he had secured to pay school fees for his children.
Kifulugunyu was born on January 8, 1937 to Elifaza Bulasiyo Mwebe and Phoebe Nalumanga in Namiringa Village in Wakiso district.
He dropped out of school in Primary Four and became a mechanic. In 1964, he joined the army and served for 43 years. He retired in 2008 at the rank of sergeant. Kifulugunyu sang songs such as Kino kyekiseera, O’motonawaaka, Nitasonga and Kibonge, among others.
The cause of Kifulugunyu’s death is still unclear but according to his wife, Saudah Nalubega, the celebrity singer fell down while leaving home in the night yesterday.
“At first, I thought it was a simple situation that could not claim his life. My husband was full of life and I thought he would get back to normal but this wasn’t the case,” Nalubega said.
Kifulugunyu is survived by a wife and several children.
