Following the news of his demise after a brief illness on Sunday night, mixed emotions engulfed the Ugandan mainstream and social media about the man that former Attorney General, Peter Nyombi was.
Although some circles praised him as an honourable man who respected the law, others lashed out at him for acting with impunity and abusing the powers given to his office.
In a letter written by Solomon, the late’s youngest son, he notes that the public wrongly judged his father at every opportunity without even caring to know who he was or what he stood for.
“In fact, I recall one particular instance when I sat in a car with three individuals I was working with who were in the process of insulting him. Quite unaware of the fact that his youngest son was present in the car with them.
“I don’t blame them because they didn’t know him like I did and ignorance is bliss like the English say. The world is small, but the Lord Jesus is big and he enabled me to contain my anger,” he writes.
Nyombi, a senior lawyer passed away at SAS Clinic on Bombo Road in Kampala after feeling uneasy while attending a family meeting.
Aware of the father’s illness, Solomon says he was phoned by his sister while he was watching a football match between Machester City and Liverpool. The sister summoned him to SAS clinic immediately.
“I desperately clung to the hope that my daddy would be waiting on the hospital bed beaming at me. Alas, it was not to be. My dad, my hero, my mentor, my friend, this larger than life character, this force of nature was no more.”
“Or the times when I’d watch Manchester United matches with him and whenever United would score, he would shout for joy. He wasn’t originally a football fanatic but because of me, he grew to love watching football and Manchester United and Arsenal in particular because my brother is an Arsenal fan.
He could name almost all the Manchester United players and whenever he did I beamed with pride. The last match I watched with him was the 3-2 come back win against Newcastle at Old Trafford, a fitting tribute to a man who has spent all his life making comebacks.
Daddy never missed a visitation day and he made sure that we never lacked. He took a keen interest in our education and reprimanded us when we slacked in our academics because he believed in the fruits of hard work.
The man worked from Monday to Saturday including the last Saturday of his life in spite of his weakness. He never allowed himself to wallow in self-pity and he used to tell me; [ Poverty is a lion, flee from it.]
Dad was a fighter. This wasn’t the first time he was battling illness. In 2010, it was a heart problem added onto pre-existing diabetes and hypertension which he had had for years. When he was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2014, true to form, he declared that he was going to fight this and fight he did because the Jesus in him had overcome the world.
An operation was done and he was declared cancer free. In 2017, he developed a cataract problem and he was almost going blind and yet still he wouldn’t yield because Jesus was with him.
He was an anomaly and I mean this in the very best way. One famous opposition MP referred to him as a chicken thief lawyer. I recall a time when I sat in class and one of the lawyers whom he had worked with closely, called him a fraudulent man. I wished the entire world would swallow me up in that moment or when another lecturer compared him to a dog….(read full tribute here.)
According to the funeral programme released by the family, Nyombi will be prayed for today, Wednesday 10 am at Namirembe Cathedral and his body will lie in Parliament for public viewing at 2 pm. He will be laid to rest tomorrow, Thursday in Nakasongola district.
Nyombi who served as the Attorney General from 2011 to 2015 also represented Buruuri County in Parliament from 2001 until 2011. He is survived by one wife – Juliana and four children.