Uganda second deputy prime minister dies at 85

Uganda's second Deputy Prime Minister Ali Kirunda Kivejinja has died in a hospital in the capital of Kampala. He was 85.

Judith Nabakooba, minister for information, communications, technology and national guidance said Kivejinja, a veteran politician died at Mulago National Referral Hospital, where he had been admitted at the intensive care unit for weeks, Xinhua reported.

"He was a true patriot, a mentor to many and a great man for those that had a chance to interact with him," said Nabakooba.

"Uganda government and the National Resistance Movement stand with Kirunda Kivejinja's family in this time of need," she said.

Kivejinja was born on June 12, 1935. He served in the 1960s as a political mobilizer for the now opposition Uganda People's Congress. Then it was the ruling party.

( With inputs from ANI )