The Former internal affairs minister Gen. Aronda Nyakairima has been accorded a 17 gun salute as his body was being lowered into his eternal home the grave.
This is in honor of his service to the country in particular as an army general.
The Gun salute is a military norm performed to senior army officers performed by the firing of cannons or artillery as a military honor.
The custom stems from naval tradition, where a warship would fire its cannons harmlessly out to sea, until all ammunition was spent, to show that it was disarmed, signifying the lack of hostile intent. As naval customs evolved, 21 guns came to be fired for heads of state, or in exceptional circumstances forhead of government, with the number decreasing with the rank of the recipient of the honor.
By Joshua Mutale