Makerere suicide boy planned it for two months but nobody cared

On Monday November 12, Christopher woke up to the news that his cousin, Emmanuel Kagyina, had died after he allegedly jumped off from the towering Mary Stuart Hall at Makerere University.

“I could not believe it because I had seen him a week before and he was doing fine. No one would think he would do such a thing,” Christopher recollects.
He says while at home, Kagyina was a stubborn and joyful lad but away from his relatives, he was always a gentleman.

Revisiting the 80-year old Mary Stuart Hall where the tragic incident happened, no body, including the warden, who arrived at the scene first, wants to talk about it.
“It was a tragedy and we cannot afford to speak about it anymore,” one of the wardens who refused to reveal his name told the Saturday Monitor.
It is still unclear what could have caused the 23-year-old to take his own life.

Sour family ties?
It is alleged that he left a note decrying poor relationship with his family, especially his father, who is understood to be Mr Benjamin Kumumanya, an under Secretary in the Foreign Affairs ministry.

“This is the toughest and hardest decision one can ever make. But I am taking a critical analysis about everything, I had to make it [the suicide decision],” the note allegedly found in his pocket, read in part.

He added: “Dad, you are one of the best fathers one can ever have but I always wonder why we grew up without a close relationship. It is true I have wronged you in some aspects but it is true that I and you have not shared our relationships to the required standards.”

This appeared to be an issue that had been boggling the deceased for some time as tracked on a series of posts on his Facebook page- a social networking site, where he sought guidance from friends on whether it was okay for someone to commit suicide.

However, one of his cousins, Ms Phionah Kesaasi, denied that the cause of Mr Kagyina’s death was because of the poor relationship with his parents but rather fate.

“He grew up as a normal kid, had the best in life, the best schools, an amazing dad who opened doors to everybody who, despite his busy schedules, still found time to bond with his children,” Kesaasi says.

“Emmanuel’s days on earth had come to an end. Blaming parents, especially at this hour of grief is only detrimental,” she added. Henry Nsubuga, the manager of the university’s Counseling and Guidance Centre, linked the suicide attempts to depression resulting from social and economic problems.

Nsubuga says the cases are four times more prevalent in males than their females.
“This is because the girls keep on talking about their problems but the males always keep it to themselves,” he says.

He says 60 per cent of people who commit suicide would have tried to communicate about how they feel and what they plan to do but people close to them take them unserious and hence ignore them.

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