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Govt to reveal the cause of Oulanyah death tomorrow
The children of the former Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah address mourners at his residence in Muyenga, Kampala on April 3, 2022. Details about the exact cause of death of the former Speaker will be released on April 6, 2022 during the State funeral at Kololo Independence Grounds in Kampala photo/ DAVID LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- The government has linked the cause of death of the former Speaker to cancer but has not specified the exact type.
Details about the exact cause of death of the former Speaker, Jacob Oulanyah will be released tomorrow at the State funeral at the Kololo Independence Grounds in Kampala, Health minister Jane Ruth Aceng has revealed.
Oulanyah passed away on March 20 at the University of Washington Medical Centre, US where he had been taken to receive specialised medical care.
The government linked the cause of death to cancer but did not specify the exact type.
ALSO READ: Father claims Oulanyah was poisoned
The government’s position also contradicts that of Oulanyah’s father, Mr Nathan Okori, who said his son was poisoned.
While addressing mourners at the Sunday night vigil at Oualnyah’s home in Muyenga, Kampala, Dr Aceng said: “Whenever I stand up here, people expect me to give the report concerning Oulanyah’s death. We shall do that on Wednesday at Kololo.”
She added that the former Speaker was accorded the best medical care but God chose to give him rest.
“The Lord saw that he had done his work and he needed relief and so He took him home and we are grateful,” Dr Aceng said.
Before he was taken to the US for specialised care in February, Oulanyah was admitted to Mulago hospital, according to information from the government.
“There was a group of 15 doctors that we set to look after him. They were led by Dr Jackson Orem, the executive director of Uganda Cancer Institute. There were many renowned physicians and many haematologists who took care of him and it was from there that we planned his journey to Seattle,” Ms Aceng said.
However, the medical referral which Information minister Chris Baryomunsi two weeks ago described as unavoidable, attracted protests from a section of Ugandans who demanded that government improve the quality of health care in the country to curb spending on such trips.
Many government officials including Speaker of Parliament Anita Among and Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo said Oulanyah was also not willing to go for medical care.
The government reportedly paid Shs1.7b for Oulanyah’s chartered flight to the US, excluding what was spent on medical treatment.
Dr Aceng said earlier that Oulanyah did not get the actual treatment he was taken to the US to receive because he died as doctors were still trying to stabilise him.
His death was eventually announced by President Museveni on March 20 and his body was repatriated last Friday.
Speaking to mourners last week, Justice Owiny-Dollo said elders will gather after the Friday burial to address controversies around the exact cause of Oulanyah’s death. He had earlier said Oulanyah had cancer.
“Today, even young children go to the radio and talk about death. The issue of death is not for children, but for elders,” Justice Dollo told mourners in Kampala on Friday night.
