How healthcare system failed Soroti magistrate

Since Friday 13, 1307, when the Knights Templar of France were rounded up by King Philip IV of France and reprimanded on charges of heresy and blasphemy, the superstitious have considered Friday the 13 to be an unlucky day. While some are less inclined to consider it an unlucky date, loved ones of Margaret Aanyu, the erstwhile Soroti Chief Magistrate, find themselves with an unquestioning acceptance.

Aanyu woke up on Friday 13, a little over a fortnight ago, feeling and looking poorly. She would never again regain good health. Per Dr James Opio, a close relative, the 54-year-old magistrate had initially wanted to check herself into hospital for treatment. Her house help, however, deemed her too weak to get behind the wheel. Unbeknown to Aanyu, she was ceding a window of opportunity to save her life.

“The opportunity to save her life between the Friday morning and evening, was missed because of a blackout in communication,” Dr Opio told mourners at St Charles Lwanga Catholic Parish in Ntinda, Kampala, two Thursdays ago, adding, “Between 6pm and 7pm, we had to break her bedroom door. She was found unconscious and she had soiled herself.”

Aanyu was swiftly shuttled to Bethesda’s Hospital within Soroti City. Quick tests revealed that she had breathing difficulties that the facility wasn’t equipped to deal with. Referred to the Doctor’s Plaza, the fallen magistrate’s blood pressure reading was twice the normal rate, which is 120/80 mm Hg (millimetres of mercury).

Difficult journey
After controlling her blood pressure, Aanyu was soon back on the road. The Doctor’s Plaza also referred her to Kampala Hospital. The siren started wailing at 9pm. The ailing magistrate was to be ambulanced to the Ugandan capital of Kampala. Barely minutes into the journey, while in Kumi District, the ambulance team noticed that Aanyu was grasping for breath.

There was one problem, though. The ambulance was short on supplies of oxygen. So two hours—between 9.30pm and 11.30pm—were lost to a quest for oxygen. They hopped from Kumi Health Centre IV to Kumi Orthopaedic Hospital and were met with blank looks.

After getting a lucky break at Ongiino Health Centre, the ambulance’s engine roared to life. It made a stopover in Iganga District to refill its small oxygen cylinder before making the final leg to Kampala. It was in the wee hours of Saturday morning—at 6am—that the ailing magistrate was wheeled into Kampala Hospital.
Scans at Kampala Hospital revealed that Aanyu had suffered a brain bleed. 

The brain bleed further changed things. Kampala Hospital would refer the magistrate to Aga Khan Hospital in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. The doctors in Nairobi asked that Aanyu’s brain pressure be stabilised before being medevacked out of Uganda. This was successfully done by 11pm on Saturday. There appeared to be green shoots of recovery, with Aanyu even able to blink.

Tireless worker
Things, however, took a turn for the worse from 11am and midday on Sunday. A heart attack triggered by high blood pressure caused severe bleeding in her brain. At this point, the ailing magistrate stood no chance. She took her last feeble breath at Kampala Hospital. The hypertension that dealt Aanyu a fatal blow was attributed to the heavy workload she graciously took on.
“She was caretaking Katakwi, Kumi, Kabermaido and Soroti City. […] she would have to write judgements in the night and she was one of the most incorruptible judges,” Mr Flavian Zeija, the principal judge, disclosed.

Agatha Acom, who represented the deceased’s friends, described her as someone who “would do anything to fulfil her job requirements.” Per Acom, Aanyu’s multitasking skills surged to the fore when her sister was stricken with cancer.
“She gave her courage to hang in there. She would travel from Soroti to Kampala at night to attend to her sister. She loved God and she did everything to mobilise resources for the church,” Acom revealed.

Francis Ian Onapito, her only son, who is currently pursuing his bar course at the Law Development Centre, spoke about helping his mother put legal documents in order. Onapito Ekomoloit, the board chairperson of Nile Breweries, with whom Aanyu had Ian, described her as a tall, beautiful fighter.
It was only in August that both Onapito Snr and Aanyu went to Uganda Christian University to celebrate their son’s Bachelor of Laws Degree. Across 20 years, the pair put aside any differences they had to raise Ian.

 Born on November 11, 1969, to John Omuse and Gaudensia Ajilong, both deceased, Margaret Aanyu had one sibling (Lorna Aguti), who lost her battle to cancer last year. She is survived by Ian Ekomoloit and Onapito Ekomoloit, whom she got married to in a traditional ceremony.
She attended Father Hilder Primary School Soroti, Madera Girls Primary School, Tororo Girls Secondary School, Makerere University (1992 to 1996), and the Law Development Centre (1997).

Between 1998 and 2002, she was a legal associate at Katende, Ssempebwa & Company Advocates. From 2002 to 2004, she served as a legal officer at Non Performing Assets Recovery Trust before joining the Inspectorate of Government in 2004. She has also served as Grade One Magistrate at the courts in Nakawa, Lyantonde and Matugga. This was until 2021. After, she was appointed chief magistrate Grade One, taking care of Soroti, Serere, Katakwi and Kabermaido districts. She was laid to rest at her ancestral home in Kasoka, Bukedea District, last Sunday.