I knew my wife was dying six months ago - Wafula Oguttu

The former Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Parliament, Mr Philip Wafula Oguttu, spent the past six months agonising over the death of his wife to whom he has been married for 42 years.

Alice Nabugembe Oguttu, who succumbed to cancer on June 24, was on Saturday laid to rest in Saanika Village, Nankoma Sub-county in Bugiri District. She was 61 years old.
Mr Oguttu brought thousands of mourners to tears when he recounted the last few months leading to his wife’s death.

“For the past six months or so, I have known that Alice was going to die; someone you love, want in life but know is going becomes part of your soul and body. That lady is lying with part of my body and soul. That’s a fact,” he said.

“I am not the same for the past week or so (and) for the past month she has been in palliative care,” Mr Wafula added.
The deceased has reopened the debate about the country’s healthcare system after Mr Oguttu said she was unaware of the stage at which she developed cancer.

According to Mr Oguttu, his wife started feeling “some pain” and was taken to Mulago National Referral Hospital, Platinum and Rubaga hospitals from where she was referred to Nairobi Hospital.
“At Nairobi Hospital, I met Prof Godfrey Nsereko Lule, a Ugandan, and I was very angry about that. Why should Prof Lule be in Nairobi and not Kampala?” he wondered.

Mr Oguttu, however, said his wife had developed a tumor on the pancreas, which needed an operation to be removed, but could only be performed in Nairobi by someone who charged thrice the cost in India.
Nevertheless, the operation, he said, was “successful “, and only needed to be followed up with checkup every six months and soft chemotherapy at Mulago National Referral Hospital, which unfortunately lacks a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan.

The PET scan uses a mildly radioactive drug to show areas of the body where cells are more active than normal. 

Dr Fred Okuku, an oncologist, would later confirm to the family that the cancer cells had spread from the pancreas to the liver. 
At the time of her death, Mr Wafula said his wife had “silently become political” because of hosting politicians. “She has died a non-practicing politician,” he added.

Eng Patrick Amuriat, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) president, said when the party started having meetings in homes, they became frequent visitors of Alice and Mr Wafula in Ntinda, a Kampala suburb.
“For years, she (Alice) provided sanctuary as we plotted to oust Mr Museveni,” Mr Amuriat said.

Eng Amuriat noted that cancer is very common in the country, but preferential management and treatment is given to one percent of the population. “If a quick test is performed, one out of four (25 percent) of you (mourners) are sick and waiting to die.”

During the burial, politicians cast their prejudices aside and promised to work together. “Politicians who have not been talking to each other are doing so because of Alice and I am happy about that; they are saying ‘we should work together’,” Mr Wafula noted.

National Unity Platform (NUP) party president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, said: “I personally had to come and deliver my condolences; but going forward, let us cooperate to save our country from ‘rebels’.”
Mr Wafula, who is a founding member of Daily Monitor, said he has spent 30 years in the media and is now going to devote the rest of his time to his family.

Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago said he owes being at the helm of Kampala City to the deceased and Mr Wafula, citing a time when state machineries allegedly wanted to hound him out of City Hall.
“Mr Wafula was instrumental because at the time Mr Amama Mbabazi was Prime Minister, my mandate was being questioned but Mr Wafula, who was LoP at the time, stood his ground, saying I was genuinely elected with more than 300,000 votes,” Mr Lukwago said.

Dr Kizza Besigye, the former FDC party president, in his speech read by Mr Lukwago, described the healthcare system in the country as “shambolic”, saying he wants the deceased to be the last person to seek cancer treatment abroad.

The government was represented by the Minister for General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ms Justine Kasule Lumumba, who delivered President Museveni’s condolence message and Shs10m contribution towards the burial.