Lokech: Roared in combats, kind to community

Top military, political and civic leaders yesterday filed at the home of the fallen Deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Paul Lokech, in Kira Municipality to pay their last respects amid an outpouring of praise and grief for the stellar soldier.

Reported to be in his early 50s, with the army promising to provide his personal records today, Lokech, who survived bombs, grenades and bullets in daring battles in and outside Uganda, died abruptly at his home on Saturday to the consternation of friends and foes alike.

Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, who like the deceased hails from Acholi Sub-region,  compared Lokech’s demise to the vacant landscape left by the felling of a huge and long-standing tree.

“If you go to a village, there is normally a huge tree. The moment you cut down a Mutuba tree, the landscape changes. You go to the place and it is a different place. What we are witnessing today is the fall of a Mutuba tree in the home,” he said.

Speaking poetically, Justice Owiny-Dollo added: “We are witnessing today what somebody has done to blast a huge rock like Tororo rock or cut down a huge tree and it has disappeared. You have to reconcile yourself that the tree isn’t there anymore.”

Among the mourners were members of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) top brass, who eulogised the two-star general as one of their finest and bravest in combat before he was assigned as the second-in-command of police to combat rising violent crime in the country, marked by broad-day assassinations of high profile citizens.

Whereas he roared in combats, at home and with civilians, Gen Lokech was tame and affable, demonstrating the admirable humility contrasting pomposity associated with ranked officers.

Gen Lokech died at his home at Kitikifumba, Kira Municipality in Wakiso District, on Saturday morning, taking his employer and Ugandans by surprise.

Police noted in a statement issued yesterday morning that pathologists established that his death was caused by two blood clots; one in the right ankle fractured five weeks ago and another in the lungs, which constrained breathing.

The two-star general, nicknamed for his exploits in expelling al-Shabaab from the Somali capital as the ‘Lion of Mogadishu’, reportedly fell off a chair and broke his ankle towards the end of July.

Gen Leopold Kyanda, the Joint Chief of Staff, said Gen Lokech was a fighter and he personally witnessed his fighting performance during the war against Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

“I stand here to testify from what the speakers have said. Gen Paul was a great fighter and he was determined with a sense of urgency. He acted with confidence and swiftness. I was in Mpondwe and saw how he brought the tanks back home,” Gen Kyanda said yesterday at the home of the deceased. 

Gen Lokech, who fought the ADF in early 2000s, stunned his supervisors when he led his troops on a treacherous trek to Uganda from Congo jungles – a daring mission peers presumed doomed.

Gen Kyanda said when Gen Lokech was deployed in the police, they were very sure that he would succeed and indeed performed well by arresting some of the elusive criminals such as the ones that attacked Gen Katumba Wamala and killed his daughter in an ambush in June. 

Lt Gen Charles Otema, the commander of Reserve Forces, said the manner in which Gen Lokech died when he survived the bullets and aircraft crash makes him reconsider the purpose of life.  

“It is very difficult for me to talk about Paul when he is no more. Someone, like Paul, survived bullets. He fought in Somalia, Congo and northern Uganda. We would have died together in a helicopter crash. He cried [when the helicopter dropped from the sky] and said ‘we are going to die’, but we didn’t. He was happy that we were going to retire and have a good time with our families. After all these, I wonder why we struggle in this world,” Gen Otema said.

He added: “We have lost our gallant son. We who have remained on earth are most hurt. It is so touching.… On my side, losing [former Gulu District chairman Col Walter] Ochora, losing [Maj Gen Julius] Oketta, losing Paul. Really! I used to be very strong, but I am not strong anymore. When I see my colleagues falling, it is too much for me.”

Col Ochora died abruptly in March 2011 while Maj Gen Oketta, who superintended emergency response in the Office of the Prime Minister, too died suddenly in November 2016.

These and other top UPDF officers, including former Chief of Defence Forces Aronda Nyakairima, have died of blood clots.

According to Ms Winnie Onyango, the eldest daughter of Lokech, their father was spiritual and generous, an act he copied from his former army commander, the late Maj Gen James Kazini.

“One wife of daddy’s long-time drivers told me that my father saved their marriage. Dad would send money to their (drivers’ and guards’) wives. He asked each whether he or she had built a house in the village. He would help to build houses for them. He said he learnt it from Gen Kazini, who built him a house in Kirinya, Bweyogerere,” Ms Onyango said.

Maj Gen Lokech shifted this year from the old house in Kirinya to a palatial one in Kira and images of the gigantic family house widely shared on social media yesterday dominated conversation online among Ugandan netizens.

Ms Onyango said her father also used to send money to Rev Andrew Nalumenya of Kirinya Church of Uganda to complete the construction of a worship centre.
Rev Nalumenya, who had attended the prayers at the home, confirmed.

“He used to send me money for the church project and I would tell him that I was to send him receipts, but he wasn’t bothered about it,” he said.

Mr Olara Otunnu, a former United Nations under-secretary and ex-president of Uganda Peoples Congress party, said he was proud of Gen Lokech and his abrupt death is deeply saddening.

“One of the things I admired about Gen Lokech [was] his down-to-earth attitude. We live in a world of pomposity, but he didn’t live such a life,” Mr Otunnu said.
He said while he was in the United Nations, he used to get reports about Lokech’s operations, which were all good.
Police spokesman Fred Enanga said a post-mortem done on the body of Lokech indicated that he succumbed to two blood clots.

“During the autopsy, the pathologists opened the right lower leg, which was injured, and found a very big blood clot that had formed in one of the big blood vessels. They further opened the chest and found part of the big clot was carried into the lungs. As a result, the vessels in both lungs were blocked, leading to the shortage in breath and subsequent death. It was thus concluded as death due to natural causes,” the spokesperson noted in a statement. 

“It was a simple fracture which was being managed at RUBY Medical Centre, by an orthopaedic surgeon. They put a PoP (palster of Paris) cast at the victim’s leg and managed him as an outpatient, with regular reviews,” Mr Enanga added.

However, on Saturday morning, the pain persisted and he sought to visit his orthopaedic surgeon for review.
Maj Gen Lokech telephoned his personal physician, Dr Ben Kingi, but arrived when he was losing the fight and all frantic attempts to save him turned late and futile.