Mother of three dies in Rukungiri-bound bus

Passengers aboard a bus travelling from the capital Kampala to Rukungiri District in western Uganda were last evening left horrified after a 32-year-old woman died in transit. 

Margaret Kyomuhendo who was accompanied by her elderly mother, Aisha Kedembe is believed to have died after excessive bleeding aboard a bus belonging to Kasaba Investments.

"I travelled last night (Friday) to Kampala to pick her after receiving several distress phone calls that she was very ill. She has been working in Kampala as a house help. Two weeks ago, she called me and said she was four months pregnant. A few days later, she had a miscarriage," said Ms Kedembe, a resident of Kagamba Village, Kajara County, Ntungamo District in Western Uganda.

Ms Kedembe said she picked Kyomuhendo from the Taxi Park where she was delivered by her employer before they went to Kisenyi bus terminal where they boarded the bus to return home.

“We had planned to disembark the bus in Mbarara because I wanted to take her to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital since I couldn’t afford Kampala hospitals. By the time we reached Ruharo, Mbararra District, she was unresponsive so we just proceeded. When the bus reached Kagarama in Ntungamo District, I asked the conductor to allow me take the body,” Ms Kedembe added.

One of the bus passengers who asked not to be named told this reporter that the conductor asked them to support Kyomuhendo's body in a sitting position until they reached Kagarama.

“It was my first time to touch a corpse but I don’t even know where I got the courage from. I just realised that life is so short indeed. I pity her mother and family. It’s my first journey to the western region, having sat in the bus from 8am to 12:40pm when we set off from Kampala,” the passenger told this reporter on Saturday night.

Ms Kedembe told this reporter on Sunday morning that preparations to have her daughter buried on Monday were underway. 
When the area police were contacted, they said they were yet to get a report about the incident.
Kyomuhendo is survived by three children.

Past incidents 

This is not the first time for such an incident to happen.
On January 20, 2023, a 78-year-old man died aboard Arua-bound bus which he embarked in Kampala.
Paulino Kaliisa Ongom Oyuru, a civil engineer by profession is said to have been found dead at KKT Bus terminal in Arua City between 3am and 4:00am.

On November 3, 2022, police in Soroti District in eastern Uganda said they were investigating circumstances under which a passenger suddenly died aboard a Gateway bus.

Mr Oscar Ageca, the regional police spokesperson for East Kyoga said Oscar Ocen, a security guard at Saracen security group, was travelling from Kampala to his home village in Abim District but died suddenly in Soroti District before reaching his final destination.
On October 8, 2009, passengers travelling from Kampala to Arua were left in shock when a man died during the journey.
Police at the time said Komakech Lutwa died between Jejja and Kigumba on the Gulu-Kampala Highway at about 1am.

Lutwa, who was a casual labourer with the National Forestry Authority (NFA) in Mayuge, is said to have requested his colleague, Thomas Yedeya, to accompany him home after he fell ill.

Yedeya told the Police he did not tell anyone his friend had passed on until the bus reached Bweyale trading centre in Masindi District. At Bweyale, the body was dumped at the stage before the bus proceeded to Arua. It was removed by the Police at about 7am.