Ntungamo mourns seasoned radio journalist Musana

Ntungamo residents, leaders and journalists are mourning the death of one of the longest serving media personalities Thomas Musana.

Musana succumbed to injuries sustained from an accident on Christmas day when a speeding car knocked him as he rode on his motorcycle along the Ntungamo-Kabale road.

At the time of his death Musana, 46, was serving as a radio administrator, programs producer, deputy manager and presenter at Radio Ankole.

“We have not lost a worker, we have lost an asset and an all-round media personality who could do anything related to radio, no one will believe easily that Musana is gone,” Mr Elliott Kabangira Magande, the station Manager Radio Ankole said in an interview on Tuesday.

He succumbed to a suspected blood clot on Tuesday evening at Mayanja Memorial Hospital in Mbarara Town.

“It’s by God’s timing that this has happened, we should not blame anyone or think that its witchcraft or satan. What we all need to know is that we are all meant to die like we are all are born. Musana has been a creative person we shall all miss, he will not be missed by the radio like us who heard his voice,” South Ankole Diocese Rt Rev Bishop Nathan Ahimbisibwe said.

The multilingual journalist started his career at Kanungu based Radio Kinkizi in 2003 before moving to Ntungamo in 2008. He fluently spoke French, English, Runyankole/ Rukiga, Kinyarwanda, Lingala, Arabic, Spanish, Kiswahili, Acholi, Lugbara, Luo among other languages.

At Radio Ankole, he presented an early morning show; Kiswahili and Kinyarwanda news, produced programs and adverts, and was the administrator for the Radio as well as an assistant manager. He also taught Swahili and French at the Kanungu based Great Lakes University.

The station proprietor former deputy Attorney General Mwesigwa Rukutana said he suspected negligence at the hospital could have led to the Musana’s death.

“I am so furious! I have no doubt in my mind that this man died of negligence. I talked to him at 10:00am, he was so fine, we chatted, we laughed and I congratulated him for surviving the accident, he told me that the problem he had was a fractured thighbone and they were operating him at 2:00pm. I have two strong reasons to suspect omission or negligence. He died between 6:00 and 7:00pm before operation…” Mr Rukutana said in a WhatsApp post.

The Ntungamo Resident District commissioner Mr Geoffrey Mucunguzi said Musana was friendly and dedicated to his work.

Musana’s death comes just a day after a fellow employee at the radio station, Wilson Tumusiime, persihed in an accident. A truck at Kyamugashe off Ntungamo-Kabale road knocked him as he rode on his motorcycle on Monday evening.

The Ntungamo police traffic and road safety officer Ms Allen Kobusingye says there has recently been an increased rate of accidents along the district roads with over 10 people dying monthly since June.