Slain lawyer's last words to her husband, daughter

A lawyer reportedly spoke to her four-year-old daughter and husband moments before being fatally struck on the head with a paver, her grieving family has told the Monitor.

Ms Susan Alweny, 36, the Head of Claims at Liberty Insurance, was on last Friday murdered in Kiwatule, a Kampala suburb while waiting for a Boda Boda to drop her home in Mbalwa, Kira Municipality, Wakiso District.

But moments before, the deceased spoke to her four-year-old daughter, Abba, while fearing that she would be robbed, but not killed, according to her husband, Mr Peter Oketch.

“She [daughter] wanted to speak to the mother and when the phone was put on loudspeaker, her mother said, ‘I am coming home, be patient; my phone will be grabbed’. That was the last time I heard her voice,” he said.

“I will miss everything about my wife. For someone you have known for 20 years, surely you must miss everything. She was my mother because I lost my mother, so there are no words that can explain how I feel,” Mr Oketch noted.

The mother of two was the last born in a family of six, including Ms Stella Nyapendi Chombo, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA)assistant commissionerin-charge of border affairs, policy, and legal services.

Calls and WhatsApp messages to Mr Fred Enanga, the Police Spokesperson, went unanswered. 

Mr Henry Chombo, the deceased’s brother-in-law, said she spent Thursday night at their home in Jomayi Nabusugwe Estate, Goma Division, Mukono District, before leaving for work on Friday morning.

According to Mr Chombo, the deceased then rang her husband at 7pm, asking if he would take her out, to which he reportedly said they may not [go out], but she should come home.

However, her husband rang Mr Chombo on Saturday at 12:30am, saying she hadn’t yet reached home.

“The deceased doesn’t go out, she isn’t a criminal and therefore couldn’t have been arrested. At 5am, I rang her husband and we combed nearby police stations, starting with Kiira and then Najera, but they both had no idea,” Mr Chombo recounts.

“But when her husband said she rang him from Kiwatule after buying goat's meat, I knew something was wrong because that place is known for a spate of crime, so we decided to ask at some Boda Boda stage,” he adds.

At the stage, one of the Boda Boda riders was hesitant to speak to them while another was willing, and told them that there was a lady who was hit with a paver and bled profusely before the police were called in and took her to Mulago Hospital.

It is then that they rushed to Mulago Hospital with the hope that she was still alive; unfortunately, she was not.

Tributes

Ms Victoria Balisinwa, a workmate, described her as an elder, sister and mother.

“She was my boss but she didn’t treat me as her subordinate. On Wednesday, she got her daughter’s first artwork and asked me to frame it, but it is a pity she died before I could complete it,” she said before breaking down in tears.

Facebook user, Anita Kituyi wrote: “You taught me a lot about life dear and made me laugh each time I was sad. Oh! It is so sad to lose a dear friend like you. May your soul rest in peace, Sue.”

Norah Kakai, another Facebook user said: I didn’t know one day I would be writing final good-byes on your wall . . . The pain is terrible. Rest in Peace, my friend.”

Rita Athiang wrote: “Good Lord . . . . My dear sister Alweny Susan is gone, killed.”

The deceased was born on March 7, 1986, and attended Tororo Girls’ School for her ‘O’ level, Namirembe Hillside for her ‘A’ Level and Makerere University Law School. She will be laid to rest on Tuesday at Mwenge Village, Nagongera Town Council in Tororo District.

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