Gen. Tumwine dies in Nairobi. His death extends curse of mistrust in country’s health system

RIP: Gen. Elly Tumwine

Gen. Tumwine, who was popularly known as the first NRA rebel who fired the first shot at Kabamba military barracks which sparked off the five-year rebel war that brought NRM to power, breathed his last at Aga Khan hospital in Nairobi, Kenya after battling lung cancer.

He was 68, according to President Yoweri Museveni.

Gen. Tumwine was flown to Nairobi a fortnight ago to Nairobi after a long period of poor health.

While Ugandans continue to mourn the fallen bush war hero, it is not lost on many that the country’s poor health system is pushing away those who would be expected to pattonise it because they have been in charge of affairs for close to four decades.

Since the beginning of this year, the country has lost two former ministers and one Speaker of Parliament of whom died in the hands of foreign doctors.

Former Ethics Minister Fr. Simon Lokodo died in from Geneva Switzerland in January 2022. His passing was followed by that of former Speaker Jacob Oulanyah who died in Seattle Washington, USA in March. Also, former Environment Minister Jesca Eriyo passed away in Canada this month.

The trend of government officials dying from abroad has been described as an indictment on the government for it’s abdication of duty, and failure in arguably the most crucial responsibilities.

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