Agaba’s death sparks hostile responses

It is bad manners in many African cultures to celebrate the death of someone. But this seems to be the conclusion from many Ugandans who are commenting about the death of George Agaba Ninsiima, a former Director of Planning at Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).

Agaba died on arrival at Mbarara hospital on Saturday after he had been rescued from a terrible accident car wreckage that happened at Nyamitanga on the road from Mbarara to Isingiro.

A police statement said the driver of a Pajero registration number UG 0672B, lost control of the vehicle and overturned. The driver was allegedly trying to dodge a pedal cyclist when he lost control. Agaba’s other co-passenger and President Yoweri Museveni’s only biological sister Dr. Violet Kajubiri is said to have sustained a fractured leg, while the driver and their guard escaped with minor injuries.

The car in which Agaba and Dr. Kajubiri were traveling

Many people have however disregarded the sorrow of the bereaved families by choosing to cast the accident as a learning point for President Museveni.

Many including Members of Parliament have said the death of Agaba serves as a opportunity for President Museveni to share into the pain of millions of ordinary people who lose loved ones because of his government’s neglect of the health care system.

Peter Okot, the MP for Tochi county Gulu district told The Sunrise that the accident should remind government that it is important to have better equipped health centers to be able to handle most cases.

Okot argued that: “It is hard to know where, when and to whom a fetal accident is likely to happen.” Okot challenged the government to get the example of the Catholic church which has invested heavily in improving health services in many upcountry areas. Recently, the catholic church fund-raised for re-equipping of Nkozi hospital because of its location along accident-prone Masaka road.

Robert Centenary, the Kasese Municipality MP agreed with Okot by saying: “I am sure the message is home. Today it is me and tomorrow it can be somebody else.”

Some accounts say that Agaba bled to death at Mbarara hospital, where he was taken lacked some of the basic facilities.

Agaba’s history as a Director of Physical planning in KCCA also sparked hostile comments from across the social media with many saying he mistreated people.

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