Kampala– The Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is to summon Mzee Okori Nathan, the father to former Speaker Of Parliament late Rt. Hon Jacob Oulanyah for questioning over allegations that his son Oulanya was poisoned.
During his speech at the former Speaker’s burial in Lalogi, Omoro district on Friday, Okori insisted that his son informed him before he died that he was poisoned. Okori had made similar claims during the night vigil of Oulanyah at his ancestral home in Omoro on March 20, 2022.
Addressing a weekly press briefing on Monday, police spokesperson Fred Enanga said that all those persons with other alleged causes of death including poisoning were being summoned for further interview and statement recording.
Enanga cited Mzee Okori, National Unity Platform (NUP) president Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, National Resistance Movement (NRM) vice chairperson for Buganda region Godfrey Kiwanda, Minister for ICT and National Guidance Chris Baryomunsi, Kilak South MP Gilbert Olanya, Aruu North County MP Santa Okot, Northern Uganda based musician Bosmic Otim, selected cultural and local leaders as well as several other bloggers.
NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi was on Sunday quoted by the media calling on government to expedite investigations into the alleged poisoning of the former Speaker.
“I went there to pay tribute to the late Jacob but also condole with the family. I did not want to sound insensitive to him but his message of poisoning his son has been loud and clear, so we ask that let the investigations be done faster,” Bobi Wine said in media interview.
However, according to a medical report presented last week by Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, the minister for health, Oulanyah succumbed to multiple organ failure of the heart, lungs, liver and kidney” from the University of Washington Medical Centre, in Seattle, USA.
The report indicated that the former speaker had also attended other hospitals in Germany, the Uganda Cancer Institute and other hospitals, after he was diagnosed with Cancer in 2019.
“From all these hospitals, there was no trace of poison, in the systemic circulation and or body organs, as per the medical records. The deceased was treated in hospitals in Uganda, Germany and the US, under constant supervision, with numerous samples being taken regularly. All samples did not refer any clues for poisoning.” Said Enanga
He added “It is therefore, unfortunate that the news of the alleged poisoning of the late Rt. Hon. Jacob Oulanyah, continued to produce debates. The public should know that in all deaths by poisoning, the identification of the poisonous substance is vital. And the presence of the poison in the systemic circulation or body organs must be proven.”
Enanga says the summoned individuals will be required to provide them with a chain of evidence of how the crime was committed allegedly beyond reasonable doubt, by whom, how the poison was acquired, proof of access to the victim whether directly or indirectly, and any parallel certificate of death, to help substantive their version of cause of death.
Last month, President Museveni directed the police to clamp down on speculators allegedly perpetrating harmful propaganda that fallen speaker of parliament, Jacob Oulanyah did not die of natural causes. The president was on 25th March 2022 speaking after the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the 11th Parliament of Uganda, Anita Among and Thomas Tayebwa respectively.
