For some time now, Kampala City Lord Mayor Ssalongo Erias Lukwago has been in and out of hospital with deadly complications,sometimes requiring him to fly out of the country for specialized medical attention.
Last year, the Forum For Democratic Change- FDC new convert was forced to cut short his reelection campaigns after he felt uneasy and subsequently flew out to Nairobi, Kenya where he was admitted for weeks.
On return, although he had been advised to take some months rest, the situation did not permit him thus re-embarking on his tiresome campaigns. Subsequently,he was re-elected.
Those close to the politician have intimated to us that glaring signs of fatigue and poor health have been showing on Lukwago ever since he returned from Nairobi.
Last week, he was evacuated after fainting in the middle of the requiem mass for the fallen Archbishop Dr Cyprian Kizito Lwanga at Rubaga Cathedral.
It has now been established that the Mayor has been rushed back to Nairobi after a recurrence of the same discomfort despite his prolonged period of in and outpatient medication.
Deputy Lord Mayor Doreen Nyanjura said that despite visiting a number of first class health facilities in the country, Lukwago’s health kept deteriorating prompting medics to refer him back to Nairobi Hospital.
“Following a recurring dizziness, persistent abdominal discomfort and severe chest pain despite attending several medical facilities in Kampala including Lubaga Hospital, Platinum Hospital, Case Hospital, Norvic Hospital among others, the Lord Mayor was referred to Nairobi Hospital for further management,” Nyanjura said in a statement posted on her social media page.
She added that the Lord Mayor had traveled to Nairobi earlier this week, arrived safely and was checked into Nairobi Hospital. She also said that Lukwago was feeling out of danger and was positively responding to treatment.
“I spoke to the Lord Mayor Today morning, he is stable and undergoing numerous tests,” Nyanjura confirmed.
Poisoning concerns:
For some time now, worries among opposition leaders getting poisoned have been gaining traction every the other day.
Former Makindye West MP Hajji Hussein Kyanjo is one example that amplified the concerns. The veteran legislator has had to spend most of his time in the previous seven years in foreign hospitals after reportedly being poisoned for his antagonistic views to the ruling regime.
As a result, Kyanjo who narrowly survived death has had to speak only with the help of an electric rechargeable gadget implanted in his head and chest.
Early last year, former Kamuli District Chairperson Proscovia Salaamu Musumba revealed she had spent the previous two years getting treatment in local and foreign health facilities after allegedly getting poisoned. This followed her hair gradually beginning to fall off the head until there was completely none left.
She told Watchdog News that the poison fears were a reality especially for opposition activists and warned his fellow leaders in Opposition to keep visiting health facilities for routine check ups.
Musumba said poison points were widely distributed around the country and named the cafe at parliament as one of them. She also said members of the ruling National Resistance Movement party should neither relax since there had been instances where their fellow members have been victims.
Lukwago has however not yet come out to accuse anyone be it the State of being behind his ailing health. This will for now be reason to feel relieved for his supporters for whom reports of a possible poisoning have been a really deserving bother.
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