Okumu-Ringa spent 42 months in ICU
Mourners, relatives and friends pay last respects to Okumu Ringa at St Charles Lwanga Church, Ntinda. PHOTO/STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
- Mr Obiga Kania, the State minister for Lands, said during the 1996 General Election, when President Museveni appointed him to be the head of the NRM campaign team in West Nile region, the party did not have offices and Okumu-Ringa offered his building to house the party headquarters.
The family of former Public Service minister Patrick Aloysious Okumu-Ringa, who died last week, have said he spent two-and-a half years in intensive care unit (ICU).
Addressing mourners at St Charles Lwanga Catholic Parish in Ntinda, Kampala on Tuesday, Ms Mary Okumu Ringa, a widow of the fallen former Padyere County Member of Parliament, said doctors suspect that an accident in which his vehicle plunged into Ayago River in Nwoya District in 2018, triggered a stroke that sent him into a coma from 2018 until May 17 when he was pronounced dead.
“In August 2018, we rushed him to hospital when he was involved in an accident... On arrival to Kampala, he failed to wake up because he had suffered a rare stroke in the brain stem and doctors told us it was inoperable and only curable by a miracle and we spent 42 months shuttling between the intensive care unit and the high dependency unit,” she said.
She added that in 2020, he was discharged from International Hospital Kampala and they have been taking care of him at his home in Naguru, Kampala where he was steadily recovering.
However, on May 17, he developed a fever which affected his breathing and they tried to resuscitate him, but when he was taken to Ruby Hospital, he was pronounced dead.
The widows, children, former business associates, politicians with whom he was in Parliament, described the late Okumu-Ringa as an astute businessman and philanthropist who put people first.
“He was a great manager and I would like the people of West Nile, Nebbi and Jonam to name one secondary school after him because he optimised and loved education. At his death, he was going to defend his doctorate degree in philosophy,” Mr Mike Mukula, the NRM vice chairperson for eastern region, said.
Mr Obiga Kania, the State minister for Lands, said during the 1996 General Election, when President Museveni appointed him to be the head of the NRM campaign team in West Nile region, the party did not have offices and Okumu-Ringa offered his building to house the party headquarters.
Mr Kania said Okumu-Ringa was instrumental in rebuilding West Nile, which had long been an Opposition stronghold, into the NRM fold.
Ringa was laid to rest yesterday at his ancestral home in Jukia Hill, Nebbi, District.
