No, Oulanyah was not poisoned

 When Opiyo Oloya speaks, I listen. When he tells me something, I know it is true. When he knows the truth, he speaks with confidence. When he has doubts, he says so.  Opiyo is the classic Acholi man – truth telling and fearlessly so. 

 Of course, we claim him to be a Mukiga. Not an exaggeration, for he is an Acholi that broke through the chains of tribal containment. We have seen this in recent days. In the noise of fake news about the cause of our brother’s death, Opiyo spoke the truth that others in the know had been reluctant to state.

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 Whether by design or neglect, some people who knew the truth about Oulanyah’s grim diagnosis allowed his grief-stricken parents, relatives, and tribesmen to believe that he was poisoned. The chorus of indignation, the innuendos, even threats by prominent Acholi leaders would have intimidated others into silence.

 Not so Opiyo son of Oloya, native of Pamin-Yai in Acholi, and now a resident of Canada, where he is respected and honoured as a major university vice president. With characteristic clarity, and old-fashioned honesty, Opiyo stated the facts, not from hearsay, but from first-hand knowledge.

 Oulanyah was Opiyo’s cousin and friend. Opiyo visited Oulanyah in Kampala in December 2021. He was in Oulanyah’s Seattle hospital room, not as a visitor, but what the Swahili call msaidizi wa mgonjwa. The Acholi say “Opiyo Oloya en aye obedo ka gwoko Oulanyah i ot yat.” (Opiyo Oloya was the one who looked after Oulanyah at the hospital.)

 So, Opiyo is the one who knows the truth. He spoke with Oulanyah. He spoke with the doctors and nurses as a trusted next of kin. And the news was grim. That is how medicine works in North America. Doctors do not hide information from the patient or the authorized next of kin. They do not cover up things, and certainly not on behalf of some alleged dark forces inside the government in Kampala.

 To all who care about Oulanyah, please believe what Opiyo Oloya says, because he speaks the truth. To persist with the poisoning myth is to insult Oulanyah’s memory and turn his death into a circus.

 Yes, grief makes us think the worst. Bereaved humans behave in a predictable pattern. We deny the truth before us. Then anger follows. Bargaining (why him?) is third in line, followed by depression, and finally acceptance.  This is the quartet of our natural responses, not always in that order, but almost always manifest at some point.

 Our denial is compounded by the widespread African belief that death is never a lone ranger. Ha mufu otarogirwe, the Bakiga-Banyankore say. Nobody dies except by poisoning or witchcraft. It is a belief that is widely distributed on our mother continent, and has successfully resisted western education, science, and Christianity.

 Of course, malicious poisoning is a universal tool, employed by some politicians more than others. Members of Uganda’s ruling class themselves have instilled in us the fear that their internal rivalries have attracted poisoning as a means of settling differences.

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 Was it not General David Sejjusa that revealed a few years ago that the honourable men of the land, including our celebrated military officers, carry their samosas and chapatis in their jackets, to avoid contact with poisons, presumably administered by their colleagues, for competitive reasons? And if Sejjusa the brave, and his battle-hardened colleagues are afraid of their old comrades, who are we to dismiss the caution and not stuff our own pockets with home-cooked sweet potatoes and entula?

  Oulanyah being third in line in the official succession queue, with a profile that Ugandans had declared “presidential material,” would have been the perfect target of a sinful rival. In a country where the incumbent ruler will soon turn eighty and may not be able to subject his mortality to a constitutional amendment, some people may be keen to stop others from jumping the succession queue, in which it is only fair that they stand alone. Poison becomes an ally, in their pursuit of democratic succession to the presidency of the Republic.

 However, in Oulanyah’s case, natural disease attacked him well before he was elected Speaker of Parliament. Doctors anywhere in the world, having heard the story of Oulanyah’s illness, would not have needed anyone to tell them that cancer was top on the list. The diagnosis was known by his doctors in Uganda. It was known by his relatives and confidants before he was transported to America.

 Part of the problem was that the Government of Uganda mishandled the public relations aspect of Oulanyah’s illness. Secrecy and non-disclosure of information was the perfect fuel for conspiracy theories, rumours, and fake news.

 With Oulanyah’s consent, the Deputy Speaker or her spokesperson ought to have told the country that the Speaker had cancer for which he had sought treatment in Uganda and Dubai and was now travelling to the United States to seek further evaluation and management.

 Such open disclosure, while Oulanyah was still alive, would have countered the usual suspicions that someone was up to deadly mischief, especially these days when the conversation is focused on evolving efforts towards hereditary rule in the land.

 Instead, the government chose to shroud the truth in a mist of silence, lies and denial of the serious illness of a mortal human being. When a social media rumour spread that Oulanyah had died, Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, a medical doctor of all people, reacted with threats to arrest those who were propagating the claims. His threat energised the mischief-makers. And nothing changed.

 Likewise, the report by Anita Among, at the time Deputy Speaker, that Oulanyah was responding to treatment was an ill-advised effort to mislead, for no evident purpose. In the event, Anita shot her own credibility, energised the conspiracy theorists, and exacerbated the government’s struggle to be believed.

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 I am glad that Opiyo Oloya, Chief Justice Owiny Dollo and DP Leader Norbert Mao, spoke to the Acholi people on radio two days ago, and shared the truth about Jacob Oulanyah’s terminal illness. Our deceased brother’s family, the people of Acholi and all Ugandan compatriots need to mourn Oulanyah, without any bitterness towards anyone, except the cancer that claimed his life. We stand with the Okori family and send our sincere condolences. May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with them at this dark hour.

Muniini K. Mulera is a Ugandan-Canadian social and political observer. [email protected]