Parliament yesterday sought to end the controversy over the
death of Butaleja MP Cerinah Nebanda by stopping all further post-mortem
investigations. A report compiled by three MPs appointed by the House
told legislators yesterday that the passage of time and the introduction
of preservatives into the body meant a new post-mortem was unlikely to
give an accurate cause of death.
The report was done by MPs Dr Chris Baryomunsi
[Kinkizi West], Dr Sam Lyomoki [Workers], and Dr Medard Bitekyerezo
[Mbarara Municipality].
Dr Lyomoki, who presented the report, told the
House that it was feasible for another post-mortem to be done but except
that it will be of very limited value. “In view of the fact that the
body has been embalmed with Formaldehyde (Formalin) and knowing that
Formalin makes extractions of poison from the body extremely difficult,
it’s unlikely that useful results can be got from the new samples from
an already embalmed body,” Dr Lyomoki said.
“Given the fact that this case has caused serious
controversy and difficulty, it would be unreasonable to continue
causing additional trauma and anxiety just because one wants to exclude
a small spectrum of poisons which even require sophisticated and
expensive facilities for detection,” Dr Lyomoki said.
They recommended that burial, which had been
delayed by the controversy, should go ahead. Parliament also adopted a
recommendation from the trio directing government to stop the
“harassment” of MPs and a consultant pathologist earlier contracted by
the House to conduct a parallel investigation into the cause of death.
The pathologist, Dr Sylvester Onzivua, was
arrested as he prepared to fly to South Africa with body samples. He was
detained for two days and released on police bond yesterday. Internal
Affairs Minister Hilary Onek accused the pathologist of illegally
obtaining the body samples and irregularly trying to leave the country
without permission, claims Dr Onzivua denied in an interview with this
newspaper.
Yesterday’s special sitting of Parliament, which
was still in session by press time, followed one on Tuesday that ended
in acrimony, as MPs accused the government of bungling the
investigation. The ruling party MP from Butaleja, who was critical of
many government programmes, was pronounced dead on Friday evening at a
medical facility in Kampala where she had been taken.
Government yesterday said the report by the three
MPs to the House contained falsehoods but Mr Onek was blocked from
giving a government response to the matter. Premier Amama Mbabazi and
Attorney General Peter Nyombi were booed by members for attempting to
disown the doctor’s report.
Instead, MPs adopted a fifth recommendation from
the trio, urging the government to respect and promote medical
professionalism. MPs paid tribute to their fallen colleague, who was
described as a “gallant political foot soldier” who loved to speak the
truth and hated corruption.
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