The Minister of ICT, Chris Baryomunsi has warned the spokesperson of Uganda Police CP Fred Enanga against involving him into allegations that the former Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah was poisoned.
This follows an announcement by CP Enanga on Monday that police had summoned some people including Baryomunsi for questioning about speculations that Oulanyah succumbed to poison.
“We are summoning all those persons with other causes of death including poisoning for further interview and statement recording. These include Hon Godfrey Suubi Kiwanda, Hon Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, Hon Chris Baryomunsi, Hon Gilbert Olanya, Hon Santa Okot, Mzee Okori Nathan, Bosmic Otim, selected cultural and local leaders and several bloggers,” said Enanga.
He explained that the group is summoned “to provide us with a chain of evidence regarding that other cause of death and the things they alleged. If they have evidence of how the crime of poisoning was committed, they should provide that information to us beyond reasonable doubt – by whom, how the poison was acquired, route of access to the victim whether directly or indirectly, any parallel certificates of death etcetera.”
The former Speaker died on Sunday March 20, 2022 in Seattle, U.S where he was receiving treatment and his body was laid to rest last week on Friday April 8.
Government said he died due to multiple organ failure and that he also had cancer but various individuals including Oulanyah’s father Nathan Okori insist that the former Speaker was poisoned and it is this that caused his death.
Okori has on two occasions publicly stated that Oulanyah confided to him that he was given poison which eventually led to his death.
While appearing on Capital FM’s Capital Gang on Saturday, Godfrey Kiwanda, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) vice chairman for Buganda region and former minister for Tourism, claimed that the late Jacob Oulanyah confided in him too that he had been poisoned, adding that he’d been sworn to secrecy not to say anything at the time.
“I find no contradiction with Oulanyah’s father who insists that his son was poisoned, the late Rt. Hon Jacob Oulanyah told me too that he was poisoned,” Kiwanda said.
Kiwanda however in a separate interview said he informed Chris Baryomunsi, the Minister of ICT about it.
It is for this reason that both Kiwanda and Baryomunsi made it to the list of individuals being summoned to aid police investigations into the matter.
But, while speaking at the Uganda media center on Tuesday, Baryomunsi said: “It is improper to summon a father who has just lost his child. At this rate, Fred Enanga will summon the late Jacob Oulanyah. Enanga should stop being excited and shouldn’t drag me into this drama.”
“At this rate, Fred Enanga might summon Jacob Oulanyah’s father. The father says my son told me, in this case, it should be Jacob Oulanyah’s word against his father, he will end up summoning the dead,” he added.
He said police should professionally investigate the matter but trade cautiously in order not to drag “their” names into what he regarded as drama.
It now remains unclear whether Police will go ahead and issue the summons to the seemingly obstinate Minister or they will actually back off.