Could the acute heart attack be something invented at death? Maybe yes maybe no.
Linda Aronda, the widow to the deceased former Minister of Internal Affairs, has cast doubt in autopsy report released by government showing that her husband died of acute heart attack.
“He has been full of life. The heart problem they are talking about may have been there, but the 20 years I have lived with my husband, I have never seen him sick. My children here are my witnesses,” she said.
A visibly devastated Linda was eulogizing her dead husband during the State funeral service at Kololo ceremonial grounds.
“We have never seen him fail to get work to work. He loved to work and he always left home to go for his official duties and always returned safely,” she said, flanked by her two children.
Gen Aronda who died last Saturday served as the country’s first and longest Chief of Defence Forces before he moved to the Ministry of internal affairs in close to two years ago, where he is credited for executing the erstwhile stalled national identification project.
According to senior police pathologist Dr Moses Byaruhanga, small scars were found in the swollen heart of Aronda, an indication that he could have suffered the problem for some time.
A cue the president picked from as he spoke at Kololo.
“Apparently, Gen around twice got heart attacks but they were minor,” he said. “But this one which happened in the aeroplane was so severe that it took his life.”
The contradiction between the widow and the government report is a matter which seems to point out that she is suspecting foul play in the death of her husband.
Earlier on in Parliament, the Leader of Opposition Wafula Oguttu also posed questions regarding the death particularly wondering how the Managing Director of Uganda Media Center, and government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo came to know that Aronda had died of a heart attack even before a post-mortem was done.
When news about Aronda’s death petered through the country, on 12 September, the outspoken spokesperson tweeted that, “Confirmed #Gen Aronda has died of heart attack while on transit in Dubai from South Korea @UgandaMediaCent @skaheru @AllanKasujja”
Gen Aronda will be buried at his ancestral home in Rukungiri district on Sunday.
