Acholi elders disagree with Govt report on Lokech death

The government’s postmortem report said that Deputy Inspector General of Police Maj. Gen. Paul Lokech died of a blood clot caused by pulmonary embolism, but a group of Acholi elders disagreed. According to the Acholi elders, this story appears to be far from the true cause of their beloved son of the soil’s death. Their reservations come at a time when even opposition figure Kyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert has galvanized Acholi leaders to seek independent inquiries into their loved one’s murder. Only a few hours after he made these remarks, Acholi elders and Members of Parliament who have expressed similar concerns appear to share his sentiments.

“We are still not sure that our kid died of a clot,” says Pader elder Ojara. “This report is missing something. We believe there is foul play because you can’t tell me a person can just fall and die mysteriously,” he says.

According to the police postmortem report, the deceased Lokech died of a clot caused by a fall he suffered a month ago. “…around the end of July 2021, the sufferer suffered a fracture of the right ankle joint. It was a minor fracture that was treated by an orthopedic surgeon at Ruby Medical Centre,” according to the article. “During the autopsy, pathologists examined the right lower leg, which had been wounded, and discovered a very large blood clot that had developed in one of the major blood vessels,” according to another section.

Lokech had just been DIGP for 8 months following his assignment last December when he died. He’ll be most known for his witch hunt against the Gen. Katumba Wamala shooting suspects, who were recently presented in court with new wounds from torture while detained. In an operation led by Lokech, at least four suspects were ‘put out of commission.’ His funeral is set for Friday, August 27 at his ancestral home in Northern Uganda’s Pader county. It will be a state-of-the-art funeral fit for a person of his military status.