A team of doctors who have been treating former security minister Gen Elly Tumwine from December 2020 until the time of his death on Thursday, August 25, 2022 has released its report to the mourners that gathered for at the Kololo Independence Grounds for the state funeral ceremony.
A team of doctors led by Uganda Cancer Institute Executive Director Dr Jackson Orem, and including expert doctors such as Dr Nsereko Lule of Nairobi Hospital, Dr Fred Okuku, Dr Solomon Kigudde, Dr Isaac Mulyowa, and Dr Hassan Kabiito, had been working on Gen Timwine’s condition since December 2020 when he reported signs and symptoms that were later confirmed to be a result of lung cancer.
In its report, the team of doctors noted that before the lockdown, in December 2020, Gen Tumwine had three symptoms, including chest pain when he coughed, and weight loss of over 10kg.
The doctors would later find out that Tumwine had a mass in his left lung.
A doctor who read the report said that Tumwine had been reluctant to undergo a lung biopsy but he was later convinced to take the test in June 2021, which confirmed that he had lung cancer.
“It’s not associated with smoking. We found out Gen had never smoked off,” the doctor was quick to add.
Between June 2021 and June 2022, the doctors’ report indicated, Gen Tumwine registered some improvement, and would spend some time at his Kazo home.
But he would inform his doctors of back pain in June 2022.
In late July 2022, the report further indicated, he developed challenges with passage of urine and bowel movements.
The doctors say that it had become evident that he had developed progressive disease, with the cancer spreading to most body organs.
With his condition deteriorating at the end of July 2022 and at the beginning of August 2022, doctors advised that the general from Kazo District be flown to Nairobi for specialized treatment but Tumwine was reluctant and it was not an easy to convince him to go to Nairobi.
“It was not easy to convince Gen Elly Tumwine to go to Nairobi. He was very patriotic, he challenged us a number of times that we must have the capability to do and treat him in Uganda. Going out was not his option but later on, he agreed to go out,” the doctor narrated.
While in Nairobi, Ugandan doctor Godfrey Lule Nsereko worked on Tumwine but his condition would later deteriorate, with some vital organs gradually failing.
“When he arrived in Nairobi, Prof Godfrey Lule was successfully able to help with the obstruction. Soon after that, he developed what we call sepsis with a drop in his blood pressure and difficulty in breathing, and eventually developed kidney failure,” the doctor reported.
On the morning of Thursday, August 25, 2022, Gen Tumwine suffered a cardiac arrest and could not be revived.
Meanwhile, Gen Elly Tumwine’s children have begged Ugandans to forgive their father, saying he forgave them before he died. (Read Story Here).
A friend of Gen Elly Tumwine also spat fire at MP Ssemujju Nganda and other Ugandans who have been celebrating the general’s death. (Read Story Here).
