Nsibambi narrating his ordeal on his bed at Mulago Hospital where he was admitted for injuries he suffered in a plane crash on Monday

By Herbert Ssempogo

“THE weather was bad as we left Lwakhakha. I told my colleagues not to worry because death is instant in a plane accident. They became cheerful,” Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi, admitted in Mulago Hospital, told his visitors yesterday.

Speaker Edward Ssekandi was among many dignitaries who visited Nsibambi at the hospital. They include Vice-President Gilbert Bukenya, ministers, Members of Parliament, envoys accredited to Uganda and senior security officers.

The Prime Minister sustained a fracture in Monday’s plane mishap in Bugiri, eastern Uganda, as he was returning from the disaster-struck area in Bududa.
Medical personnel at Mulago described the injury as a lumbar fracture. The lumbar is the segment of the torso, between the diaphragm and pelvis.

The premier, admitted in the VIP wing, disclosed that the hospital would give him a brace to enable him walk without exerting pressure on the fracture.
“I will have it for about six weeks but I will be able to perform my duties. I might be discharged today.”

Nsibambi and six others were travelling in a Police helicopter that hit a tree during an emergency landing at Bugiri.
The other passengers were his permanent secretary, Pius Bigirimana, his aide, Peter Isabirye and two members of his press team, Apollo Muhinda and Rose Oyere.

Attended to by his wife, Esther, Nsibambi narrated that as they approached Bugiri, the plane developed a mechanical problem but the pilot only told Isabirye.

“Suddenly, I heard a loud bang. When we got out, I ran as fast as possible. After sometime, I felt pain in my back. I have never been so close to death,” he told his visitors.

He added that when another helicopter came in the evening to evacuate them, he was hesitant to board it.

“We were reluctant to fly again but the President assured us that the chopper was excellent. It landed at Entebbe at 7:00pm,” he said.

The pilot, Emma Basulwa, said the helicopter, the only one owned by the Ugandan Police, developed an engine fault about 10 miles from Bugiri.

“Despite the fault, we could continue with the flight. However, at Bugiri, the situation changed suddenly and it required an emergency landing,” the pilot, admitted in the same hospital, told,i> The New Vision.

He attributed the problem in the engine to either loss of pressure or malfunctioning of some parts. Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba yesterday said the chopper, which was seriously damaged, was still at Bugiri.

Works minister John Nasasira yesterday told MPs that two officials from Agusta Westland, a South African company that manufactured the helicopter, were expected in the country to investigate the cause of the crash.

They will team up with Ugandan engineers from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and flight experts.

The local team, he said, includes Col. Chris Mudoola, a flight expert, Henry Kitaka and Abubaker Mugonzi of CAA, and Godfrey Wangwa, an aircraft engineer with the Ugandan Police.

“We cannot do anything unless the manufacturers are here, because we cannot exactly tell what happened. They are arriving tonight and investigations will start tomorrow,” Nasasira said in Parliament yesterday.