The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Jinja, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Romanian citizen, Ecobel Iliu at a community hospital in Jinja City Northern Division. Ecobel is reported to have breathed his last at Soft power community hospital in Budondo ward, Jinja city.
A health worker at Soft power hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity told URN that Ecobel succumbed to severe malaria on Tuesday evening. She however says that their attempts to conduct an autopsy were frustrated by community members, who forcefully evacuated the deceased’s body from the mortuary.
Ecobel is reported to have jetted into Uganda as a tourist and settled at the Bujjagali-based Nile River camp in late 2018. He later decided to settle within Budondo community where he introduced himself as Jacob, and adapted to the native lifestyle prompting natives to nickname him, “Jacob Musoga,”.
Rose Nekesa, one of the residents explains that Ecobel approached him for rental space in late 2018, which she ably provided. She explains that he easily fit into the community and mastered Lusoga in less than a year, which prompted her to treat him as part of her family. “Jacob has been leading a simple life and I had resolved to offer a burial ground to honor his legacy.
However, the law is bureaucratic on this matter and we are still waiting on his consulate in Uganda to have their final say on whether or not we can bury him here,” she said. Charles Twinemukama, the officer in charge of Budondo police station has blamed mourners for their reluctance in notifying the police about the matter and has directed them to hand over the deceased to the Jinja regional referral hospital mortuary for postmortem.
Twinemukama notes that at the time of his death, Ecobel lacked identification documents like a passport and national identity card from his country of origin. He, however, said that a team of detectives is liaising with the deceased’s family, so as to obtain necessary information pertaining to his general well-being.
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Very unfortunate that Ecobel passed on. But my query is: Do tourists just decide to “settle” in the country without any “resident permit” from Immigration? What exactly is the creterio for a foreigner to settle in Uganda?