EXCLUSIVE: Following the sudden demise of the Deputy Inspector General of Police (IGP) Maj Gen Paul Lokech on Saturday morning, more details have emerged surrounding his death.
The UPDF and Police in a joint statement said Maj. Gen Lokech died at his home in Kira on Saturday, August, 21, at around 10:15 am.
According to the UPDF spokesperson Gen Flavia Byekwaso, a preliminary medical assessment of the General’s death pointed to cardiovascular complications.
Brig. Byekwaso said that Gen Lokech, who has been working from home over the past two weeks, was feeling well this morning and preparing to leave home when the attack kicked in.
“This morning he entered the bathroom, and he called his wife complaining that he couldn’t breathe,” Byekwaso told NTV in an interview.
The wife, she says, called in medical personnel and they both attempted to resuscitate the general in vain, and that he passed away in the bathroom.
“A medical person was there and from what was observed such as loss of breath, it was suspected that the General could have suffered a blood clot,” Byekwaso said.
Asked about the recent absence of Lokech from work, Byekwaso revealed that the deceased had asked for a two weeks to recover from the weakness he had felt after he fell and suffered a fracture, which until today, he was nursing from him home.
In response to what has been termed as sudden demise, Inspector-General of Police, Martin Ochola, has directed police’s pathologist Dr Moses Byaruhanga to conduct a post-mortem with the view of unearthing the exact cause of Lokech’s death.
“I have tasked the Director of Medical Services, Dr Moses Byaruhanga to carry out a post-mortem to establish the cause of death,” Ochola said.
Lokech’s last public appearance was last month at the Police Headquarters in Naguru where he gave progress of investigations into the arrest of suspects in the killing of Gen Katumba Wamala’s daughter Brenda Nantongo and driver Sgt Haruna Kayondo. MHSRIP
Maj. Gen Paul Lokech Biography
Lokech was appointed Deputy IGP on 16 December 2020 and will greatly be remembered for leading special military Operations in Somalia and defeating Al Shabaab insurgents among other operations.
At the time of his appointment in the Uganda Police Force, Maj Gen Lokech was serving in South Sudan where he was monitoring on behalf of the guarantors of the South Sudan peace process, the assembling, screening, demobilization and integration of the armed forces of South Sudan.
While serving as UPDF contingent commander in Somalia from 2011 to 2012, Lokech was praised for breaking the backbone of Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia. The fearless one-star General then confronted Al-Shabaab insurgents and captured key historical places like the Red Mosque in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu and which earned him a moniker the ‘Lion of Mogadishu’.
President Museveni redeployed Brig Lokech back to Somalia from 2017 to 2018. After serving the second role in Somalia, he was promoted to the rank of Maj General. Museveni posted him to Jinja to command the Uganda Rapid Deployment Capability Centre.
He later served as Chief of Staff of Uganda People’s Defence Air Force –UPDAF. The deceased soldier was part of the commanders of Operation Safe Haven where UPDF fought rebels of Allied Democratic Front-ADF who were being commanded by now incarcerated Jamil Mukulu. The ADF was still based in the Democratic Republic of Congo- DRC.
He also commanded UPDF Second Division which is based in Mbarara at Makenke barracks.
Other places where Maj Gen Lokech was deployed include Russia where he was Uganda’s Defence Attaché.
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