The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Anita Among has revealed that its indeed true Speaker Jacob Oulanyah is sick.
Among informed the House on Tuesday that Oulanyah has been unwell for the last two weeks.
Without disclosing what her boss is really suffering from, Among added that he was flown out of country last week to seek specialized treatment.
“I wish to inform the Country that the Speaker has been unwell for the last two weeks. During that period he was receiving medical attention from Mulago National Referral Hospital,” the Deputy Speaker said.
“The Medical Experts at Mulago in consultation with his personal doctors, decided to refer him for further specialised medical attention out of the country. On February 4, 2022, the Rt Hon Oulanyah travelled out of the country. We pray for his speedy recovery.”
Oulanyah was last Thursday secretly flown to Seattle, United States of America for specialized treatment.
Oulanyah travelled aboard Uganda Airlines’ Airbus A330-800 neo which reportedly flew from Entebbe to Keflavik, Iceland in a flight time of 10 hours and 42 minutes.
According to Uganda Radio Network (URN) , on Friday, February 4, Uganda Airlines flew from Keflavik to Seattle in a connection flight time of 7 hours and 28 minutes. It appears that the plane just refuelled in Iceland because it was on the ground for just a few hours before setting off for Tacoma International airport in Seattle; its final destination.
The flight was operated with the flight number UR2, a mismatch from the ordinary Uganda Airlines’ flights which are operated with flight numbers in the UR4XX range.
“Uganda Airlines Airbus A330-800neo landed in Seattle on Friday afternoon. This was the first time a Uganda Airlines plane flew to the United States, so that’s cool to see. I’m still not sure what the purpose of this flight is, though I suspect we’ll be able to figure this out with a bit of patience,” an aviation publication onemileatatime.com stated.
In the same publication are several conspiracy theories about the unusual flight, by an airline that has only gone to Dubai in the recent past and only planning to launch flights to London, United Kingdom.
“Maybe I am reading too much into this, but the fact that the UR2 flight number was used (and presumably UR1 will be used on the way back) suggests to me that maybe someone important was onboard? It’s also entirely possible that’s not the case, of course,” OneMile publication further stated.
The speaker was last seen in parliament on December 21, 2021. Last year, shortly after his swearing-in as speaker, Oulanyah disappeared from the public eye for a month after presiding over parliament at the reading of the 2021/2022 financial year budget at Kololo Independence grounds.
His deputy Among has mostly been in charge of the parliamentary business since the beginning of the term in May, a matter that triggered speculation about his health. Reports had initially indicated that Oulannyah was battling COVID-19.