A team of doctors in South Africa is today expected to carry out a postmortem to establish the cause of death of Ambassador Najuna Njuneki, who collapsed and died aboard a plane yesterday.
Speaking to Daily Monitor on telephone from London yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister Hon. Sam Kutesa said Amb Njuneki collapsed as he got up from his seat and died before he could be taken to a health facility within the airport.
Ambassador Njuneki was reportedly returning from a meeting in Stockholm, Sweden, with Ugandans living in Nordic countries.
Vice President Edward Ssekandi attended the Diaspora gathering which, Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Amb James Mugume said focused on investment.
As an Ambassador for Special Duties at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Njuneki was in-charge the Diaspora community and coordinated the Ugandan aspect of the regional Northern Corridor Infrastructure projects.
Amb Mugume adds that Uganda’s High Commission in Pretoria has taken charge of the body and will handle it until it is flown home on Wednesday.
Ambassador Njuneki becomes the second high-level Uganda government official to die abruptly on a plane, following the death almost a year ago of then Internal Affairs minister Aronda Nyakairima aboard an Emirates Airline plane while returning from South Korea.
Story By Tabu Butagira
