Two days after the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, was flown out to Aga Khan Hospital in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi to receive specialized treatment, her press secretary, Sam Obbo, says “she is stable.” Sources have told Ugandanz News Website that Kadaga was flown out of the country on Saturday aboard an air ambulance.
Kadaga was recently admitted to Nakasero Hospital in critical, condition shortly after returning from a trip to Morocco and the United States of America on official duties. Obbo on Friday attributed her health woes to
“a hectic work schedule, fatigue and jetlag”.
However, sources at the hospital told Ugandanz News Website that Kadaga had been admitted after she reportedly developed difficulty in breathing. On Saturday, President Yoweri Museveni visited Kadaga at Nakasero, spawning a steady stream of Government dignitaries and lawmakers to the Hospital. Although medics restricted access to Kadaga, a few other VIPs, including Deputy Speaker, Jacob Oulanyah, were able to see her before she was airlifted to Kenya.
“I have just spoken with someone at the hospital and I have been reliably informed that she (Kadaga) is now stable. She can now recognise people and talk. She is feeling much better,” Obbo said in a phone interview yesterday.
Another source said the 62-year-old advocate was getting better.
“She is stable and was able to have breakfast, “the source said.
On Saturday, a number of people who flocked the hospital, including some lawmakers and ministers, were not allowed to access Kadaga in the intensive care unit. Many were informed by Kadaga’s doctor that the Speaker, who doubles as Kamuli woman MP, needed to rest. Uganda’s first female Speaker of Parliament, an advocate of the High Court and first female lawyer to open a law chamber in Kampala, Kadaga has been a trailblazer in her life and an inspiration to women in Uganda.
Before her election as Speaker in 2011, Kadaga, a one-time president of the Federation of Uganda Women Lawyers (FIDA), had served as cabinet minister in different dockets and as Deputy Speaker for 10 years. She is an indefatigable campaigner for the rights of women and girls and her trip to New York had to do with expanding opportunities for women in the world.