Alur Call for Calm to Allow Martha Okumu-Ringa Burial in Kumi

Her mother, Hellen Akello Okumu-Ringa, has planned for the burial to take place in Orapada Village, Atutur Sub-county, Kumi, but the paternal family in Nebbi had wanted her laid to rest next to her father in Nebbi

The Nebbi community has settled a weeklong quiet dispute between the paternal and maternal families of the late Martha Nyavonga Okumu-Ringa by allowing the former diplomat to be laid to rest in Kumi.

Ms Martha, daughter of former public service minister and Alur philanthropist Patrick Okumu-Ringa, died in Rome, Italy, where she was posted as Foreign Service Officer, on January 29.

"In a meeting held with the paternal side headed by Mzee Miller Owachi (paternal uncle), on Thursday, February 6, 2025, it was resolved that the paternal side shall not fight for the body of Ms Martha Nyavonga Okumu-Ringa," a statement signed by Dr Stephen Okello, chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Nebbi Community Ltd, reads in part.

Since Martha suffered a fatal heart attack from her duty station in Rome, the paternal and maternal families have been quietly fighting over where she would be laid to rest.

Okumu-Ringa, who died in 2022, is survived by three widows, including Martha's mother Hellen Akello, an Atesot from Kumi District in eastern Uganda.

Ms Akello, who is listed as next-of-kin in the late Martha's official documents, has been adamant that her daughter could only be laid to rest in Orapada Village, Atutur Sub-county, Kumi District.

However, Martha’s paternal family came under pressure from the Nebbi community who could not fathom how the daughter of the arguably most illustrious son of the soil could be buried too far from his own final resting place.

The Alur wanted Martha buried next to her father in the family cemetery at Olyeko Cell, Jukia Hill Ward in Nebbi Municipality.

The Alur elders convened a meeting on Tuesday after failing to reach an agreement with the maternal relatives during the initial drafting of a funeral arrangment.

“If indeed she is the daughter of the late Honourable Patrick Aloysius Okumu-Ringa, then we demand that Martha be buried near her father in the family graveyard,” reads a resolution signed by Alur elders, Uwatho Elder Sam Lemberwinyu and Jerry Kasamba.

The Alur escalated the matter to the Foreign Affairs, requesting the ministry maintain custody of her body and a stay of burial until both sides reached a mutual decision.

In a letter signed by Rwoth Uledhire Nester Odaga-Jalomayo of Ayuveni Chiefdom, the family expressed appreciation for the ministry’s material and financial support in ensuring Martha’s dignified burial but urged it to remain involved in resolving the impasse.

"We wish to request the Ministry to continue taking custody of the body of the late Princess Nyavonga Martha Okumu-Ringa for such a period when the two families reach a mutually acceptable understanding to all parties where the late shall be made to rest," the letter states.

However, Mr Vincent Bagiire, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to whom the letter was addressed, did not respond.

Sources said he had quietly sided with the maternal relatives owing to the fact that Martha's official document indicated her mother as her next-of-kin.

"A request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to stay burial arrangements until a mutual resolution was reached and this matter amicably settled was made but no response was received," Dr Okello conceded in the Friday statement.

"Therefore, as much as the Paternal side had wished and made conceited attempts that the body be buried in Nebbi according to the Alur Culture, this was not possible. The body will now be buried in Aturtur, Kumi District on the Maternal side on Saturday the 8th day of February 2025."

Martha, who served at Uganda’s Embassy in Rome, passed away on January 29 following a heart attack. She had been scheduled for a second surgery after suffering a compound injury and dislocating her tibia bone in a fall at the embassy building.

Her last message to relatives from an ambulance requested prayers for the procedure.

"I unfortunately had an accident in office last week were I fell at the Chancery on the staircase sustained a compound injury, raptured my ankle and dislocated my tibia bone," she said.

"I am trying to manage my pressure so that the operation can go well."

Ahead of Thursday's decisive meeting, a section of the Alur leaders urged concession after PS Bagiire had not answered their repeated rings or returned one.

The meeting came after a requiem mass at St Charles Lwanga Catholic Church, Ntinda, during which Mr Bagiire stressed the issue of next-of-kin. The meeting at Silver Springs Hotel in Bugolobi, the Nile Post understands, was thus purely for records purpose.

"Ngom ngulo dhano ungo," said one elder, literally translated as "the soil does not spit out people" as he urged the community to accept the outcome with civility.

It came after a simmering discontent in which some Alur had gone to the extent of asking that the Okumu-Ringa name be kept out of the funeral arrangement after the only elder from Kumi who was responding to their correspondence bailed out on Wednesday citing ill-health.

"We have noted that this has sparked some anger and bitterness from a number of people from the paternal side, relatives and friends with a feeling that not enough was done to ‘fight’ for her body to ensure it’s buried in Nebbi," the resolution says.

"This is to humbly appeal for civility and calmness during this trying moment."

The Nebbi Community has since resolved to celebrate a memorial mass in honour of the late Martha at a later date, and to put in place a charitable foundation in her memory for supporting her vision.