Deputy Speaker of Parliament and MP for Rubanda North, Thomas Tayebwa, is on the mend.
Days after the politician, 43, was involved in a helicopter crash on Saturday, August 3, en route from Western Uganda, he shared an update on his social media.
“Dear all, my colleagues and I are okay. No one is hurt. “I am happy and healthy. Thanks for the well wishes,” he wrote.
The Newsroom has learnt that Tayebwa, on Saturday, attended President Museveni’s commissioning of the newly constructed Kole-Gulu-Nebbi-Arua 132 kV power line connecting the West Nile sub-region to the national grid.
The Deputy Speaker later rushed to Bushenyi, where he attended the giveaway ceremony (Kuhingira) of Edith Ainomugisha and Albert Bagabe.
However, at the airfield, the deputy speaker’s team was informed that it was late and the chopper couldn’t fly at night because of a lack of night vision.
“They were advised to sleep in Mbarara and take off the next morning,” a source privy to the matter told the Newsroom.
Another source says that whereas Tayebwa’s team had accepted to sleep in Mbarara, they were convinced by BAR’s CEO, Barak Orland, that he could ably fly them to Kampala, despite being nighttime.
The team would later board another helicopter. Fire was later seen coming from the cockpit of the chopper, prompting panic, especially from the passengers.
The pilot decided to crash-land the chopper, and that is when Tayebwa’s security team engaged in the rescue of the principal and other passengers.
