A 32-year-old male Ugandan identified as Okema Francis was found dead in a room in Lobure Village of Magwi County in South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria on Wednesday.
According to local sources, the deceased was a known alcoholic who survived on the charity of residents for food and accommodation.
Local officials said there are several Ugandan nationals living in Magwi who come to look for employment on farms and to engage in other income-generating activities.
Okech Martin Khamis, the sub-chief of Lobure Boma, told Radio Tamazuj that the lifeless body of Okema was found dead at around 8 p.m. on Wednesday and that the body was taken to his hometown of Padibe in northern Uganda for burial.
“The late is a 32-year-old civilian named Okema Francis from Padibe in Uganda and was not well and was found sleeping in the room of one of his colleagues where he used not to live. When I rushed there, I found he was bleeding from the nose and I went to get a rickshaw but was called and informed that he had died,” he explained. The deceased was bleeding from the nose and mouth and when he was checked by medical workers, it was found that he died of alcoholism, hunger, and was sick.”
For his part, Magwi County Commissioner Pole-Pole Benjamin Olum confirmed the incident and said security forces had been sent to investigate the matter.
“We heard the information this (Thursday) morning and investigations are ongoing and the neighbors where the dead body was found will be questioned. However, it was well known that the deceased consumed alcohol excessively, had no home, and people suspect that he died of alcohol,” he stated. “The issue of such death cases is alarming and we have seen and recorded them increasing due to excessive consumption of alcohol.”
Commissioner Olum added: “I am urging the youth to reduce excessive consumption of alcohol.”
Meanwhile, Lawrence Otim, the in-charge at Magwi County Hospital, confirmed that the deceased sustained bleeding through the mouth and nose resulting from alcoholism and that the body had no signs of beatings or torture.
“The Ugandan youth was about 34 years old and was living with us here, had no wife or family members, or even the place where he resided was not clear. He lives and drinks randomly with his colleagues,” he explained. “Yesterday (Wednesday), he entered an empty room where nobody lives and was found unconscious until he died at around 7 p.m.”
“When he was checked, he was found with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) with some small bleeding coming out of his mouth and the stomach due to chronic alcoholism leading to his death,” Otim concluded.