Ever since he was sacked as IGP, Gen. Kale Kayihura reportedly resorted to heavy drinking in order to manage stress he was going through as he turned into daily fodder for the media.
Besides, all sorts of allegations were emerging from all nooks of the country that he had masterminded the brutal murder of his junior AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi while he was still police chief in 2017.
The media then predicted, Kayihura would soon be thrown into prison on murder charges.
“To handle such pressure he resorted to drinking,” said an insider.
Kayihura’s relative who preferred anonymity said the UPDF General always emptied 2- 3 big bottles of black label while residing at his upcountry farm in Lyantonde.
The situation worsened when he was arrested mid last year and thrown into a military detention.
Whereas Kayihura was given special treatment as a historical, it couldn’t deter him from drinking.
“He begged authorities to allow him drink his whisky,” said a relative.
“For someone who was used to being busy with the state duties, Kayihura could not handle sitting in one position and being inoperative, It is said that he would ask for whisky as a means of passing time and cutting depression,” a relative adds.
It seems as a habit for most army officers who are laid off and resort to whisky as a remedy.
Former coordinator of Intelligence Services, Gen David Tinyefuza in 2014 negotiated to return to Uganda after imposing himself into exile in the UK.
He was compelled to come back home because his health had developed difficulties.
Like Kayihura, Tinyefuza had sought solace in the bottle.
Kayihura, after being granted bail by Military Court in October, he immediately travelled to Nairobi to seek medical treatment.
While in Nairobi, medics warned him to reduce drinking.
Close sources say that last week on Thursday, Kale was rushed to May Medical Centre along Bombo road after he fell ill and could not walk by himself.
It is here that the doctors found out that his liver was not in a fully functioning condition and referred him to International Hospital Kampala (IHK)
Doctors at IHK letter refereed him to Nakasero Hospital for further test and later returned back on Sunday evening at IHK.
Medics from both facilities have cautioned the pencil thin General to quit the hard liquor assorted or meet his creator very soon.
A relative said, the family is waiting for the whole report and decide on whether to ask Court to allow him travel abroad for specialized medical treatment.
Visitors are not allowed to see him excepted those very close to him and with the acknowledgment of doctors.