Aya Hotel worker falls nine floors to his death

By Wilfred Sanya

The area around Aya Hotel in Kampala was sealed off Monday morning after one of the employees fell earthwards from the ninth floor of the incomplete building to his death.

Vincent Emilet is said to have been pushed off the building by another worker.

But police reports indicate conflicting accounts of the possible cause of Emilet’s plunge to his death.

Police Constable Ronnie Pere said that the dead worker could have lost his footing in the pitch darkness of some parts of the ninth floor which lack lighting as sections of the building are under construction.

Dennis Oyomu, a foreman at the site was arrested by police and whisked off to Central Police Station for further investigation.

Emilet’s lifeless body was driven off by police to Kampala City mortuary.

With the heavy security presence, the building area remained sealed off and journalists barred from accessing the area to talk to the workers present at the time of the fatal incident. So details about the incident remain scanty and uncomfirmed.

Aya Group have been working on the 24-storey building that was initially scheduled to open in 2007 ahead of the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm).

But alleged logistical obstacles coupled with administrative challenges came in the way of the project, which up to-date now remains undone.

When completed, it will be the second tallest building in the Uganda after the recently opened Mapeera building which sits in the middle of the city centre.

This is not the first of such fatal falls in Kampala.

About three months ago, a young woman on a suicidal mission fell off the Workers House building and died on spot.