Alalo's memorial service to be held on Tuesday

Mar 24, 2019

It will be held at All Saints Cathedral in Nakasero

There is a pretty well-accepted theory on grieving that the first day is the hardest. The loss is so new, the first hours can be spent in a blur of shock and disbelief.

But the assumption for most is that as long as they can see the remains, it should be smoother sailing in the days ahead. However, this has not been the case for the family of Commissioner of Police, Christine Alalo. And the griever may find themselves thinking, "this isn't any easier."

It emerged on Sunday that there will be a memorial service on Tuesday at 10:00 am at All Saints Cathedral in Nakasero, Police authorities have revealed. 

Alalo's employers (Police) sent a team and the deceased's children to Addis Ababa and they returned on Wednesday, last week without her remains, Police spokesperson Fred Enanga told New Vision

According to Enanga, the task of identifying the remains of all victims including Alalo's is still overwhelming, as the "Ethiopian team of experts is still (and only) carrying out DNA tests."

The tests are carried out to identify the victims based on blood samples provided by relatives. He said the experts collected many specimens from the wreckage.

Last week, Ethiopians held funerals for those who perished in the Ethiopian Airlines crash which killed all 157 passengers and crew on board and led to the worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft. 

Families in 35 nations were left bereaved when the aircraft plummeted from the sky just minutes into its flight to Nairobi.

The plane was scheduled to land at Nairobi at 10:25 am but came down six minutes into the flight, near the village of Tulu Fara outside Bishoftu.

Alalo was serving in Somalia under AMISOM, which includes troops from five African countries to stabilise areas under attack from Al Shabaab.

Uganda, the first country to deploy troops in 2007, contributes the largest share of more than 6,000 peacekeepers. 

Police praised Alalo as one of Uganda's defining Police figures and a champion in the child and family protection unit. She died at the age of 49, 15 years after her husband died in a road accident in Kireka, Wakiso district.

Alalo served as the first female district Police commander of Entebbe between 2006/07 and was appointed the head of the Child and Family Protection Unit, under the Directorate of Political Commissariat (CPC), then headed by Assistant Inspector General of Police, Asan Kasingye.

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