Tuesday March 12, 2019
It is confirmed that the Ugandan who died on the Ethiopian Airlines plane, which crashed on Sunday was Commissioner of Police (CP), Christine Alalo.
Reports of Alalo’s death !rst emerged Sunday afternoon. However, they would later be refuted on Twitter by Police Senior Political Commissar, Asan Kasingye saying the reports were fake. In the evening, police spokesperson Enanga issued a statement that Alalo’s death was not confirmed. Subsequent reports stated she had used Turkish Airlines.
However, Simon Mulongo, Uganda’s Deputy Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia – AMISOM told SoftPower News Monday that Alalo had indeed been aboard the ill-fated "ight and that she lost her life. He said having been a fervent communicator, Alalo would have already made contact with her work colleagues regarding her location in case she was out of danger. Alalo was attached to AMISOM in Somalia.
According to Mulongo, Alalo had earlier communicated with her driver and instructed him to pick her up at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi at 10am. The crashed plane was scheduled to arrive in Nairobi at 10:30am Sunday. Asked why it has taken long for authorities to crosscheck with Ethiopian Airlines, Mulongo said Airlines cannot give such details before they communicate with the next of kin.
“When we buy air tickets, we do not indicate contacts of our next kin. No airline would share such sad news before informing the family. But as employers, we are waiting for a manifest from Ethiopian Airlines and we will issue official communication. We are saddened by the death of our colleague,” Mulongo told SoftPower News. Ethiopian Airlines "flight ET 302/10 March was on a scheduled service from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to Nairobi, Kenya. The accident occurred around Bishoftu.
“The aircraft B-737-800max with registration number ET-AVJ took off at 08:38 am local time from Addis Ababa. Bole International Airport and lost contact at 08:44 am,” Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement. A total of 157 people were on board the aircraft.
The airline said there were no survivors. Before joining AMISOM, Alalo worked with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) as a Police Advisor in Juba Sector for 2 years, from 2007-2009.
Previously, she headed the Department of Child & Family Protection Unit, which is responsible for handling cases of child abuse and Gender Based Violence (GBV), in the Uganda Police Force. Her experience in policing spanned over 15 years.