By Frank Kamuntu
The latest landing on our table indicates that Humphrey Mayanja, the elder brother of singing brothers Jose Chameleone, Pallaso and Weasel Manizo is dead after months of battling cancer at the Mulago-based Uganda Cancer Institute.
This has been confirmed by various family sources including Jose Chameleon who posted Humphrey’s photo with an emoji of tears.
Humphrey, 49, was diagnosed with cancer last year after suffering a stomach complication while travelling to the US, Douglas Mayanja, aka Weasel, told local media in February.
“It’s true Humphrey is not well,” Weasel said at the time. “He is suffering from cancer. It’s a trying moment for us and the entire family, especially mom who is also having her own sicknesses.”
Humphrey had in July last year revealed that while traveling to Boston, he kept falling asleep and having intermittent fevers.
Sharing a picture of him that was taken while in the ER in Boston, Humphrey said that while at Schiphol airport in the Netherlands for a connecting flight, he “didn’t feel well and I have never felt like that before”.
After resting at home, he had woken up with his stomach “inflating” every five minutes.
“This was so painful that I could not walk or eat anything,” he said.
“My Best friend decided to drive me to the ER, I got diagnosed and a decision was made that I be retained for further analysis. They immediately inserted a nasogastric tube (very irritating process) inside me… Anyway it all ended in surgery.”
Nasogastric intubation is a medical process involving the insertion of a plastic tube through the nose, down the esophagus, and down into the stomach.
The tube may be used for treatments such as sucking excess fluids out of the stomach and delivering medicines. It also can deliver fluid that contains nutrients directly into the stomach.
Humphrey, along with second born Henry Kasozi (and their sister Josephine), are the only of the male Mayanjas who was not into entertainment and music recording where Joseph (Chameleone), Douglas (Weasel), Pius (Pallaso) and the late Emmanuel (AK 47) made their name.
In a family where the siblings in showbiz are often finding in the news for the wrong reasons, Humphrey played the elder brother, often bringing his young siblings together whenever they fell out.
