Ex-RDC fined Shs50 million for asking doctor to kneel before him

Kakonge Kambarage

What you need to know:

  • Court presided over by Justice Oyuko Anthony Ojok on Wednesday found Kambarage guilty and ordered him to pay Basaliza Shs50 million in general damages.
  • Kakonge was ordered to pay the applicant Shs30 million in general and Shs20 million in damages for the inhuman treatment, torture, embarrassment, humiliation and pain subjected to the applicant.

KABAROLE. The High Court in Fort Portal has ordered a former Kabarole District Resident Commissioner (RDC), Mr Kakonge Kambarage, to pay Shs50 million for humiliating a doctor.
Mr Kambarage on August 19, 2009 ordered the then Naads coordinator for Kibiito Sub-county, Dr Ephraim Basaliza, to kneel for more than 10 minutes in a district Naads meeting at Virika in Fort Portal town as a punishment.
Mr Kambarage alleged that Dr Basaliza disobeyed him when he defied his orders to stop one of the participants from answering a call during the meeting.

A participant, Mr Peter Bacwa, reportedly walked out of the meeting hall to answer a phone call, and when Mr Kambarage asked Dr Basaliza to stop him from speaking on phone just outside the hall, the veterinary doctor “did not pass on the instructions”.
When Mr Kambarage saw no action against the man on phone, he ordered Dr Basaliza to the front of the hall and to kneel before him for “disobeying orders”. He reportedly told Dr Basaliza that by disobeying him, he was disobeying President Museveni because all RDCs represent the President in districts.

Dr Basaliza pleaded for forgiveness as some of the participants in the hall looked on in shock.
However, the veterinary doctor did not let the matters end there. He took the issue to the High Court in Fort Portal, saying the action was a violation of his human rights, humiliated and belittled him in the presence of his colleagues.
Dr Basaliza said since he was humiliated, he failed to report for duty because of the embarrassment caused to him by Mr Kambarage.

Court presided over by Justice Oyuko Anthony Ojok on Wednesday found Kambarage guilty and ordered him to pay Basaliza Shs50 million in general damages.

“The action of the RDC to order Dr Ephraim Basaliza to kneel in public constitutes torture, cruelty, inhuman, degrading treatment, illegal, unconstitutional and contravenes Articles 20, 24 and 25 of the Constitution of Uganda and Section 71 of the Local Government Act Cap 243,” Justice Ojok ruled.
Kakonge was ordered to pay the applicant Shs30 million in general and Shs20 million in damages for the inhuman treatment, torture, embarrassment, humiliation and pain subjected to the applicant.
Mr Kambarage is now a Commissioner of National Guidance in the Office of the Prime Minister.