Grief, chaos as family dumps body at city hall

Kampala- The mother of the baby who was on Tuesday run over by a Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) car, causing widespread public anger, has spoken out, saying her child would be alive had the city authorities not been negligent.

Speaking to Daily Monitor at her home in Massaja village in Wakiso District yesterday, Ms Madinah Namutebi narrated the events preceding her son Allan Ssemaganda’s death.

“I was arrested on Monday at 5pm at Container village where I sell oranges and taken to Central Police Station where I spent a night. The next day, I found my mother with my two children at CPS, I did not get chance to talk to my baby or even breast feed at CPS,” said the 22-year-old mother, as she covered the lifeless body of her two-year-old son. The baby’s stomach had stitches while the head bore wounds.

How the baby got to KCCA
Ms Namutebi said baby Allan had been taken to court by his grandmother as a means of helping the breast-feeding mother get a lenient sentence from court which was meant to rule on her case of illegal vending yesterday. At court, however, Ms Namutebi was denied the chance to breast-feed the baby despite pleas by its grandmother, Grace Nakintu, who took over the narration from her daughter.

“We had lunch near the parking yard and that’s where Ssemaganda crawled away. In less than two minutes, I had someone scream that the child whom KCCA denied chance to breast-feed has been knocked,” said Ms Nakintu.

With tens of mourners listening in shock, Ms Nakintu added: “The child did not die instantly. We pleaded with KCCA to bring an ambulance but they told us Jennifer Musisi had told them that we sort ourselves out. We hopped onto a boda boda to Mulago hospital.”

Mr Juma Base Nakasozi, the father of the deceased, is a welder in Rwanda and was reportedly on his way for burial yesterday.

An angry Ms Nakintu also accused the city authorities of treating them shabbily even after her grandson had died. “They gave us an ambulance from Mulago and 50 kilogrammes of sugar, rice, salt and Shs2m. But when we reached Makindye, twe were ordered out of the ambulance. They asked us to board a truck. How could they dehumanise us this much? Our baby was thrown to us like a dog,” she said, pointing at the body. It is at this point that the residents cancelled burial arrangements for the day and convinced Ms Namutebi to return all the material aid, including the money, to KCCA.

They also carried the baby’s remains. Accompanied by relatives and friends, Ms Namutebi stormed City Hall, the KCCA headquarters in Kampala, but was met with heavy security deployment. The police men rushed to close all the gates with chains to bar the group from entering the premises as passersby and motorists looked on in awe.

By press time, Ms Namutebi, who had been allowed entrance to KCCA offices was still holed up in discussion with officials while the baby’s body still lay at the gate.

The Minister for KCCA, Mr Frank Tumwebaze, yesterday issued a statement commiserating with the family and admitted that “the death of the toddler is an act of negligence which I do not take lightly. The incident shows security laxity within KCCA”.

Explaining events from his perspective, Mr Tumwebaze said: “In the course of their stay, the baby strayed away and went down the slope and into the parking lot behind city hall which has mature foliage forming the gardens. That a driver drove in and after dropping off staff reversed out of the parking and accidentally ran over the child, who just emerged from the foliage.”

The minister added that “strong action” would be taken against whoever could have acted negligently depending on the police findings.
“I have already asked the IGP and his team to fully investigate the matter with a view to apprehending anyone who could have acted negligently,” the statement noted.

LEADERS REACT

Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago yesterday said the matter should be treated as murder since the circumstances point to possible malice aforethought.

“As a leader, it makes me squirm to imagine that because of impunity and/or anarchy reigning in Kampala, such heinous crime (s) may not be atoned for,” said Mr Lukwago.

Legislators under the Uganda Parliamentary Children’s Forum also passed on the blame to KCCA authorities. The child rights’ activists in a press conference at Parliament blamed KCCA authorities for denying the child access to her mother . They resolved in yesterday’s meeting to take the matter to the House and demand an explanation from KCCA authorities whom they accused of manhandling vendors.

Reported by Ivan Okuda, Mercy Nalugo & Stephen Otage