Nakalema grills police boss on child theft case
This photo tweeted by State House Anti Corruption unit on June 17, 2020 shows Lt Col Edith Nakalema (centre) meeting with police officers to discuss a case where a one Pastor Manje is accused of conniving with a doctor to swap a newly born live baby with a corpse at Comic Medical Clinic- Kawempe. COURTESY PHOTO
What you need to know:
- It is alleged that in March this year, Mr Ssenkomi stole a baby belonging to Mr Egonga and Ms Awino and exchanged it with the corpse of a dead baby of Pastor Magge and his wife.
A senior police officer at Kawempe Police Division has been interrogated for allegedly mishandling investigations into a case regarding the theft of a newly born baby at a city private clinic.
The officer-in-charge of criminal investigations department at Kawempe Police Division, Superintendent of Police (SP) Ms Cherry Mbabazi was quizzed before the State House Anti-corruption Unit led by Lt Col Edith Nakalema over accusations of mishandling the case and threatening the complainant with arrest and detention.
Ms Mbabazi was summoned to the State House Unit to respond to a complaint filed by Mr Rogers Egonga and his wife Ms Gloria Awino who in March this year reported a case of child theft against the proprietor of KAMIC Medical Centre in Kawempe, Mr George Ssenkomi, and Pastor Raymond Magge and his wife Patience.
It is alleged that in March this year, Mr Ssenkomi stole a baby belonging to Mr Egonga and Ms Awino and exchanged it with the corpse of a baby of Pastor Magge and his wife.
Detectives revealed that upon burial of the dead child, a staff at the same facility revealed to them how their baby was exchanged.
Lt Col Nakalema told the media that they embarked on investigating the matter and preliminary results show that a staff of the clinic who told the couple about the swap also led them to Pastor Magge’s home where they recovered the baby but were briefly detained and later released on bond.
Lt Nakalema said the police officer then directed the complainants into an amicable settlement of the case with the accused persons, and barred him (Mr Egonga) from accessing her office to follow up on the case.
“My main concern is that the incident happened on March 20 and a doctor at the clinic got concerned on how the couple was treated,” said Lt Col Nakalema.
She directed the Police to exhume the buried baby in Tororo District and also expedite the inquiries for the complainants to get justice.
Ms Mbabazi, however, denied any wrong-doing and instead attributed the delay to the lockdown resulting from Covid-19 as well as busy schedules.
She described the accusations as lies, reasoning that she diligently executed her duties and that the case file only awaits an expert report from the Government Analytical Laboratory (GAL).
