DPP closes kidney harvest case over lack of evidence
Muhammad Kabanda, a resident of Gangu village on the outskirts of Kampala is said to have visited the said health facility on September 24, 2022 following a boda boda accident along Lukuli road. PHOTOS/ COURTESY
What you need to know:
- The surgeon’s view was that according to the site and size of the wound, it would have been very difficult for anybody to harvest a kidney through the cut site.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has written to the director of the Criminal Intelligence Department (CID) directing the closure of investigations into a case where a man accuses Old Kampala Hospital staff of harvesting his kidney.
In a November 15 statement to the CID director, the office of the DPP said there was no sufficient evidence to cause criminal prosecution of hospital staff since the complainant, Mr Muhammed Kabanda, was born with one kidney.
“I note that it is the mandate of the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council to protect the public from unsafe practices of medical and dental practitioners; their findings are therefore unbiased,” reads in part the DPP opinion authored by officer Winfred Ahimbisibwe.
“Based on the above findings, we find the evidence on record insufficient to sustain any criminal charge. You shall close the file,” Mr Ahimbisibwe added.
The DPP’s opinion further indicates that all the examination reports were forwarded to the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council for interpretation.
The surgeon’s view was that according to the site and size of the wound, it would have been very difficult for anybody to harvest a kidney through the cut site.
“They found that according to the mobility of the lower limbs, it was clear that the internal structures were not tampered with and that the incision did not go beyond the skin and underlying soft tissue. The neurosurgeon confirmed that it was in order and routine procedure to secure fat from the anterior abdominal wall to fill in the defect occasioned by the fracture,” the DPP’s opinion states.
“The radiologists demonstrated that there was only one kidney, which normally occurs in 1:750 persons. They also found a big right kidney with two renal arteries supplying it. The main aorta did not have any branch going to the left.
“There was no evidence of any cut on the main aorta. They concluded that the left kidney could have fused with the right one during formation hence the two renal arteries supplying it. They concluded that there was no left kidney to be harvested. The complainant had only one right kidney.”
The DPPs position comes at a time when the hospital has given Mr Kabanda’s lawyer Erias Lukwago, who is also the KCCA Lord Mayor, a one-week ultimatum to apologise to them or be sued.
Background
In September, Mr Mahmood Kabanda, the complainant, through his lawyer, Mr Erias Lukwago, accused the hospital of harvesting one of his kidneys.
He said the organ harvest was after he sought surgical operation at the health facility following a boda boda accident on Lukuli Road in Kampala.
Mr Kabanda claimed that after the operation, he was shocked to discover that he had a fresh cut on
the left-hand side of his abdomen.
He added that he did not receive a satisfactory explanation from the doctors who said they needed tissue to cover the operated area on the head.
It was later reported that his left kidney was missing after he did two ultrasound scans; one at Malcolm Hospital and another at Mulago National Referral Hospital, including a CT scan.
