How security tracked prime suspect in water jabs saga

Detectives at State House Health Monitoring Unit on Tuesday arrested the main suspect behind the fake vaccines.

The key suspect in the water jabs scam has been identified as Francis Baguma, a son of a spy working with the Internal Security Organisation (ISO)

Baguma has been on the run since June 17. He vanished after State House detectives arrested two nurses from Kiswa Village in Nakawa Division, Kampala. The nurses, who were operating near Kiswa Health Centre IV, were intercepted with fake IDs of Kampala Capital City Authority. 

The authorities at the State House Health Monitoring Unit tracked the suspect using GPS technology.  However, after realising that he was being tracked, he parked his car at a friend’s home in Kyaliwajjala, Kira Municipality in Wakiso District last Friday.  

When the President lifted the lockdown, the suspect used public means and travelled to Mbale District. While in Mbale, his friend drove his car on Sunday evening and when he reached Namugongo, he was intercepted by ISO operatives.

Baguma’s friend and the car were taken to Kira Police Station. The detectives instructed the person who was driving Baguma’s vehicle to call him. He told him that they were looking for him. Baguma had left Mbale and was on his way to Kasese. He cancelled the Kasese trip, returned to Kampala and handed himself to ISO.   

Upon interrogation, Baguma reportedly revealed that he was working with two female nurses who were working at Nakawa Health Division Centre as volunteers. He explained that the nurses first gave him five to 10 vials at a fee of Shs50,000 each. After realising that many people wanted the Covid-19 vaccines, he told them to increase from 10 to 15 vials. Each vial has 10 doses.  

Baguma later approached the two nurses and convinced them to collect all the empty vials. He had made labels from Nasser Road, according to security sources. He affixed forged labels, filled the vials with tap water and sealed them. The nurses helped him to secure Covid registration forms, certificates and Covid-19 client registration book. 

Companies duped

Baguma would later write to unsuspecting companies masquerading as a doctor from Kiswa Health Centre IV working under the Ministry of Health Covid-19 vaccination team.   

In June, Dr Warren Naamara, the director of State House Health Monitoring Unit, told Daily Monitor that more than 800 people in Kampala Metropolitan area received fake Covid-19 jabs from quack doctor.

State House investigations into the Covid-19 vaccination scam have since revealed that the number of people who were duped and injected with tap water, now stands at 20,000.

Sources at State House Health Monitoring Unit told Daily Monitor that a combined security effort of Police, Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, State House intelligence unit and ISO was involved in the hunt for the suspect.  The source added that ISO deployed on all border points and kept monitoring the suspect on GPS but he had switched off his phones. Other sources told Daily Monitor that after receiving information that the suspect’s father works with ISO, State House tasked him to produce the son. Baguma’s father is said to have first refused to cooperate but because of too much pressure, he later accepted.

The suspect also named two more new nurses, bringing the number of suspects in fake Covid jabs to five.

All the five suspects were charged but one who was pregnant was given bail. The other four suspects were remanded to Kitalya prison.

Background

On June 17, State House detectives raided Kiswa Village after getting information about the ongoing vaccination scam. They impounded the book with the list of people who had been vaccinated. The book had names of persons and serial numbers of certificates showing that they had been vaccinated.