November riot victim waits for govt pledge in vain

Ms Justine Namambo, 29, is asking government to fulfil its promise of offering her specialised treatment in India.

Ms Namambo was hit by a stray bullet on November 18, 2020 after protests erupted in various parts of the country following the arrest of then National Unity Platform presidential candidate, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, in Luuka District on allegations of violating Covid-19 guidelines.

When security operatives fired indiscriminately to disperse a crowd in Mukono, one of the bullets hit Ms Namambo who was in a stationary mini-bus at a fuel station.

“After the surgery (last year) at Mulago hospital to remove the bullet from my back, a team from government came and visited me at home. They said ‘sorry for the incident’ and promised to take over my treatment, including taking me to India for better management,” Ms Namambo told Daily Monitor in an interview yesterday.

She added: “The [shooting] incident left me paralysed from the waist downwards.”

Ms Namambo says the team was led by police’s chief political commissioner, Mr Asan Kasingye, who gave her Shs1m as compensation.

Ms Namambo was 25 weeks pregnant at the time of the shooting.

Mr Kasingye duly organised an ambulance to offer transport regularly to Ms Namambo to attend antenatal at Iran-Uganda hospital in Naguru. 

The arrangement continued until the time she gave birth on June 24.

Other complications, however, emerged later including a dislocation in the spinal cord. 

Ms Namambo cannot sit upright for long hours and spends most of the time lying in bed.

Ms Namambo’s husband, Mr Andrew Hadali, told Daily Monitor that although his family appreciated the government’s initial intervention, there are many outstanding deficits.

“[Mr Kasingye] first said the government was taking my wife to India before changing the statement that this could no longer happen due to the outbreak of Covid-19. Then other stories emerged that Justine would now be taken to Aga Khan Hospital in Kenya before the conversation turned back into taking her (again) to India after the Covid-19 situation had normalised,” Mr Hadali says.

He adds: “Now, we are hearing that travelling to India will take a bit of time because of the (government) process involved in releasing funds for the treatment.”

Mr Hadali says it is unbearable seeing his wife in great pain. The same sentiment is shared by Ms Namambo’s elder brother, Mr Denis Ssegujja.

He said: “It’s been a year down the road since the incident.

Honestly, it hurts me seeing my  sister in this state. I know that her life will never be the same again, but all we are asking the government to do is to fulfil its pledge. Justine is in pain.”

Response
Mr Asan Kasingye, the chief political commissar of Uganda Police Force, says:
“I have gone every month, since November 18, last year, to visit this woman. We cried together. In my work, I don’t think I have been so close to somebody like the way I have been to this lady and I came out of my way and wrote a letter to the Minister of Internal Affairs, highlighting her condition and that she needed treatment abroad. The minister replied saying that the lady needed to be taken abroad. I took that letter to the medical doctors who in return started a procedure, which is not yet finished. 

‘‘This procedure (of taking a patient out of the country for further treatment) is so long. You have to go to the Uganda Medical Board, get the hospital which will handle the patient, make a quotation which has to come to government, government has to write to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) inquiring if there is money for the treatment, then the IGP has to write to the Ministry of Health who in turn notifies the Prime Minister who eventually releases money through the Police budget.’’ 

He added that the procedure in Uganda will still be undertaken.
 Mr Kasingye also expressed disappointment over the family’s impatience.

‘‘ No one has told the family that Justine will not be treated abroad and as a responsible officer, I have been briefing Namambo every week. I have done my best for that family. The family should let the process continue. At this point, I feel let down for all that I have done.... I hope everyone knows the work of the CPC. It has nothing to do with being a member of Uganda Medical Board, nothing to do with the Prime Minister’s Office, nothing to do with the medical officers.’’