Shot traffic policeman risks losing leg
Police Constable Robert Mukebezi being assisted by his colleague Christine Kabarungi and wife Barbara Ninsiima at Mulago Hospital Causality ward on Sunday. PHOTO / STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
- Mukebezi’s colleague says the patient was transferred to Victoria Hospital and the doctors say his artery was shattered by the bullet.
The medical team will today take a decision on whether to amputate the leg of the traffic police officer, who was shot by a soldier attached to Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence on Sunday morning, or continue with the treatment of the wound.
Police Constable Robert Mukebezi was escorting a military vehicle, a Toyota Prado TX, which was being towed to Kira Police Station when he was shot after an encounter with soldiers.
Mukebezi’s colleague said the patient was transferred to Victoria Hospital and the doctors said his artery was shattered by the bullet.
“He isn’t stable at all. They said they would observe him for another 24 hours and if he doesn’t improve, they have no choice but amputate the leg,” his colleague told Daily Monitor yesterday.
Doctors also say Mukebezi lost a lot of blood.
Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire said they were still looking for more blood for the officer and they welcome donors.
On Sunday, police officers physically looked for blood outside the hospital.
They got four units that were needed at that moment.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga yesterday condemned the shooting of the officer.
Mr Enanga said on Sunday morning Mukebezi was dispatched to the scene after information that a military vehicle had knocked a Kobil Petrol Station signpost in Ntinda.
The officer had been ordered to rescue the injured, if any, and also recover the vehicle with its belongings.
Mr Enanga said as the officer was recovering the vehicle using a tow truck, the policeman was intercepted by a military double cabin pick-up truck commanded by Maj Alpha Okua.
Mukebezi said he asked the soldier to allow him deliver the vehicle to the police station then they would forge a way forward.
Cpl Bashir Mango Babangida allegedly fired in the air and then turned the gun to the officer whom he shot in the right leg.
The soldiers took charge of the tow vehicle and then dumped the injured officer by the roadside, where police officers found him before taking him to Mulago National Referral Hospital.
Mr Enanga said they are investigating attempted murder charges against the UPDF soldier.
The UPDF is yet to name the officer assigned to the vehicle that was being towed.
Background
Incidents of gun misuse by Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence personnel are becoming an issue of concern.
On July 14 last year, Maj Nelson Kyatuka, a Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldier attached to the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) allegedly murdered a businessman Magidu Mugwanya after a minor incident at Nateete in Kampala City.
