One of the three people knocked by the lead car of speaker Rebecca Kadaga’s motorcade in Fort Portal Tourism city last month has died. Karima Mitala breathed his last at his home in Nyabusozi cell in Central Division Fort Portal at around 9 pm on Sunday.
His death comes more than a month after he was knocked together with two others at Boma on August 3 by a police pickup registration number UP 4842 that was leading the convoy of Kadaga as she was leaving Fort Portal. According to eyewitnesses, the speaker’s convoy was moving on the wrong side since the road is one-way.
Mitala who was riding a boda boda that was carrying two sisters; Shamilah Mbabazi and Aminah Kakwezi, both residents of Kiteere, sustained head injuries and a sharp object tore apart the flesh on his right thigh.
He was operated two days after the accident, but pus had since been oozing out of the stitched incisions that had degenerated into septic wounds. An orthopaedist, who preferred anonymity, said that Mitala had developed an infection that could have been as a result of the delayed operation.
At the time of the accident, the three were heading to Fort Portal city centre while Kadaga was being escorted to Boma playground to board a chopper after attending a radio programme where she had gone to campaign for re-election as 2nd vice chairperson of the NRM central executive committee (CEC).
Even though Kadaga allegedly gave the trio Shs 1 million to cater for their medical needs at Fort Portal Regional Referral hospital, the victims have been saying the money wasn’t sufficient due to the nature of the injuries sustained.
Mitala’s father, Abdul Mitala says that they used all the money they had to buy the required drugs after being discharged from hospital and at the time of his death, his son was complaining of terrible pain but they couldn’t help the situation because of financial constraints.
“We have been calling the speaker’s office for more financial assistance and they were telling us that they will see. I didn’t have any more money and my son was the sole breadwinner here. I had nothing to do other than watch him till he breathed his last,” Abdul said.
Kakwezi said an x-ray had shown that her left hip was dislocated and that the thighbone had cracked. Another x-ray indicated that her left hand was also dislocated from the shoulders. Kakwezi said that after the operation, a catheter was inserted in her body to help her pass out urine but she has since remained bedridden due to severe pain.
She also said that she was unable to buy painkillers or antibiotics that were prescribed at the time of discharge. For her part, Mbabazi said that a sharp object tore apart the flesh on her right thigh, adding that even though the wound was stitched, it was still draining yet she can’t afford medication.
The two sisters are demanding compensation from the speaker. Efforts to get a comment about the matter from Kadaga’s private press secretary, Sam Obbo have been futile as repeated calls from our reporter to his phone went unanswered.
