Rwagonya’s fuzzy search for answers to his lost manhood

Arthur Rwagonya,23, looks to be in perfect health, good form and shape.
However, when he starts walking, one notices that something is wrong.
He moves with calculated footsteps. From time to time, he frowns.
We meet on a Saturday morning in Mbuya, in the Kampala outskirts where he lives with his cousins. He is wearing a white tunic (kanzu).
As he carefully takes his seat, he groans.
Moments later, Rwagonya makes a heartbreaking revelation.
“I’m in pain. Something bad happened to me,” he starts.
“What happened?” I ask.

He keeps quiet as he stares at me with teary eyes.
“It is horrible,” he says.

He composes himself before responding in a low tone, “Well, my penis was cut in half.”
After the revelation, Rwagonya remains silent for about five minutes before proceeding to narrate his ordeal.

What he remembers
In January, he was staying with Absolom Muniina, a paternal grandfather in Fort Portal, a town in Western Uganda.
On January 27,Rwagonya went to stay with Margaret Muhenda, his paternal grandmother. Muhenda’s home is in Kichwamba Sub-county, Kabarole District.

On January 28, a Saturday, Rwagonya recalls waking up to milk cows at the farm.

“Thereafter, I had breakfast and took a nap,” Rwagonya recalls.
Later, Rwagonya went to church with Yose, a cousin and two uncles, Thomas and Julius. The trio was also staying at Muhenda’s home.

“My grandmother persuaded me to go with them,” Rwagonya says.
The service was at Geme Evangelical Church, a few metres away from the home. There were a few congregants and pastors presiding over it.

“Midway the service, an old woman smeared a mixture of ash and oil on my forehead,” he recounts. “ I immediately felt dizzy and not my usual self.”

The prayers went on until early morning. Julius remained at the church while Rwagonya, Thomas and Yose returned home.
Exhausted, Thomas and Yose retired to bed while Rwagonya remained in the dark sitting room.

Suddenly. “Someone pulled my neck backwards using a stick and another cast torch light in my direction. The third party threw a blanket over my head. Everything happened so fast that I did not even get a chance to see their faces,” he adds.

Rwagonya does not remember what happened thereafter except waking up on a hospital bed on the morning of January 29.
By this time, word was making rounds that Rwagonya was admitted at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital, Buhinga with allegations that he had accidently cut off his penis.

At the hospital
James Muniina, Rwagonya’s cousin was among the first relatives to arrive at the hospital. He went to the facility’s psychiatry section where the patient had been admitted.

“He was lying stiff on one of the beds with eyes wide open. His pair of jeans was pulled down to his knees, leaving his half-cut bleeding organ exposed,” Muniina says, adding, “Surprisingly, he was not crying.”

A traumatised Muniina left the ward. Outside, he linked up with Thomas and Julius. The three went out looking for a doctor and found one at the facility’s private wing. After receiving a brief on the patient’s condition, Dr Nesterio Mubangizi, a general practitioner rushed to attend to the patient.

Rwagonya stayed at the hospital for four days before being referred to Mulago hospital for further treatment. His first visit to the hospital was on February 1 where the wound was re-dressed and medication prescribed. For now, he lives in Mbuya as he goes for reviews at the hospital.

On February 6, family members took Rwagonya to Butabika hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Sunday Monitor was able to see a hospital medical report that concluded he had no mental disorder.

Grandfather speaks out
I travelled to Fort Portal to find more answers to this mystery. One of the homesteads I visited was Muniina’s (Rwagonya’s paternal grandfather).

Muniina says on January 27, Rwagonya said he was travelling to Kyejonjo, a district in western Uganda, to work on a building project.

“I emphasised the need for him to keep in touch before setting off,” he says.

A day later, the old man was shocked to learn that his grandson had been hospitalised.

“People said all sorts of disturbing things about Arthur, especially that he had chopped off his penis after running mad,” he says.

Muniina says he has many questions, including how his grandson ended up at Muhenda’s home instead of Kyenjojo. He is almost certain that Rwagonya could not have harmed himself.
“Arthur is not mad as some people claim,” he asserts.

Medic’s reaction
My next stop was Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital, Buhinga. Here, I bumped into a nurse whom I asked for assistance.
“How do I get contact details of a doctor who has previously worked on a patient?” I asked.
“You have to go to our registrar. But maybe I could help. What is the name of the patient?” she inquired.
“Arthur Rwagonya,” I responded.
“Arthur? You mean the boy who was brought here with a cut-off penis?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“Oh! I remember Arthur. He was brought here in a critical state, bleeding,” she recounts.
“What about him?” she asked.
“I came looking for the doctor who worked on Arthur that day,” I asked.

“He is off today but I could give you his phone number so that you call him up,” she said while pulling out her phone from the pocket of her white uniform.
A few hours later, Dr Mubangizi spoke to Sunday Monitor in a phone interview.

The doctor’s findings
Dr Mubangizi recalls Rwagonya’s state.
“He was brought to me on a stretcher. Although he was not crying, I could tell he was in too much pain and not in his right senses,” the doctor says.

Thomas and Julius, the two men who had accompanied Rwagonya to the hospital gave different accounts to the doctor including: the victim was mentally unstable, had destroyed things at home and that he had attempted to circumcise himself.

On examining the wound, Dr Mubangizi thought otherwise. He says, “There were several cuts on the remaining part of the penis. It looked like numerous attempts had been made before the final cut was done.”

“If Rwagonya cut himself as the men claim, he would have sliced off the penis once and not made several efforts. I do not believe he could have cut himself because of the overwhelming pain he would have subjected himself to.”

The puzzle
Today, Rwagonya continues searching for answers to this unsolved mystery as the whereabouts of the cut-off organ remain unknown. He remains puzzled of what could have actually happened to him.
“I do not recall anything that happened that night. I’m most certain I did not cut off my organ. Someone with ill intentions must have done it,” he concludes.

police says

Musa Tibakirana, the district police commander at Fort Portal police headquarters, revealed that six people were arrested after the incident. These include; Margaret Muhenda, Thomas Kayonga (Margaret’s son), Fiona Kyomuhendo (a family member), Pastor Ruth Mbabazi, Pastor Patrick Akolabirungi and Pastor Allan Ajuna, the three pastors from Geme Evangelical Church.

“We compiled the evidence before sending the file to the state resident attorney. The matter is now in court,” Tibakirana says. “They all claim that Arthur has a psychiatric disorder and he is the one who cut off his manhood, a claim that was later disregarded by a report from Butabika hospital.”
Tibakirana emphasises that police did not release any of the suspects but court did release them on bond. The case is still ongoing.

Margaret Muhenda says…
Margaret Muhenda’s home in Kichwamba Sub county, Kabarole District is single-storeyed without a fence. I found a teenage girl sweeping the compound. After exchanging greetings and introducing myself, I asked to see Muhenda.
“She is not home,” the girl responded.

Moments later, a boy who looked to be in his 20s, emerged from the backyard. After asking him the same question, he too responded Muhenda was away.

Both suddenly looked worried after I mentioned that, “I will wait until she returns.”

The girl then went to the backyard. Five minutes later, she returned with an old woman wearing a long, grey skirt and floral blouse and a headscarf.

The elderly woman, who did not introduce herself, asked me why I wanted to see Muhenda.
“It’s in regard to Arthur,” I replied.

She gave me a long hard stare before answering, “I’m Muhenda. Many people come here asking about that boy. Sometimes my family lies about my whereabouts to protect me,” she explained. “But why are you interested?” she asked through an interpreter.
After mentioning I was a reporter, she relaxed.
“Ohhh…! Okay. I can give you the side of my story.”

On the fateful Saturday after the boys returned from church, Muhenda says, “upon entering the house, Arthur got a panga and started running in the house. Together with the boys, I went out calling for help. When we returned with a small group of people, we found him naked, crouching on the floor. Also, we realised he had cut himself.”

Since it was a bit dark, Muhenda says, one of them got a torch and lit it in Rwagonya’s direction while another person held his neck backwards. Another individual got a blanket and covered him up.

“Afterwards, we got a car and drove Arthur to Buhinga hospital,” she says.

They reached the hospital at about 6am.
Muhenda refutes allegations of causing body harm to Rwagonya.

“Many people in this village claim that I had a hand in this incident. Those accusations are false. Why would a woman of my age hurt Arthur? I have nothing against him.” Ever since the incident happened, “They hate me because they think I did it. People no longer greet me and they do not invite me to events.”