Caught in riots, left with broken spine 

A security personnel in Seeta Town fired a bullet that hit Namambo while  travelling to Mukono District. 

The bullet, which had been lodged in her spinal cord for more than two weeks, was finally removed on Friday following an operation.  However, doctors say Namambo’s chances of walking again are less than five per cent while her pregnancy has half a chance to survive.

“My life was ruined. I am paralysed from around my waist to the lower part of my body. I cannot do anything for myself even if you pinch me, I cannot feel anything,” she says.

Ms Namambo, who is expecting her second child, is shattered by pain and despair as she lies on the left side of the hospital bed. 
The 28-year-old had been running a stationery shop on Nasser Road in Kampala where she used to earn about Shs160,000 a day from the business. But all that is gone. 

From her home in Mukono District to the main road where she boards a taxi to Kampala, is about 7km. She has been using a boda boda to reach the main road but doctors have now told her that she is likely to be confined in a wheelchair. 

Ms Namambo says although she is not spending a lot on drugs, mainly painkillers, she is worried about her caretakers. She says she has to provide food for them as well. 

They alternate in helping her change position. She spends about Shs60,000 on her and their upkeep daily. 
Since she no longer works, the costs are high for her.  Her husband, Mr Andrew Hadali is a mechanic in Bweyogerere and his earnings too are not enough.     
  
Fateful day 
On the fateful day, Namambo was travelling back home in an omnibus which had already been shattered by a stone thrown by rioters.
 The road was clear although there were indications of chaos.  As the taxi approached Seeta town, they found chaos but there was no police at that time.

Roads had been blocked and the protesters were hurling stones randomly. Fearing to be caught up in the chaos, the taxi driver opted to park at a nearby fuel station to wait for the chaos to subside. That is when Namambo was shot.  

“When we reached Seeta, we found a lot of chaos but there was no police at the time. The rioters were many, they had taken over the roads and were throwing stones. The driver decided to park until the rioters cleared,” Ms Namambo recounts.

 Their wait was interrupted by police who started shooting in the air to disperse the protestors.

Following the gunshots, Ms Namambo took cover in the omnibus to protect herself from bullets. However, a stray bullet hit her. She does not understand why police shot at people in a parked taxi.

 “I heard something hit me in the back. I felt like the car was electrified, I wondered what was going on. I tried to lift my leg but I could not. I tried to lift another leg but it was the same case. I asked the woman who was next to me what was in my back and she told me I have been shot,” Namambo says.

“What kind of training is this that you leave people who are rioting and shoot people who are not. They shot many innocent people,” she adds.
Ms Namambo says she thought she was going to die. She called her husband who spoke to the taxi driver and asked him to take his wife to a health facility in Mukono. 

Due to shortage of blood at the health facility, Namambo was later referred to Nsambya hospital. However, while there, medical bills were shooting through the roof.

Mr Hadali requested for a transfer to Mulago.
 “I paid more than Shs7,000 at the first health facility, then I paid Shs120,000 for the ambulance to Nsambya where a number of tests were done which cost me more than Shs1m. In the morning, other doctors still came to carry out more tests and asked for more money. So I requested for a transfer to Mulago,” Mr Hadali says.

Current state
Before the doctors removed the bullet, Ms Namambo said she was only receiving pain killers. 

 “If you feel pain, you are given pain killers but then the pain is still a lot. Once the painkillers are done, I feel pain. I feel like the bullet is trying to get out, I want the bullet taken out. I want to resume my life,” Namambo said then. 
 
When Daily Monitor visited the ward, there was no electricity. A conversation between a health staff and Mr Hadali indicated that the operation could not be carried out at the time due to technical problems that could not be disclosed.

 “They said they have to do all tests before she can be operated upon. They were about five tests that needed to be carried out. The last one was a Covid-19 test. She turned out Covid negative. They said after the tests we shall be heading for the theatre and the only thing remaining was consent,” Mr Hadali recounted.

Dr Rosemary Byanyima, the deputy director of Mulago, said before an operation is done, several things have to be analysed. She said the attendants’ demands could cause more harm to the patient.
Mr Hadali says his wife is likely to be confined in a wheelchair because the bullet severed her spine.

 “She does not eat that much. I touched her feet and asked her whether she could feel my hands. She told me she feels nothing, so she is still paralysed. Doctors say she will have permanent disability.  Now doctors are trying to see that she survives. She also feels pain when lifting her hands,” Mr Hadali says.

 He says doctors told them that the bullet penetrated through the bones which protect a tube that runs from up to the bottom at the back. The tube has liquid and the bullet was in that liquid.

 Dr Mukuzi Muhereza, the secretary general of Uganda Medical Association, says the bullet went through bones and sheath and it was in the cerebral spinal fluid.  Dr Mukuzi says generally spinal cord injuries are very risky and often they result in permanent paralysis.

On chances of the unborn baby surviving, Mr Hadali says: “She is six weeks pregnant so before taking her to theatre, a consent letter had to be signed in case anything happens to the pregnancy to avoid issues of suing. We were told the chances of a very young foetus to survive are 50/50 because the system used for anaesthesia during operation might affect the foetus.”

“We have to first to do an ultra sound scan. If the pregnancy survives, we were told we can find an adjustable wheelchair to adjust the angles so that she is not in just one position,” he adds.
Ms Namambo appeals to President Museveni to visit her in hospital to see the pain innocent Ugandans are going through due to the reckless shootings by security forces.

 “You talk about compensation but a person like me cannot get the same compensation as someone who was shot in the leg. Compensation should be done after evaluation of the extent of the damage. Let President Museveni come here at Mulago and see what I am going through,” Ms Namambo says.