URN.“She cannot eat anything ever since she was injured, we’re only feeding her soft drinks through a straw, She cannot talk because of the pain she is undergoing. The doctors told us that she will need to be operated on at Kiruddu hospital, and the operation requires some money, which we don’t have,” Kyarisima noted.
An expectant mother is nursing wounds after being hit by a stray bullet during a police crackdown in the slums of Kamwokya on Monday. Rahumah Nakibogo, 30, a resident of Kyamuka zone in Kamwokya parish, a Kampala Central Division was hit by a stray bullet released by officers at Kyebando police post while pursuing suspected thugs in an operation around 1:00 pm.
Nakibogo’s relatives say that she was in her restaurant when she was hit. She is hospitalized at Kawempe National Referral Hospital. Her relatives say that the police officers fired many rounds of bullets. One of the bullets caught Nakiogo in the upper jaw and went out. Her sister, Anita Kyarisima, says that Nakibogo lost some teeth and is now paralyzed in her body parts.
“She cannot eat anything ever since she was injured, we’re only feeding her soft drinks through a straw, She cannot talk because of the pain she is undergoing. The doctors told us that she will need to be operated on at Kiruddu hospital, and the operation requires some money, which we don’t have,” Kyarisima noted.
She says that ever since her sister escaped death, no single police officer has reached out to them, despite efforts they made to inform the concerned authorities.
Kyarisima has called on the police leadership and other well-wishers to support her sister to get proper medication.
Nakibogo was not alone who was injured by stray bullets. Hadijah Namulondo, 24, was also hit in the thigh and is recovering at Naguru hospital. She noted that while returning to her rental room in Kyamuka, she heard gunshots. She, however, says that a few minutes later something hit her leg.
“At first I had not recognized that it was the bullet that hit me, but then I started bleeding a lot and fell down and collapsed. I don’t know how we reached Naguru hospital,” Namulondo said.
The Kampala Metropolitan Deputy Police Spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire said that they received the complaint but they are still investigating the matter in order to establish the actual officers who could have participated in the shooting
In many cases of stray bullets, the perpetrators have gone unpunished. At least 39 lives were lost as a result of the stray bullets during the 2020 November city riot. Although president, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni directed an audit of the stray bullets, no officer was produced in court over the incidents.