Old Kampala hospital demands apology from mayor Lukwago over organ harvesting allegations

Old Kampala hospital has issued a 7-day ultimatum for Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and their former patient Muhamood Kabanda to apologise for accusing the hospital of illegal organ harvesting.

Failure to retract the allegations, the hospital threatens to pursue a defamation case against the duo. Last month, Lukwago and Kabanda ran to the media, accusing the hospital of harvesting Kabanda's kidney when he was admitted there following a nasty accident. Kabanda, a trader in Owino market sought medical services after being involved in a motor accident that left a cut on his forehead.

Kabanda opened a case at Old Kampala police station against Old Kampala hospital. However, separate investigations by the police and the Uganda Medical & Dental Practitioners Council found that Kabanda was born with only one kidney and that there was never any kidney harvesting as alleged. The council noted that surgeons made an incision on Kabanda's stomach to remove a tissue that was used to repair his broken skull.

Addressing journalists on Monday, the medical director of Kampala hospital, Dr Faisal Kazibwe, said that the statements made by Lukwago and Kabanda were defamatory. He wants the duo to run an apology on the front pages of New Vision, Daily Monitor, and other media houses they spoke to while accusing the hospital of kidney harvesting.

Kazibwe emphasized that the patient, like others who come to the hospital, was attended to by qualified personnel. He says the neurologist who operated on Kabanda was a qualified practitioner who followed the necessary procedure to attend to the patient.

When contacted, Kabanda said that he was yet to recover and doesn't see why he should apologize to the hospital. Kabanda, who disputed both the police and Uganda Medical & Dental Practitioners Council reports insists that he needs an independent investigation conducted outside Uganda to ascertain his status.

“Did they apologize to me for cutting my belly? I am not well until now” said Kabanda in a phone interview. Lukwago couldn't be reached as his known mobile number couldn't go through.