Where are the people shot in election-related violence?

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Almost a week after the parliamentary and presidential election, it’s still unclear how many people died or sustained gunshot injuries despite wide accusations of shootings by security personnel on election night on Thursday.

When URN visited the emergency and trauma wards in Mulago National Referral Hospital on Tuesday, there was no visible hike in admission despite claims on social media that the hospital had recorded an hike in cases of gunshot injuries.

When this was put to Dr Rosemary Byanyima, the Mulago Hospital Executive Director, she termed the allegations as misinformation, saying their admission numbers remained in the same ranges as they were before election day.

She further clarified that allegations that there was a dedicated facility to treat gunshot injuries show that the person circulating this information is clueless about how the hospital operates. She explains that ideally injuries are admitted according to the body part affected where for instance those with fractures are allocated a different ward from those with chest injuries for instance.

On election night, clashes occurred near the home of Butambala County MP Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi where scores are reported to have been shot. Eight are reported to have died and several others injured.

According to Kivumbi, the shooting at his home went on for about 15 minutes, killing ten people and injuring others. He says they were rushed to nearby health facilities and others referred further to the national referral facility in Kampala.

At a press conference yesterday, the police acknowledged that some people were shot at but declined to report on the incident promising journalists that they would issue a comprehensive report at the later date.  However, while speaking to URN on Tuesday evening, Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson Racheal Kawala said to date they don’t have information on how many these people are or where they are being treated from.

“I don’t have that information yet,” she said. “If there are people who were injured, they should come and report.”

In an earlier interview on Friday, Kawala had said, the police had used teargas and bullets to disperse protestors in areas of Kanyanya, Nansana and Nsambya who were causing chaos during vote tallying and polling stations.

Other reports indicated that shootings happened in different places in Kampala metropolitan including in Bulenga and Mukono areas.

During a post-election victory address on Sunday, President Museveni did not talk of injuries but that seven people were shot dead by police in Butambala.

“… the plan everywhere was that where NUP is defeated, gangs with pangas should attack the polling station and that’s what they did when Kivumbi was defeated,” he said. “They came with pangas to attack the polling station, and they were shot. Seven of them were shot dead there.”

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URN