Articles in the Hello Newspaper editions of 13th and 15th May 2014 erroneously reported that a student from Uganda Christian University in Mukono had been raped and murdered in a lodge in Seeta.
This statement therefore is to correct the misrepresentation of facts leading to the death of the student, identified as Nambozo Pamella, a second year student of BIFA at the University. This is also to explain events following her death since even after 11 days; her body remained at Mulago hospital mortuary unidentified.
On Easter Sunday 20/04/2014 at about 5:00pm the traffic police officer No. 40107 Komugisha Phobeth from seeta Police station on duty at Rwenzori-Namanve received a report of a serious accident involving a young lady who was a passenger on a motor cycle heading towards Mukono from the direction of Bweyogerere.
The traffic Police immediately moved to the scene to rescue the victim, establish circumstances surrounding the cause of the accident and trace for the drivers and motor vehicles involved in the accident for prosecution purposes.
At the scene of accident, No. 40107 PC Komugisha Phobeth was joined by No. 59401 PC Serunjoji Kenedy and the victim was lying unconscious by the roadside. Immediately, the victim was rushed for first aid with the help of Hajji Kyomya Ali, one of the first people to the scene.
However, the victim’s condition was worrying and she was rushed to Mulago Hospital by Police officers AIP Zema and D/AIP Byekwaso John. They arrived at the hospital at 0610pm as evidenced in the hospital records. This accident was also reported to the police command centre by OC traffic of Seeta police station AIP Chemutai.
At the scene of accident, some findings were made. It was discovered that the accident took place at about 5:00pm at Namanve and both the motorcycle and the motor vehicle registration numbers were not identified. It was also established that the first respondents at the scene were Uganda revenue Authority officials on duty around the same place, boda boda riders and Hajji Kyomya Ali who helped the police in transporting the victim from the scene.
At the causality ward at Mulago hospital, the victim still remained unidentified and unconscious as witnessed by Apio Christine, a security guard at the hospital. The victim was admitted in ward 3B and later moved to ward 3A on bed 13 from where she died on 25th/04/2014 at 0830pm, 5 days after her admission at the hospital. The body then was taken to the hospital mortuary from where it still remained unidentified 11 days after the victim was first admitted at the hospital. The body was taken for burial at Bukasa on 06/05/2014 by the KCCA officials.
On 08/05/2014, relatives of the deceased were advised to look at the records of Mulago hospital mortuary in an effort to trace for their missing daughter basing on a case reference opened at Bweyogerere Police station of disappearance. Fortunately, their description of their daughter closely matched that of the deceased who at that time was already buried.
At this stage, an exhumation had to be carried out on the same day 08/05/2014 by Mr. Kintu who is a KCCA official. The deceased’s relatives confirmed that the body was that of their daughter, which dispels allegations that their daughter was raped and murdered at a lodge in seeta.
Unfortunately, the relatives did not allow the mortuary staff to perform a postmortem and the body was taken out of the hospital mortuary forcefully. This therefore, means that the body of the deceased was taken without due clearance of the hospital staff. The body was then taken to Sironko district and buried at an unknown date.
It has therefore come to our understanding that the deceased student (Nambozo Pamela) left the home of her uncle and guardian Mr. Gimei Paul at around 04:00pm after informing her sisters that she was rushing to Seeta to meet a friend. With her, she carried a phone and had no bag or any other identification making it hard for the police or the hospital to have identified her at the time of accident. The mobile phone also went missing in the events following the accident.
Following the report of disappearance made at Bweyogere police station under SD 14/24/04/2014, the flying squad basing on a printout arrested the deceased’s boyfriend Tonny Manyifu who is a student of Kyambogo University since he was the last person the victim communicated to at 0454pm and the accident occurred at 0500pm.
The arrest was made in an effort to trace for the victim whose whereabouts were not clear at the time. He was later released by the Bweyogrere police station.
The investigation team in Mukono henceforth is in the process of securing a court order to enable the police to exhume the body for postmortem to make prosecution successful. Some statements from the Uganda revenue Authority staff at the scene and more are going to be recorded to the file. We are also tracking to establish the whereabouts of the deceased’s mobile phone and any information leading the arrest of the drivers and impounding of the vehicles involved.
It is therefore paramount that the false and misleading information given in the Newspaper is corrected and the right narrative of the events told as they unfolded as indicated by this statement.
The Uganda police force prides in the continuous cooperation with the press and works towards higher service delivery to the public and all the people of Uganda.
Namaye Polly
Ag. Assistant Commissioner of Police
Deputy Press and Public Relations
