The events of 26 September 2017 remain vivid in Uganda’s recent political history.
What was intended to be a routine plenary sitting of Parliament that Tuesday afternoon descended into chaos when opposition MPs physically confronted their NRM counterparts in an effort to block the tabling of the Age Limit Bill.
Security operatives moved in, violently rounded up and ejected several opposition MPs from the chamber.
While much of the security operation was captured by journalists’ cameras and Parliament’s CCTV system, one critical moment was not—the “beating and maiming” of Mukono Municipality MP, Betty Nambooze—an incident that has since proved costly to the taxpayer.
The public footage shows Nambooze being escorted out of the parliamentary chamber and led into the same police van as MPs Mathias Mpuuga and Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, who were then driven to SIU Kireka.
Upon arrival at Kireka, Nambooze walked unassisted into the police cells as several other MPs were driven into the facility for detention. So, at what point was she beaten?
All the MPs arrested that day were driven back to their homes after midnight, with the exception of Francis Zaake and Angeline Osegge, who were hospitalised due to injuries sustained during the fracas. By daybreak, however, Betty Nambooze had checked herself into Bugolobi Medical Centre, claiming that three of her spinal discs had been damaged.
Where and how she sustained these injuries remains unclear. No eyewitness account has ever corroborated her claims, raising questions as to how such a severe beating could have occurred without being witnessed by anyone other than Nambooze herself and her alleged tormentors.
Challenge her to bring evidence of the assault – be it a video clip as short as 2 seconds, and turn into her sworn enemy.
Francis Zaake, who was visibly beaten to pulp, has since recovered and never sought public funds for treatment abroad. Nambooze, by contrast, has continued to draw on the public purse.
Months before the age-limit fracas, June 2016 to be precise, Nambooze faked illness allegedly after being poisoned during an evening drink-up with friends at a bar in Seeta, Mukono.
She checked-in at Namirembe Church of Uganda Hospital, Mukono, misled a major newspaper to publish a story, and used the late Cecilia Ogwal—then a member of the Parliamentary Commission—to persuade the then Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga to authorize her medical treatment abroad.
Each such trip costs the taxpayer up to $540 per night, paid as an allowance to her husband for accompanying and caring for her.
