Mowzey Radio: An ethical dilemma or matter of judgment

By James William Mugeni

As dust settles over the death of Moses Ssekiboogo alias Mowzey Radio, I wish there is someone from the medical fraternity to help us chart a way forward through our triage system. Our world of medicine leaves a lot to be desired.

All hospitals, Nsambya, Mengo and Rubaga etc always looked at Mulago as a centre of excellence. For the few times I have worked or studied nursing in Mulago, whenever bones were mentioned, you knew you are talking about Nadumba, the consultant orthopedic surgeon with his team. You talk about heart institute you are talking about prof. Omaswa and his team, you talk about the nervous system, then you are talking about Kiryabwire (now deceased) and his team.

We had those fairy stories of people like vice-president Samson Kiseka (now deceased) flying to Germany only to find the Kiryabwires there. The medicine in Uganda has developed so fast that one would like to know what new specialties have been introduced in these mushrooming hospitals.

When you see an explanation on how Radio died, you need to hear it from an authority. It sounded as if it was coming from poor James William Mugeni, the fugitive clinical officer. How do you give a doctor whom you cannot even Google the name to explain death to the world?

What is the accepted triage system between these hospitals? What referral notes came out of Nsambya for example? And what were the driving factors for Case Clinic to take over management? Has Ccase Clinic become a centre of excellence as compared to our traditional Mulago? Someone should be in charge of deaths in Uganda. Life is so cheap in Uganda and all failures are now Gods cases of no appeal. Then the flushing of money over the cameras what is this!

Let me simulate for you what scene would have played out in the US.

Radio is assaulted in Entebbe, the first thing would have been a 911 call. The dispatch would have been police, fire engine and a fully-equipped ambulance with a trauma team.

Three vehicles are dispatched the police team will arrive in place to secure the crime scene. At the scene, the highly mobile trauma team takes care of the victim while all the assessment is going on to save life. The team knows which hospital suites the circumstances.

At some place the helicopter would be rotating its propellers ready for a flight, depending on the situation as assessed by the already dispatched team. The police will remain in the bar to download images from the bar because all bars have cameras and a data base of whoever drinks or drunk that day. Some of us who came in with our drinking habits have almost been forced to quit drinking because you do not want to be monitored. You buy a drink under camera in a store and your identity is scanned, yet you are taking a drink to your house. Your driver's licence is already under of a possible automobile operator who sips something.

Those transporting Radio would have been interested parties, insurance, paramedical legal teams where by the crime scene runs right from the bar to the hospital which potentially might be a new area of investigation.

The immediate care given brings everyone into the law. Yes, he needed an immediate surgery but even as the doctors go to open his brain or whatever, the medical legal team ensures that the surgeon is covered as the decision for surgery should not be among those that will be suspected to have caused death.

And if surgery is the best option the best or senior most surgeon leads this. Insurance itself is going to rely heavily on the stories told by every trusted source. The police itself is professional and are on top of the game. The issue becomes who is going to tell the truth amongst all these systems.

This is what you want to hear, I really got excited when Uganda Medical Association, (UMA0 had dreams because America is a place for dreamers; people here just make things work.

Dr Ekwaru Obuku, I am not taking about rocket science. there are things that we can achieve why are we sleeping? A helicopter can fly between these good hospitals and an ambulance system can run between these hospitals.

I am sickened that the UMA thinking was crushed faster than it started. A helicopter is being discussed in Parliament for Speaker of Parliament. The Police, professionalising the force is not cutting down doors hacksaws, please, where is the digital age in Uganda?

All bars are potential crime scenes and by law, all must have cameras that collect data on the behaviour of every socialite. People make things work in Uganda. Who advises who and where how can some of us contribute? Some of us have spoken and written, people must put some of these observable things into practice. How can we say we went to schools? How can we say we run governments? Alright, what is not shithole about us? Sometimes you just feel stigmatised because you have been called shithole, but look at this, we need rocket thinking to connect bars with Police? Surely what is wrong? Someone dies mysteriously under expert hands, God forbid!

The writer is a clinical officer