Mulago Accused Of Selling Baby

A Mpigi couple on Friday accused Mulago hospital of giving away its newly born boy baby for financial gain, reports Hillary Nsambu. Deo Kalule and his wife Gertrude Nabaloga, of Gobero village, Mpigi district, sued the state and are seeking general and exemplary damages for alleged negligence and costs of the suit. High Court judge John Katutsi said on June 14, he would fix the hearing date.Through Mutabingwa and Company Advocates, the couple claimed that on May 26, 2000, Nabaloga was admitted to Ward 5C, to give birth and a doctor on duty informed her that she would deliver normally.But another doctor who relieved the one on the day shift, operated on Nabaloga without her consent. She, however, had a healthy baby. The couple claims that the operation was a trespass on Nabaloga’s person and now want general damages.They also claimed that on May 27, 2000, the hospital authority assured Nabaloga’s relatives, who had requested to see the baby, that it was well and sound in the Special Care Unit, but the baby could not be shown to them.Nabaloga and her uncle Kavuma had also demanded to see the baby and in the same way, the nurses on duty in the unit promised to give them the baby the next day.The court heard that when Nabaloga insisted on seeing her baby on May 28, she was told by a nurse at the unit that she (the nurse), was under instruction to tell her that her baby had died on May 26, 2000.It is said in the plaint that she and Kavuma refused to accept the story, as the mortuary attendant also denied knowledge of the body of any baby.It is also alleged that the hospital staff including Mulago Hospital director, Mr Lawrence Kaggwa, went to the couple’s home in Gobero and admitted to having lost the child and offered to compensate them, but nothing had been done to that effect.The couple claim that the disappearance of their child has “put them through great suffering.”But in his defence statement, the Attorney general denied the allegations, saying the couple was not entitled to any claims. He said the baby developed foetal distress during labour, prompting an emergency caesarean delivery and died of natural causes on May 27.Ends