Minister Bageine Fraudulently Extracts Boy’s Kidney
You never know when and what might trigger your imprisonment. It could occur in your youthful years, during old age or when you’re rich or poor. But for the elderly former Minister of State for East African Affairs, Shem Bujura Bageine, he is likely to be booked into a cell if info we’ve gathered is anything to go by.
Bageine, together with his brothers, are facing arrest after a young boy dragged them to court for cunningly transplanting his kidney in India and giving it to their dying nephew.
The victim, Godfrey Akanyijuka – an orphan and a resident of Maziba, Nyanja Trading Center in Kabale district – says he started staying at the home of Mzee Kosea Karyamugara, the father to Bageine wife’s, after the death of both his parents and grandparents at the age of 12.
“Mzee Karyamugara managed to educate me up to O’ Level and I was later brought to Kampala where I started staying with Shem Bageine at his home in Bugolobi,” Akanyijuka says.
But after sometime, Akanyijuka rented his own Muzigo in Bukoto in July 2014.
THE KIDNEY TRANSPLANT
About a week or so after renting his own muzigo, Akanyijuka says that Bageine’s brother, one Robert Biryabarema, called him.
“He told me to meet him at his office located at Ham Towers in Makerere, where he has an Environmental Consultancy Firm. He told me that he had gotten for me a job in Kyankwanzi district,” Akanyijuka says
Biryabarema explained to him that Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) was to construct a road and had hired him to do an environmental evaluation. He thus told Akanyijuka that he wanted him to also gain from the deal.
“After explaining all that to me, he then told me that he had a sick patient at Norvik Hospital. He asked me to accompany him to the hospital to see the patient, whom I later learnt that he is called Ssemanda Twinamatsiko. The patient was indeed very sick and on dialysis,” Akanyijuka narrated.
Biryabarema called the doctor and the two had a brief discussion before they drove back to the office at Ham Towers. When they reached the office, the victim asked Biryabarema what the patient was suffering from and he told him that he had a kidney disease.
“While in office, he started showing me too much care. He started sweet-talking me, telling me that I should return the following day so that we go to Kyankwanzi together for work,” he added.
Reaching Kyankwanzi, Biryabarema’s care for Akanyijuka increased to the extent that he never wanted him to go away from his sight.
After finishing the Kyankwanzi job, the duo went to check on the patient again at the hospital. While at the hospital, Biryabarema told the victim that he (Biryabarema) was not feeling well and that he wanted a medical checkup. He, together with a top doctor at Norvik Hospital one Dr. Kalyesubula, convinced Akanyijuka to also test and know his health status.
“They convinced me that it was good to know my health status, which I accepted. Dr. Kalyesubula drew my blood but I didn’t know that their deal was to know my HIV status and my blood group. The Doctor had lied to me that he was going to test for blood pressure and malaria,” Akanyijuka confessed.
He further explained: “When my results were released, Dr. Kalyesubula called Biryabarema and told him that I was the right person who could help them. I did not realize what he meant. Amidst the confusion, we jumped into the car and went back to Ham Towers. While in office, Biryabarema called Bageine and ecstatically told him that they had got a right person to help the dying Ssemanda.”
Immediately after talking to Bageine, Biryabarema turned to the victim and frankly asked him to donate one of his kidneys to Ssemanda.
“I first refused, arguing that I could not give out my body organ. Biryabarema begged me to accept in exchange for a mansion in Kampala and Kabale, a vehicle and a multimillion business once the transplant is done. We drove back to Norvik Hospital. Dr. Kalyesubula convinced me that it was okay for someone to give out one kidney and remain with one. He further sweet-talked me to accept the two houses, a business and a vehicle and give out my kidney to Ssemanda who was about to die,” he said.
From there, the duo went to Bugolobi and met Bageine, who also begged Akanyijuka to accept the offer, pledging that he would take care of him forever.
“I accepted and asked Shem to put his assurance in writing, but he told me that he fears writing an agreement claiming that it was criminal. After constant persuasion, I was convinced, bearing in mind that since Shem was a minister, he would fulfill his promise.”
The Ex-minister later wrote a recommendation to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to expeditiously process Akanyijuka’s passport and in February 2015, he was flown to India. He was booked into Fortis Hospital owned by the