Boniface Muchunguzi is currently admitted at Mulago National Referral Hospital
One of the many bullets out of the volley shot by assailants during the botched attempt on the life of General Edward Katumba Wamala caught an onlooker.
Boniface Muchunguzi, 25, was working at a battery workshop a stone throw away from the spot where the assailants intercepted Gen. Katumba’s vehicle on Tuesday morning along Kisota road in Kisaasi.
Muchunguzi, who is nursing a bullet wound at Mulago National Referral Hospital left his guardian’s home in Kiteredde, Kingo in Masaka City early this year for Kampala in search of employment.
His only contact in the city was Wilber Mukiibi, the son of Suzan Mutesi, who brought up Muchunguzi after being abandoned by his biological mother at five years of age.
As a result, Mutesi brought up Muchunguzi as her own brother. Mukiibi says that when Muchunguzi reached Kampala, he opened up for him a chapati stall at the junction where Kisota road connects to Kisaasi-Kyanja main road. However, they developed a misunderstanding two month after. “We got some misunderstandings and closed the chapatti stall. He started working for one of my friends in Kisota. I was so shocked to learn that he had been shot,” Mukiibi added.
Zainabu Namuwaya, a tailor and neighbour to the battery workshop, says that following the misunderstanding with his ‘brother’, Muchunguzi remained unemployed and started doing the casual jobs around Kisaasi.
After a few days Faizo Ssali, a friend to Mukiibi asked Muchunguzi to start helping him at his battery workshop in return for accommodation, lunch and some little money depending on the day’s workload.
On the ill-fated day, Ssali says that they were preparing to open for business just like any other normal days when they heard a blast they thought was a puncture of a vehicle tyre. He says that no sooner had the vehicle stopped than they heard gunshots forcing them to flee into their workshop for dear life but Muchunguzi had already been hit in the leg.
He says that after the gunshots, they came out from hiding in the workshop and rushed to Muchunguzi to nearby medical facility and ended up at Malcolm Clinic, the same facility that gave Gen Katumba first aid. Ssali says that when they arrived at Malcolm Clinic, he left the victim under the care of the health workers and stepped out to inform Mukiibi about the incident.
However, on his return Muchunguzi was nowhere to be seen. He was later informed that he had been evacuated together with Gen. Katumba. Given the fact that Gen. Katumba had been rushed to Medipal International Hospital for further management, Ssali expected Muchunguzi to be in the same facility. However, this wasn’t the case.
His whereabouts remained unknown to his family and friends until Wednesday evening. Our reporter learnt that he had been transferred to Mulago by a private ambulance that had been called to evacuate Gen. Katumba. This ambulance had taken the victim to Mulago National Referral Hospital.
John Nsubuga, a nursing officer in the trauma ward notes that the bullet caused a Fibula commuted fracture on the victim’s left leg but he had been stabilized and doctors have recommended surgery to remove the dead tissue and apply a slab.
“The bullet broke one of the bones in his leg. He was lucky. This is not so serious and if well managed he will recover in a short time,” Nsubuga said referring to different diagnoses and assessments on the victim’s medical forms.
Muchunguzi says that he didn’t feel the bullet but just saw blood oozing from his leg as he tried to lift some batteries into the store.
Back in Masaka, Mutesi, the victim’s guardian, was worried all day as she didn’t know where he was. The 40-year-old was already puzzled by the situation as she is attending to her son who was involved in an accident a few weeks ago.
“The heaven is unfair to us. We are still struggling with an accident victim and another one is shot. Currently, I don’t have any penny and I don’t how will I look after these two boys,” she narrated in a hoarse voice during a telephone interview.
By the time this reporter left Mulago hospital on Wednesday evening, Muchunguzi had no close relative to take care of him. He was being looked after by nurses at the hospital who collected some money to buy him some eats and drinks.
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