Africa-Press – Uganda. On November 14, 2022, two police officers shot six times at Cranimer Sseviiri’s car, leaving him severely injured. As a result, Mr Sseviiri lost many bodily functions, including the ability to walk without support.
He presently passes urine with the aid of two catheters, is unable to execute conjugal obligations, and is in need of a kidney transplant from India.
The incident also left Mr Sseviiri’s intestines and kidney severely injured. He is currently undergoing dialysis treatment at Mulago National Referral Hospital at least three times a week for which he has to pay Shs150,000 per session.
Doctors have already advised Mr Sseviiri to get a kidney transplant.
“My scrotum and penis were severely injured and I have no confirmed medical opinion that I shall be able to perform sexual functions again,” he told court.
Press has seen the ghastly images of Sseviiri, a father of 10 school-going children, as he fights for his life. Before the shooting, Mr Sseviiri was a director in KimKam Property Masters Ltd, a company that deals in the buying and selling of real estate property.
Background
On September 6, 2022, Mr Sseviiri bought a kibanja interest in an acre of land at Kitetika Village, Mutuba I Sub-county, Wakiso District, comprising Block 197 Plot 115/148 on behalf of KimKam Property Masters Ltd.
He paid 50 percent of the agreed Shs50m. Between September 6 and November 14, 2022, Mr Sseviiri was approached by one Mark Bitarabeho, who claimed ownership interest in the same land on behalf of himself and others unknown to Mr Sseviiri.
Mr Sseviiri conducted due diligence on the copies of the documents of title that Mr Bitarabeho presented to him in proof of the latter’s claim. Mr Sseviiri says he was advised by the Wakiso Lands Office, which guidance he took to be true, that the copy of the title presented to him by Mr Bitarabeho was a forgery and had been adjudged so since 2018 and subsequently withdrawn from the register on that account.
Mr Sseviiri would routinely visit and inspect the piece of land in question after the counsel he had received from the Wakiso land office.
The shooting
About 9am on November 14, 2022, Mr Sseviiri left his home to go to work. He intended to pass by a friend’s home enroute. On his way, he saw a blue police van (commonly called ‘drone’) followed by a Toyota Carib car moving in the opposite direction.
He alleges that the two vehicles slowed down while bypassing his car. Because they slowed down, Mr Sseviiri further alleges he noticed that the occupants seated at the front of the ‘drone’ were ACP Gerald Twishime (in full police uniform) and Mr Bitarabeho. The Carib allegedly had four occupants, including Detective Constable Ibrahim Hassan Kisasaio and SPC Godfrey Semujju.
A few minutes later, around Kiteezi village, and about 10km from the contested land, Mr Sseviiri says he noticed from his rear view mirror that the Carib had turned around and was following him while the ‘drone’ remained stationary a short distance away.
Suddenly, Mr Sseviiri allegedly heard a gunshot and realised that his car tyres had been shot. In shock, Mr Sseviiri says he parked his car with the intention of submitting to the authorities.
“Almost immediately I stopped, the second [Ibrahim Hassan Kisasasio] and the third [Godfrey Semujju] respondents shot at me at close range and about six gunshots were fired, with three catching me in the upper leg and abdomen,” Mr Sseviiri narrates.
He lost consciousness, which he only regained while admitted at St Stephen’s Hospital, Mpererwe, where he received first aid.
That very day, November 14, 2022, at St Stephen’s Hospital, he underwent the first surgery that was purposed to remove a bullet that was lodged in his body and to perform an exploratory laparotomy.
On the same day, Mr Sseviiri underwent two other procedures at the same facility, including a Hartmann’s Colostomy surgery and another to debride his lower thigh and scrotum to remove necrotising tissue.
On January 3, 2023, he was examined by a police surgeon, who concluded that his injuries were the result of gunshots and that as a result, he had “life threatening paraesthesias of the entire leg and back which require specialised medical and surgical attention.”
On July 22, 2023, Mr Sseviiri underwent another medical procedure at Kampala Hospital aimed at resolving obstructive uropathy and to insert bilateral urinary catheters. Later, on December 26 that year, Mr Sseviiri underwent a fifth procedure called a colostomy reversal at St Stephen’s Hospital.
On April 8, Sseviiri endured a sixth procedure conducted at Mulago National Referral Hospital. It was meant to extract the urinary catheters, incision and drainage of abdomen of pus, and re-insertion of the urinary catheters.
Accused
At the time, the incident happened in Mutuba I Sub-county, Kasangati, Wakiso District, SSP Adam Mulondo Kakaire was the DPC of Kasangati Police Division. Mr Sseviiri through his lawyers accuse him of refusing to take action against the three accused police officers, including Kisasaio, Semujju and his senior ACP Gerald Twishime, who was present at the scene of the shooting.
ACP Twishime is accused of refusing to arrest suspects Kisasaio and Semujju. It was not until Mr Sseviiri reported the incident to the Police Standards Unit (PSU) vide PSU/KMP/GEF/353/2023 that the suspected duo (Kisasaio and Semujju) was arrested.
At the time of the shooting, Mr Sseviiri alleges that he had Shs10m cash in the car which was stolen during the fracas. The money he says had reportedly been paid to him by one Moses Kasibane for land he had sold him in the evening before the incident. Mr Sseviiri also claims he had four land titles, which were stolen during the incident.
“The shooting has fundamentally changed my life and left me dependent on others for basic care. I continue to suffer physical, emotional, and psychological injuries resulting from the shooting. I no longer work or earn yet have to shoulder enormous medical bills for my day-to-day care,” Mr Sseviiri says.
SSP Mulondo told in a telephone interview that he did what was expected of him before the case was taken over by “our bosses.”
He declined to discuss the issue further. ACP Twishime did not respond to our repeated calls.
Letter to Museveni
This publication has seen an April 19 letter in which Gloria Asio Omaswa, the principal private secretary to the President, asks the Inspector General of Police to handle the complaints against suspects SSP Adam Mulondo Kakaire and ACP Gerald Twishime.
Ms Omaswa’s letter follows a petition to President Museveni by Sseviiri.
“It was not until I reported the matter to the Police Standards Unit (PSU) that the junior police men were arrested by PSU. To date, and to my knowledge, neither the ACP Twishime Gerald nor SSP Kakaire Adam Mulondo have been arrested or subjected to police disciplinary proceedings for their role in my current predicament. I have heard unverified claims that they are untouchable within the Force and that I ‘shall not manage them’. In fact, ACP Twishime Gerald continues as the RPC Kawempe and they both continue to wear the honourable police uniform,” Mr Sseviiri states in his letter to the President.
In the letter, Mr Sseviri appeals to President Museveni to order that police disciplinary proceedings ensue against suspects ACP Twishime and SSP Kakaire.
“Secondly, Your Excellency, I write to you, as a parent, and a grandfather, to express to you my fear that for as long as ACP Twishime Gerald and SSP Kakaire Adam Mulondo remain in active service and with access to guns, my life, however, little, remains in danger. Although it is more or less gone, I would not wish for them to succeed in ending my life so easily and so conveniently.”
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