– Money for fighter jets –
Nakibuuka Noor Musisi, programme manager at the NGO Centre For Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) and another one of the petitioners, accused the government of lacking “political commitment”.
“The very week we filed the case, in March 2011, the government was buying fighter jets,” she said. “To protect whom? When women are dying?”
As such, the case could have punishing implications for the Ugandan government and for veteran President Yoweri Museveni as he campaigns for re-election in 2016 – which will be his 30th year in power.
According to a recently released survey by Columbia University researchers and the Coalition to Stop Maternal Mortality in Uganda, a quarter of voters in the impoverished east African nation believe health care should be the top national priority ahead of the polls.
“The reason we are taking the matter to court is the government has the responsibility of providing health and health facilities to the people,” said Inziku, a 47-year-old teacher.
He said he thought his wife would be proud of him for taking a stand: “Definitely, because when you see something bad or wrong there is a need to fix it.”
Godfrey Wamala, another Ugandan widower, recounted how his wife Remie had an incident-free pregnancy before she, too, bled to death at a Kampala hospital in 2013. Her baby survived but has cerebral palsy.
“Pregnancy is not a disease but in Africa we treat it like it is,” he told AFP. “The health system is lacking.”
Ironically his late wife was a coordinator for the Parliamentary Forum for Children, and had campaigned tirelessly for maternal and child health rights. He said that in the wake of her death, Uganda’s parliament vowed to form a committee and address the crisis – but that no action has yet been taken.
Wamala is now setting up the Remie Wamala Maternal and Child Health Organisation to carry on with his wife’s work.
“I’m not a politician but I’m fighting for people’s lives,” he said. “Remie died in pain, a lot of pain, but I don’t want others to die like that.”
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