Traditional surgeon on the run after child dies hours after being circumcised

BUVUMA DISTRICT: Police in Buvuma District is on a hunt for a traditional surgeon behind a botched surgical procedure after a two-weeks old baby died hours after being circumcised.

The unfortunate incident happened on Monday, March 20, at Kiiko Fishing Village in Buwaga Parish, Bugaya Sub-county in Buvuma District.

According to Ms Hellen Butoto, the Ssezibwa Police Spokesperson who confirmed the report on Tuesday, it is alleged that the unidentified man went to the village on Monday and called upon Muslims whose children are not circumcised to take them to him for a free circumcision.

In the process, the father of the baby identified as Mr Jamal Marshall and his wife handed their child to the suspect to be circumcised, which caused a lot of bleeding and the passing on of the baby later that day.

Ms Butoto says both parents of the deceased however declined to make a statement when approached by police but confirmed that crime investigators are on the ground to establish whether the suspect is a trained surgeon qualified to perform such a procedure or not.

She appealed to the public to be careful with people who are not known in the community, encouraging those who want their children to get circumcised to seek such services from professionals only in government health facilities.

Ms Nabuzaale, a former councillor of Bugaya Sub-county in Buvuma District condemned the act and said any circumcision procedure should be performed by a qualified surgeon or urologist. She also wondered why residents are still seeking the services of traditional circumcisers.

“Many of the local circumcisers operate under unhygienic conditions, which may cause rare complications, including poor healing, over bleeding or infection. They are not trained to do the work. We have Bugaya Health Centre III, which offers circumcision services at no cost but many residents still go to traditional herbalists,” Ms Nabuzaale said