National Unity Platform (NUP) party failed to render financial support to its diehard and Member of Parliament (MP) representing Kawempe North Muhammad Ssegirinya to travel to Germany for medical treatment after tests revealed lung tumors that required specialized treatment.
Ssegirinya’s family member, who requested anonymity, intimated to this source that for over three months, he has been trying to get assistance from his political party, NUP. Still, all his efforts remained futile and landed on deaf ears, yet his health was deteriorating.
“For three months, we have tried to solicit funds from the party leadership, and the last time we tried to reach out to the NUP president, he said that he was busy and could not attend to us. We, therefore, wrote him a number of letters but no response till this day. This prompted us to ask Ssegirinya to run to the government for help,” a family member expressed his disappointment.
Another source at the NUP headquarters revealed that last month, Kyagulanyi travelled to New York with his wife and four children to launch his film at Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage in Central Park.
This did not go well with Ssegirinya’s family and supporters, who branded Kyagulanyi as a selfish person who uses people’s tears and blood to achieve his selfish materialistic gains.
“Bobi Wine could not even put a penny towards Ssegirinya’s situation but managed to take his entire family for a vacation in New York and mint loads of money while at it, in the name of launching a film about the suffering and bleeding Ugandans.” one of the family members lamented.
Alex Luswa Luwemba, Hon. Ssegirinya’s personal assistant, said that they decided to appeal to the government for help when his health started worsening. The government therefore bought air tickets and promised to take care of his hospital bills when he arrives in Germany.
Carrying test results in an envelope from Ecurei Mengo Hospital, Mr. Ssegirinya stated that he would head to Nairobi Hospital for further examinations before proceeding to Germany for comprehensive treatment.
“I am not in good shape. The doctors also found out that I have tumors in my lungs. I have difficulty breathing, and my stomach also hurts a lot. During the night, I feel so hot. I also have hypertension,” he said.
For Ssegirinya to travel abroad for medical treatment does not raise dust amongst the opposition in Uganda, especially the NUP. NUP has on several occasions condemned government officials for seeking medical treatment abroad, like the Late Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanya, the most recent being Hon. Amama Mbabazi and Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo.
What keeps on the independent Ugandan’s mind is, “Is it only the opposition members who are entitled to medical treatment abroad?” How then do we advocate for equality and democracy.
