BY Tom Mugisha, tom.mugisha@alleastafrica.com
KAMPALA – Police in Uganda are holding a clinical officerI for allegedly extorting money from an HIV patient.
Mr Marino Oyar was arrested on Wednesday in the northern district of Apac after he allegedly demanded for Shs100, 000 from an HIV patient as a bribe to allow him get treatment yet medication is supposed to be free at the government facilities.
The acting Apac District Police Commander, Mr Kalifani Chemutai, confirmed the arrest and said the suspect had been charged with abuse of office.
The Clinical Officer would be used for buying the patient’s “immune booster” from his private clinic, according to Mr Silvesto Okello, an Independent Budget Monitor (IBM) of the Apac Anti-Corruption Coalition.
“When he (the patient) explained this to me, I reported the matter to Akokoro Police post and we were advised to set up a trap,” Mr Okello said on phone on Friday. “So, we photocopied fifty thousand shillings note and sent a woman called Milly Amodo to deliver it to him.”
The woman, who posed as the patient’s daughter, found the suspect at the Out Patient Department (OPD) dispensing drugs to other patients, where she delivered the money to him.
“Immediately the police stormed the facility, conducted body search of the suspect and found Shs50, 000 in his pocket,” Mr Okello added.
