On 5th May 2011, Nanteza Irene, now deceased, went into labour at her home. She was taken to hospital by her husband on that same afternoon and upon arrival; she was checked and then admitted to the maternity ward by the nurse on duty. However, the patient, now deceased, started having major complications and the nurse on duty concluded that she needed immediate attention from the doctor on call who was inexplicably unavailable. After eight (8) hours in the hospital without proper medical care for her haemorrhage and ruptured uterus, she passed away.

 

On 30 April 2015, the High Court of Uganda at Kampala rendered a judgment on a suit brought against the Nakaseke District Local Administration for the violation of Nanteza Irene’s maternal health rights. The plaintiffs were awarded general damages for the sum of UGX 35 million with an interest of six percent (6%) per annum from the date of judgement until full payment.

To follow up on these directions and document the impact of civil suit no. 111 of 2012 on maternal health service provision at Nakaseke district hospital that was brought by CEHURD and the deceased’s family, a team of seven from CEHURD embarked on a journey to Nakaseke district on January 14th 2016.
We were able to meet a number of people including the Deputy CAO, In-Charge Human Resources at the District, the Administrator-Nakaseke Hospital, 3 VHTs, 2 community people, a Parish chairman and a district health inspector.

According to the district locals, there has been a very significant improvement in maternal health services at the hospital since CEHURD filed the case to the extent that no maternal death has been reported at Nakaseke hospital. There has also been a renovation of the Hospital infrastructure; a new wing of the hospital was opened up and the hospital now owns a working ambulance.

However, there are a number of challenges still facing the hospital including; the lack of medicines and also the shortage of medical staff and equipment. On a lighter note however, the district administration is quite interested in establishing a working relationship with CEHURD to implement the content of the judgment which they believe goes beyond cash payment.

After months of preparation, the day had geared up and the 6 university teams were set to compete in the biggest and most sought after law students competition in Uganda. This years’ National Inter-University Constitutional Law Moot was held at Makerere University School of law for a full day on Friday October 30, 2015. The teams from the different universities, who believed were the cream of the cream for the competition, were already at the venue by 8:30 am ready to prove prowess in legal knowledge and shortly joined by over 14 judges with the lead Judge being Justice Kenneth Kakuru.
The teams after the competition                       The Competition involved only Ugandan Universities that were accredited to teach the Law and each team consisted of three students.”I would like to congratulate Kampala International University that won the overall price as well as Best Memorial, Makerere University that came second, Nkumba University, Uganda Christian University, Bishop Stuart University and Islamic University in Uganda upon competing in the Moot. mentioned Mr.Zeere James, a legal officer with Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development, the memorials submitted were of exceptional quality and the judges confessed the difficulty they had when selecting the winner.” He continued.

CEHURD has taken lead in building capacities of lawyers in the country and especially encouraged them to embrace taking strategic litigation and probono services to communities who need them in plenty, Uganda being a low developed nation with majority of the people living below the poverty line, there is a need for lawyers to give free legal aid.

“It was evident that submissions, arguments particularly oral submissions revealed that the quality of legal training being received by students in Uganda today has significantly improved and the students demonstrated immense knowledge and skill under pressure, while interacting with the very complex problem that was presented to them.” mentioned Mr.Kabanda David the Programmes coordinator at CEHURD. One Senyonga Simon from Makerere University emerged the Best oralist and as organisational culture, on top of the general prize, he received an entitlement to a two month internship with the Center for Health Human Rights and Development (CEHURD), to further grow his career in the field.

The Competition for these awards was very stiff, as all the teams presented their best and demonstrated adequate preparation and competence. This is the second competition after the pioneer competition held in 2014 that saw Uganda Christian University take the trophy. This activity is organised by CEHURD with financial support from KIOS and key partnerships from different university law schools and established structures as this year Makerere Moot Society took lead while last year. “CEHURD remains committed to engaging students and training them in the litigation of issues relating to the right to health before the Courts of Law in Uganda. We believe in the ability of the students to emerge as the defenders of access to justice and rule of law in a Country where Courts of Judicature are quickly becoming the major front for the protection of public interest. ” emphasised Mr.Kabanda David the Programmes coordinator at

Mr. Kabanda promised that there will be a ( 3rd) National Inter-University Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition next year. With such competitions, students are exposed to the litigation of aspects relating to access to health services and commodities in the context of the right to health, the freedom to access information and the right to participate within the framework of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda.and the organisers noted that each submission was scored on the basis of quality of analysis of the issues involved, persuasiveness of the arguments, logic and reasoning, writing, knowledge of the facts, application of the Law and extent of the research.

Margaret Katasi

Communications Officer

CEHURD

By: Maragret Katasi,Communications Officer
With financial support from HIVOS, Open Society Initiative and SAAF who have been partnering with Center for Health Human Rights and Development(CEHURD) for a good time now, a health camp was visualised between 12th to 16th October 2015, in Buikwe District considering it has one of the highest rates of people living with HIV from a research done by CEHURD in 2014,especially due to the presence of most at risk populations staying in the landing sites of Buikwe. The Health Camp that initially targeted about 2000 people instead more than tripled this number, in the second annual health camp held this year(2015) at Najja sub county headquarter.
During the earlier planning meetings for this great event, the role of partnership was seen as key hence bringing partners like; crown beverages, on board who pledged and offered free tents, chairs and partial sponsorship of drinks for the masses who attended the health camp to get free services, other partners such as; Kawolo hospital, Ebenezer optical centre, Reproductive Health Uganda, St.Francis Hospital Mbiko, Nakasero Blood bank, Marie stopes,Kisiimba Muslim mission, Ziiwa memorial, St.Charles Lwanga among other partners were equally brought on board to provide a range of services from; HIV testing and counselling, Cervical and breast cancer treatment, dental checkups and treatment, oral health care and sensitisation talks, optical checkups and treatment, managing and testing non communicable diseases such as; diabetes, high blood pressure, family planning services andminor surgeries, sexual reproductive health sensitisations, Malaria testing, health legal aid services and free consultations, drama sensitisation, managing and testing STIs among other health related issues and conditions, free of charge.
The health camp that lasted a week, was publicised on both mainstream and social media with the trending social media harsh tag for the health camp being: #HealthCamp2015 that got over 10,000 twitter reviews. Different health consultants and specialists such as Dr.Susan Akello from Reproductive health Uganda, Dr.Kiggundu from Mulago Hospital, among others took to the microphone to educate the masses about the different health challenges and how to manage them , CEHURD provided a legal aid tent manned by Mr.Nsereko a legal and programme officer with CEHURD, to educate the masses on the legal issues and how to manage them especially health rights.
“aye banha, CEHURD Kyaakooze!(sic) directly translated as ‘My friends, what CEHURD has done for us!” exclaimed 30year old Kalembe Zaujja who came all the way from lugazi to seek support to stop her from giving birth after having 12 children, she feels has had already too many for her besides this situation being financially constraining. Ms. Zaujja’s last born is 1year old and was worried if she did not do anything about the rate at which she is reproducing, things may get out of hand as this is already a burden to her and her husband. When she heard about the health camp, she took her chance to seek help and indeed an operation was done by Dr.Doctor Susan Akello who carried out a permanent procedure known as the bilateral tubal ligation which stops women from giving birth permanently.

Zaujja like other locals from Eastern Uganda at the health camp, travelled distances and therefore woke up as early as 5:00am to trek through the dusty and cold roads leading to the venue as this was considered a once in a life time opportunity they had heard about and needed to use up.
This year’s health camp was building from last years’ health camp held in August 2014, which attracted over 5000 people in the community who received free comprehensive health services. The purpose of this health camp is to bridge the gap between service provision organisations and the work of advocacy organisations which target similar communities.