Komamboga Explosion Victim Pleads for Help to Remove Fragments from her Body

Annet  Kiconco, a roadside food vendor in Komamboga is wallowing in pain at Mulago Hospital with some fragments of the explosive device still stuck in her body.  

Kiconco is one of the seven people who survived the October 23 explosion that left one person dead, at an eating point in Komamboga, a suburb of Kampala.

The single mother of two narrates that she had received an order for chips from a customer in the bar when she suddenly heard a loud explosion at the joint that left her on the ground. She does not recall what happened next, until she woke up, surrounded by medics and family members at Mulago Hospital.

Kiconco, who is currently admitted in Ward 6B told URN that she sustained injuries on the left hand, both legs, the chest and the abdomen and over 10 fragments of nails were removed from her body.  

She had been discharged but on November 7, her situation deteriorated and she was rushed back to Mulago, where doctors conducted several examinations and found two more nails in her abdomen. The family says they need five million Shillings to facilitate another operation to remove the remaining fragments. 

Kiconco, a resident of Kitetikka in Kasangati town council says that her initial discharge was also premature because they did not have enough money to settle the medical bills at the time.

//Cue in; “Embera yo tenaba…          

Cue… kubanga emisumali.'// 

Ibrahim Mwesigwa, her brother and caretaker, explains that the family borrowed three million Shillings to clear the first medical bill and they are now constrained.

//Cue in; “twega buyambi …  

Cue…embeera yo sinungi.”//            

Police investigations revealed that the Komamboga explosion was locally improvised. Although security agencies  linked the explosive attack to Allied Democratic Forces-ADF, the Islamic State, a well-recognized international terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack.