Rwandan Doctor Held in Uganda
The Monitor (Kampala)
September 12, 2003
Posted to the web September 12, 2003
Mwanguhya Charles Mpagi
Kampala
A Rwandan medical doctor has been arrested in Uganda. Dr Patrick Fred Karangwa was arrested in Fort Portal on Monday.
The cause of the arrest is not yet known.
According to his family, which lives in Fort Portal, Karangwa was picked by armed people at around 10 a.m.
The Director of Criminal Investigations Department, Ms Elizabeth Kuteesa, said the police are investigating Karangwa's arrest.
"I do not seem to have that person in my custody, but we are trying to find out where he is," she said.
Karangwa works at Nyagatare Hospital in Rwanda, about 70kms from Mirama near Uganda's border. Kuteesa said Karangwa could have been kidnapped by crooks.
"These days, we have so many crooks who might have guns and pretend to be police. You know these people in Rwanda are having a lot of their own problems, so I would not want to conclude that it is security holding him," she said.
Karangwa's wife, Ms Elizabeth Nyakwera, is a Ugandan.
She told The Monitor by telephone from Fort Portal that four men travelling in a white Toyota Corolla car arrested her husband.
"He was kidnapped on Monday by men who were armed with pistols. They bundled him into the car and took him away," she said.
She said that Karangwa came to Uganda last Saturday to arrange for their wedding which is due in December.
"He had actually gone to Kyebambe Secondary School to book a venue for the party when he was arrested," she said.
She said that her husband later called her at around 1.30 p.m. on Monday to say he had been arrested, but that he was safe.
"He said that he was at Kampala Central Police Station, but I did not believe that... " she said.
She said it was inconceivable that her husband had reached Kampala at the time he called.
"... He [Karangwa] kept pausing and I think people were telling him what to say," Nyakwera said.
Kabarole Resident District Commissioner Mr Ben Rullonga confirmed Karangwa's arrest but did not have details.
The army spokesman, Maj. Shaban Bantariza, said that the army was not involved in the arrest.
"He was not arrested by the army or the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence," he said.
Karangwa becomes the third doctor to be arrested in recent weeks.
Mr Lyene Masereka, a principal pharmacist at Mulago Hospital, and Dr Aggrey Byamukama from Fort Portal Hospital were arrested recently and have been charged with treason.
Another doctor at Mulago, Gideon Rukundo, fled the country ahead of an impending arrest.
The three were accused of supplying drugs to the People's Redemption Army, a rebel group that government says is led by Lt. Col. Samson Mande, Lt. Col. Anthony Kyakabale and Col. Edison Muzoora.
All three are former UPDF officers who fled the country.
