KAMPALA
This website has landed on Court documents showing how Watoto Childcare Ministries, a branch of the Watoto Church in Uganda paid Shs10m to settle Shs300m illegal kidney transplant Court Case.
According to Court documents, on a July 30, 2020 consent judgement presided over by then Civil Division of the High Court head Justice Musa Ssekaana and signed off an order requiring Watoto Childcare Ministries to pay John Jogga Katamba Shs10m as a full and final settlement of his case in which he had asked for Shs300m in damages and compensation for his kidney.
“That the sum mentioned (Shs10m) herein is paid by the defendant to the plaintiff as an ex-gratia sum. That the plaintiff undertakes to issue a media statement absolving the defendant of all the allegations that he made against it” reads the consent document.
An ‘ex gratia sum’ is a voluntary payment made out of favour or goodwill, rather than due to a legal or contractual obligation.
The court document which is not uploaded on the court system for public access resulted from a 2017 case in which Katamba had sued the Watoto Child Care Ministries over accusations that the organization trafficked him to India under the guise of a legitimate kidney donation for a child under Watoto’s care.
Katamba had claimed the transplant was performed in an unauthorized hospital without his valid consent, leaving him with severe medical complications, loss of livelihood, and ongoing pain.
According to the claim, Katamba had sought for Shs300m in damages, punitive damages, and compensation for medical costs but in 2020, a Consent Judgment was entered in which Watoto agreed to pay Katamba Shs10m (approximately $2,000) on an ex gratia basis — meaning without admission of liability.
Katamba claimed that the operation was conducted in a non approved hospital and without his consent or approval by the Ugandan prime minister as required making it illegal.
“The defendant has refused to look after him despite several demands and he has had to foot his own medical bills for treatment of the after effects of the illegal operation” reads the complaint in which Katamba claimed that the actions of Watoto Child Care Ministries were not only illegal but amounted to human trafficking, malicious and caused him lots of suffering and mental anguish.
Going by the court document, all the claims of Katamba against Watoto Child Care Ministries were extinguished and that Katamba undertook not to bring any future claim against the defendant in relation to the subject matter of the case.
The consent judgment required Katamba to withdraw the case with no orders to legal costs incurred, a situation that raises questions as to whether justice was served in the case, and what it means for Watoto Child Care Ministries’ reputation in the Country.
The consent was signed by Katamba alone yet he filed the case through M/s Okurut and Company Advocates while the name of the signatory for Watoto Child Care Ministries is not recognisable and their lawyers also not included.
The consent judgment was signed off after Watoto Child Care Ministries in a self-defeating Défense stated that it was the custodian of Master Kabuye William who was admitted as an underprivileged child in 2011 but later diagnosed with end stage kidney disease that led to the failure of both his kidneys leading to a recommendation that he needed a transplant to save his life.
Through their lawyers of M/s Arcadia Advocates, Watoto Child Care Ministries states that in 2014, Dr Kalyesubula Robert introduced Katamba to the organization as a person who was willing to donate one of his kidneys and save Master Kabuye’s life.
“Dr Kalyesubula Robert had initially recommended that Master Kabuye be referred to Prof Sandeeb Guleria, a senior consultant at Apollo Hospitals. The said doctor however declined to conduct the surgery on ground that both the donor and the recipient were not in any way related,” reads Watoto’s defence in part.
According to the defence, Watoto Child Care Ministries stated that it was always willing to honour any expenses associated with any post-surgical treatment but Katamba declined to be subjected to the same and instead demanded payment for loss of the kidney, rent, food and family expenses.
Legal analysts point to the sharp contrast between the claim (Shs300m) and the settlement (Shs10m), and note that the original 2014 Memorandum of Understanding required Watoto to cover his medical care for two years, which was not preserved in the final settlement.
