KAMPALA — Government has reached out to a Ugandan migrant worker Joan Agnes Kyotalimye who through a viral audio clip making rounds in Social Media claimed that she had been dumped in a Saudi Arabian hospital and suspected that her employer, Rola Awadh Mohammad Al Juhaysh was plotting to steal her body organs.
In a statement date Wednesday, October 11, Amb. Abbey Walusimbi also a senior presidential advisor on diaspora affairs said his office had established contact with all parties involved including Kyotalimye, her employer and the Saudi Arabian medical facility keeping her.
“Upon receiving the widely spread voice note of Joan when she is pleading for government intervention in her plea, the office established contact with Joan, her employer Rola Awadh Mohammad Al Juhaysh, Medical officials at the Dammam Medical complex, the local recruitment company Alasker, the Embassy of Uganda in Saudi Arabia, and Ministry of Gender” Amb. Walusimbi said.
“When we reached out to Joan on Sunday evening, my team established that she travelled on 24th September 2022 and on Wednesday 28th September, her bosses asked her to escort them to a medical facility, where different samples were drawn from her which we later learnt was for purposes of processing her health insurance and work permit. After a few days, the boss told her they were taking her to hospital again for more tests and then told to pack all her things and take them along. At the Dammam medical complex, she was told that she tested positive to Pulmonary TB, and was sent to an isolation room in the same facility.
“Our team reached out to the sponsor/ employer of Joan Mr. Rola Awadh Mohammad Al Juhaysh and he said that the initial tests done at First Health Cluster Joan’s results after conducting the AFB test, revealed that she was positive to Pulmonary TB, and he was advised to check her into a medical facility for isolation and better management of the disease.
“A Medical personnel at Dammam Medical Complex where Joan is currently being treated said that they needed to run more tests to assess the extent of the infection, so they did an X-Ray and more tests at their Orthopedic Surgery 4 clinic/ ward. The doctor further informed my team that Although Joan didn’t show any symptoms besides a mild cough, they could not risk letting her in spaces with other people because TB is highly contagious, but they have since started administering the treatment.”
Ambassador Walusimbi explained that his team crosschecked with Ugandan doctors on the incubation period of TB and “we learnt that it takes between 3-9 weeks for a person with high immunity, and about 2 weeks for a person with low immunity to test positive to the TB bacteria before they show any symptoms”.
“My team has since established, that the claims about a prospective surgery is a clear misunderstanding and misinterpretation on some of the wording on her medical forms, especially the part that indicates the “Orthopedic surgery 4 clinic” as, the Saudi authorities have reiterated to us that there has never been any intention to operate on her. I will relate this scenario to being sent to the heart or cancer institute here in our Mulago for tests, however this doesn’t mean that you are a heart / cancer disease case.”
“Our interactions with the different security organizations both locally and in the host country, plus the people around Joan, have also established that Our sister and daughter’s distraught is a result of the ignorance of some people that the she contacted, immediately who misguided her to record the audio that is circulating, despite their lack of credible facts surrounding her case”
Walusimbi encouraged Kyotalimye to cooperate with the doctors, saying it is in the interest of her life and not against her.
He also called for a calm and positive environment, noting that his office, alongside all the relevant stakeholders, is holding more engagements solve the matter.
