The journalist who was shot and injured on Election Day in Sironko district has fled Mbale Regional Referral Hospital.
Julius Odeke, a freelance journalist with the Razor Newspaper, was shot on Friday during an alleged attack on the convoy of the Budadiri West MP, Nandala Mafabi. He claims he was shot as he took photographs of men in uniform beating up Mafabi and his team.
Odeke was rushed to Mbale Hospital where he underwent a three-hour operation to treat the gunshot to his wound. He was still in a critical condition when on Saturday, with the aid of his relatives, he fled the hospital.
Speaking on phone from his hideout, Odeke said strange people visited his room on Saturday. He said he is afraid that his life is in danger.
Odeke is currently being attended to by a local village nurse. He says he is in excruciating pain.
The journalist was previously unable to recollect the events that led up to his shooting. Now, he says his memory of the day is clearer.
Odeke was traveling in Nandala Mafabi car when the MP's convoy was waylaid by security men from Nambulu village in Bwalasi Sub-County. Odeke said the security officers ordered them out of the car. When he attempted to record the scuffle, one of the security men got angry and ordered his colleague to shoot.
Odeke said he felt blood oozing from his body and a sharp pain in his chest. He was rushed to Mbale Hospital by Nandala Mafabi.
The journalist's escape has puzzled the police.
Diana Nandaula, the Eastern Uganda Police Spokesperson, says she visited Odeke in hospital yesterday to take his statement. She was surprised when she returned 30 minutes later to find him gone.
Nandaula says Odeke switched off his phones and disappeared. She says she could have helped him if she had reached out to the police for protection.
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