The agony of being a crippled husband and father

Ms Annet Kabarinzi pushes her husband Martin Kyansi in a wheel chair at their home at Kaburaisoke South village, Rwimi parish in Rwimi Sub County, Kabarole district. Photo by Felix Basiime

By Felix Basiime
Posted  Thursday, April 1  2010 at  00:00   http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health---Living/-/689846/890428/-/qyxivu/-/index.html

In one moment, Martin Kyansi, was electrocuted, something that led to the amputation of his limbs leaving him quite helpless, writes Felix Basiime

It is a sunny afternoon at Kaburaisoke South village, Rwimi parish in Rwimi Sub County, Kabarole district. Ms Annet Kabarinzi, a pretty young woman sits on a local mat with her three children and hulls maize grains off the cobs in front of their road side house on Fort Portal-Kasese road.

Maize growing is the main business in Rwimi Sub County and the main trade in the nearby Rwimi town council. The family has a small plot of land where they have a small house and a pit latrine. Lack of enough space forces the family to hire other people’s land in Rwimi to cultivate food for domestic use and some for sale.

Before she goes to dig every morning, Kabarinzi has to first attend to the children and her crippled husband, Mr Martin Kyansi. She lifts her husband to the bath room daily and bathes him, feeds him breakfast, lunch and supper like a baby on top of feeding and dressing the young ones.

When her husband needs to brush his teeth, ease himself or dress up Kabarinzi needs to be there because Kyansi lost his limbs in an accident he got in 2005 when they had just been married.

What Kabarinzi is facing today, is a calamity that struck the family five years ago when Kyansi went to work on the road as usual with a Chinese road construction company that repaired Fort Portal-Hima Road but never returned home the same.

The contract to rehabilitate the 55 km road was awarded to China Chongqing International Construction Corporation (Cico) from July 22, 2004 and completed in May 2007 at Shs27 billion and funded by the World Bank and Government of Uganda.

Kyansi says, “I completed S.4 at King Jesus college at Mubuku (in Kasese) in 2005 and then I joined Cico in November 2005. At that time, Kyansi recalls, work on the road had reached at Rubona government farm. I was employed in the Survey department as a staff man.”

A staff man according to surveyors is someone employed to hold a surveyors staff ahead of the surveyors to ease surveys. According to a senior surveyor in Mbarara town, Mr Nathan Muganga, “A surveyor’s staff is a tool used in topographic survey in levelling to establish heights.”

It is a long stick marked with measurements on it and is made out of aluminum which conducts electricity like any metal. It is this staff tool that Kyansi says he was employed to hold daily at work ahead of the surveyors until the fateful day, on December 15, 2005 when the staff he was holding accidentally landed on high voltage transmission wires and he was electrocuted.

He was rushed to Fort Portal based Virika Hospital, a catholic founded medical facility where he spent five months before his four limbs were amputated. 

“I thank Cico. They footed my hospital bills at Virika. I was discharged and went home, my wife with whom I had one child by then, has been nursing me till now,” Kyansi says, adding, “I also thank Sister Saverina of Virika Hospital. She used to pray for me at my hospital bed, and the same hospital gave me this wheel chair. Since then, I haven’t been able to feed myself, dress up, bathe, or pick the phone. It is my wife who does everything.”

For better or for worse
“I found him okay with all the four limbs. He was very normal and we got married and after the accident I remained firm with my husband despite the stigma from some women around the village,” Kabarinzi says, adding, “I have nothing to do because he is my husband and I have to cope with the situation.”

Because the family is still young and has numerous needs, Kyansi is pushed in a wheel chair to a nearby trading centre called Aha piida where he has a scale and buys maize from farmers and sells it to earn a living. “I buy maize from farmers between Shs150 to Shs200 a kilo depending on supply and sell it at Shs220 to Shs250 depending on the market forces,” says Kyansi.

Cheated?
Kyansi says when he was still sick, his Godfather, Mr Patrick Bahemuka of Rwimi negotiated for his compensation with Cico out of court before the Kasese Probation Officer, Mr Didas Bingambwa Since then, he has never seen any document to that regard.

“Bahemuka told me he was paid Shs6m as compensation but he refused to show me any document. He gave me Shs800,000 which I bought this small piece of land with and Shs 1m to set up this house. From then, he started dodging me up to now.”

Bahemuka says, he actually negotiated on Kyansi’s behalf.

“Yes, I settled with Cico out of court at Shs6m on behalf of Martin (Kyansi) but now I can’t trace the papers. You have to give me more time to trace them,” said, Bahemuka, a catechist at Rwimi.

Mr Bingambwa, the labour officer says, “I visited the family of Martin and they told me that Bahemuka, a catechist, was trustworthy person. So we gave him Shs6m on their behalf. It is very unfortunate that Martin never got full payment as he says.”

Appeal
“I appeal to Good Samaritans out there to help my husband get at least artificial limbs, so that he can walk,” says Kabarinzi. 

“We have little income, my children have started nursery school, we lack school fees and other essential commodities, but we have to buy food, and hire land to cultivate,” Kyansi says, adding “My wheel chair is getting old, the tires are torn and to replace one, I need Shs 10, 000.” 

The family's situation is still the same today (April 2016) Kyansi can be reached on the mobile phone: 0783055072