Fake doctor jailed 2yrs for causing deaths of 3 patients during surgery in Hoima

A 27-year-old impostor doctor has been sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to refund Shs 21.6 million to the government after performing unauthorized surgeries that resulted in the deaths of three patients.

Francis Taulula, admitted to 15 criminal charges, including forgery, uttering false documents, and obtaining medical registration by pretence. He entered a plea bargain with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), leading to a reduced sentence handed down by chief magistrate Ronald Kayizzi at Buganda Road court.

Court documents show that Taulula, a resident of Pallisa town council in eastern Uganda, falsified academic documents, which he used to obtain provisional registration from the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council (UMDPC).

This enabled him to intern at Hoima regional referral hospital in 2022, where he conducted unsupervised surgical procedures. Taulula was convicted of forging a transcript under registration number 15/U/O43/MED for Mount Kenya University.

According to the prosecution, during his internship, Taulula performed several operations across different departments, including paediatrics, obstetrics, and gynaecology. His lack of medical training reportedly contributed to the deaths of Harriet Atugonza, Scovia Atuhura, and Gladys Pifua.

The court heard that one patient bled to death, another succumbed to a post-operative infection, while a third died from complications during surgery, all incidents deemed preventable. The magistrate described the case as a gross abuse of public trust and medical ethics.

“He operated on patients without qualifications or supervision, with tragic outcomes. The sentence must reflect the gravity of his deception,” said Kayizzi during the ruling.

Taulula was sentenced to two years and fifteen days for each of the first seven counts of forgery, and to one year and six months for each count of uttering false documents. On the count of obtaining registration by pretence, he received a further sentence of one year and fifteen days.

All sentences will run concurrently. The convict was also ordered to refund Shs 21.6 million, the amount he received as a monthly allowance during his fraudulent internship, within two years of completing his sentence.

The court further heard that Taulula used forged degree certificates purportedly from Mount Kenya University and falsely claimed to be at Gulu University. A forged Gulu University ID and recommendation letter were later used to secure a volunteer placement at Kumi health centre IV.

The deception came to light when Taulula applied for full registration in May 2023, and suspicions were raised over inconsistencies in his submitted documents. Investigations confirmed he had never been a student at Mount Kenya University.

In mitigation, his lawyer cited Taulula’s youth, remorse, absence of a prior criminal record, and his responsibility as the sole caretaker for his elderly father and young child. It was also disclosed that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which affects his mobility.

Nonetheless, the magistrate emphasised the seriousness of the case and the risk Taulula posed to public health. Taulula’s troubles started in May 2023 at the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council. Taulula knowingly and fraudulently uttered a forged certificate for the said degree to Dr Ivan Kisuule, the registrar Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council.

He later uttered a forged transcript to Dr Kisuule. Court records further show that after uttering the said documents, he was given a provisional registration certificate by the registrar and posted to Hoima regional referral hospital for an internship, where he spent a full year.

That after completion, in March 2023, Taulula opted to apply for full registration before the former Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council registrar, Katumba Ssentongo and presented his forged documents from Mount Kenya University.

Katumba prepared Taulula ‘s papers and submitted them to the chairman of Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council, Ass. Prof Joel Okullo.

Later, Okullo suspected that the documents were forged and sent an email to Mount Kenya University for verification, which confirmed that indeed the academic qualifications presented had been procured through forgery.

The evidence shows that arrangements were being made to hand Taulula over to the police, but he reportedly escaped. The chairperson alerted the State House Health Monitoring Unit, and a general inquiries file was opened against him on October 4, 2024. Taulula was arrested from Kumi health centre IV and brought to Kampala to face justice.