
KAMPALA – A promising young life was tragically cut short last week when Ritah Nansubuga Sentongo died under horrifying circumstances during a Cesarean section at a private clinic within the Mulago hospital complex. The incident, now the subject of a major police and health ministry investigation, has exposed alleged criminal medical negligence and a desperate cover-up by a fleeing doctor.

Ritah, who had a celebrated wedding last December to Ronald Sentongo, was a career woman based in the UAE. She had returned to Uganda to give birth and enjoy her maternity leave, full of excitement about becoming a mother.
Her family’s nightmare began on Thursday when Ritah, experiencing back pain, went for a check-up. She had chosen Dr. Ahmed Lutaaya of San Consultants Clinic based on a recommendation from a friend in Dubai, who cited his association with the specialized women’s hospital at Mulago.
However, upon arrival, Ritah was not taken to the national referral hospital but to the smaller private clinic. Her mother, who joined her later, was assured they were only there for a check-up.
According to a detailed account from the family, the situation escalated rapidly. Despite having medical records from Dubai that clearly diagnosed her with placenta accreta spectrum—a high-risk condition that mandates an early planned C-section and strictly prohibits induction—the clinic staff allegedly deceived her.
“They told her they were conducting a vaginal examination but instead inserted misoprostol to induce labor,” a family representative stated. This act, described by the family as “crime number one,” caused Ritah immense pain. Dr. Lutaaya soon informed her he would perform an emergency C-section around 11 a.m.
What followed was hours of deliberate deception. The family alleges that Dr. Lutaaya used Ritah’s phone to send reassuring messages to her husband and family, deliberately sending them to different hospitals—Mulago Specialised Women’s Hospital and Kawempe National Referral Hospital—to buy time and keep them away.
He later informed the family that the surgery was successful, the baby boy was healthy, and Ritah was under anesthesia. In a macabre twist, the doctor allegedly propped up Ritah’s lifeless body, placed the newborn beside her, and video-called the family to maintain the illusion she was alive. The family believes she had already died on the operating table.
The truth began to unravel around 5 p.m. when Ritah’s best friend, Naomi, located the clinic. Upon realizing he had been discovered, Dr. Lutaaya called an ambulance in a attempted cover-up. A graphic video captured by Naomi shows Ritah’s body, completely naked and covered in blood, being carried “like a sack of potatoes” and dumped onto a rusty ambulance gurney. There was no medical apparatus attached, only an oxygen cylinder with its seal still intact.
She was rushed to the Mulago Specialised Women’s Hospital, where she was immediately rejected. Medical staff confirmed she had been dead for hours, and her body was sent directly to the mortuary.
Findings and Allegations
A subsequent investigation by the Health Monitoring Unit (HMU) and police revealed a chilling list of alleged failures and crimes:
· Unqualified Practice: The San Consultants Clinic has no operating theatre and no resident anesthesiologist. The owner is identified as a sonographer, not a surgeon.
· Criminal Negligence: Inducing a patient with a known placenta accreta condition is a grave and fatal error.
· No Consent: No one signed a consent form for the surgery.
· Theft and Deception: Dr. Lutaaya is accused of stealing and using Ritah’s phone to deceive her family.
· Cover-Up: The clinic attempted to delete all of Ritah’s medical records and footage from their surveillance system. IT experts from the HMU successfully recovered the data and retrieved the physical files from a trash bin.
· Desecration of a Body: Parading and transporting a deceased person in the manner described is being treated as desecration of a body.
An audio recording recovered by the family allegedly captures Dr. Lutaaya informing someone in Dubai that Ritah had died during surgery as early as 1 p.m.—hours before he informed the family.
Ritah Nansubuga was laid to rest on Saturday in Bulindo, Kira. She leaves behind her heartbroken husband, her newborn son, and two young daughters. She was also the primary breadwinner for her elderly parents.
The clinic director has been apprehended. Dr. Ahmed Lutaaya was arrested yesterday while allegedly trying to flee the country through the eastern border. He and the clinic face potential charges including murder, criminal medical negligence, theft, and desecration of a body.
The family has vowed to pursue a legal battle for justice, urging the public to share their story to prevent another mother from falling victim to what they call “private quack practices.”
“These greedy men were less than five minutes away from the best women’s hospital in the country,” the family stated. “They had every chance to refer the patient but they deliberately didn’t and chose to slaughter her like a cow on a resting bed in their clinic back room. It’s traumatizing.”