Saudi Court Awards USh270 Million to a Ugandan Domestic Worker Who Mysteriously Lost Her Kidney

A Ugandan domestic worker who lost her right kidney under questionable circumstances while at King Fahad Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has been awarded 271,450 Riyals (USh270 million).

Uganda’s publication The Observer reports that a Saudi court ordered Judith Nakintu’s employer Saad Dhafer Mohamed Al-Asmari to pay the amount to the victim.
 
“…convicting Saad Dhafer Mohamed Al-Asmari of the error…Obligating the defendant, Saad Dhafer Mohamed Al-Asmari to hand over to the plaintiff, Nakintu Judith, the indemnity for the aforementioned injury an amount of 271,450 Riyals,” the court ruling reads in part.

Nakintu was reportedly recruited in 2019 by Nile Treasure Gate Company, a Kampala-based company, as a housemaid to work in Jeddah.

She arrived in the Gulf state in December 2019, but after two months on the job, she was reportedly involved in an accident and taken to King Fahad Hospital.

Her family says they were initially communicating with Nakintu but she suddenly went silent and efforts to reach her were futile until October 30th, 2021 when they received a call from the company that she would land at Entebbe International Airport.

Upon arrival, the family was not allowed to meet her and she was taken to Mulago National Referral Hospital for a medical check-up where it was discovered that she underwent a ‘mysterious surgery’ while in Jeddah and that her right kidney was missing. 

Nile Treasure Gate Company insists that Nakintu was involved in an accident on March 20th, 2020.

“The report from King Fahad hospital indicates that “Ms Nakintu was badly injured and bedridden for over a year. The Ugandan embassy in Saudi Arabia was also in the know of the condition, visited her and wrote several letters to various offices seeking support for Ms Nakintu,” the agency’s attorney Atanansi Nsubuga said.

Police and immigration officials are investigating the circumstances under which Nakintu’s kidney was removed if at all she was taken to the hospital following and accident.

Authorities in Uganda believe Nile Treasure Gate Company conspired with medical officers in Saudi Arabia to make claims that Nakintu was involved in an accident and that her internal organs were intact.

Four proprietors and managers of Nile Treasure Gate Company have since been arrested as investigations continue.