In Uganda, the line between medicine and politics has grown dangerously thin. For Nurse Agnes Muluka, compassion for the wounded became her greatest crime. When her clinic doors opened to victims of political violence, the state’s response was not gratitude, but guns, handcuffs, and the wreckage of a life built on healing
On March 20, 2022, police raided a small private clinic in eastern Uganda, surrounding the building with armed officers, sealing it off with yellow tape, and hauling away its owner, nurse Agnes Muluka, along with her staff. For Muluka, 37, the moment marked the collapse of her professional life and the escalation of a personal battle that has left her family divided and her future uncertain.
A Career of Care — and Conflict
Muluka, born in 1986 in eastern Uganda, trained and worked as a licensed nurse. She established her own practice, running clinics that served both rural and urban communities. During election seasons, she began to attract patients who carried not just injuries but political identities. Supporters of the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP), who alleged they were denied care in government hospitals, sought out Muluka’s help.
Her willingness to treat these patients earned her respect among opposition circles but also scrutiny from authorities. It deepened tensions within her own household: her husband, a supporter of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), distanced himself professionally and personally, establishing his own clinic and eventually separating from her.
The March Raid
The events of March 20 unfolded swiftly. Witnesses described armed police sealing the clinic, arresting everyone inside, and carting away medicines and equipment. Muluka was detained for a week, interrogated, and released without charge, but her medical license was revoked.
Days later, her second clinic in Kamuli was also attacked. During the raid, Muluka’s mother was beaten and hospitalized. The incidents left her facilities gutted, her staff scattered, and her family traumatized.
Politics and Persecution
The crackdown followed a familiar pattern. Health workers linked to opposition networks have long faced harassment, and Muluka’s situation highlights how access to medical care can become politicized in Uganda’s contested political space. “If you are seen to be treating the wrong people, you are branded an enemy,” a Kampala-based rights activist said.
Muluka herself received warnings to disassociate from NUP or risk further reprisals. Instead, she wrote letters to authorities demanding the return of her equipment and her license. In response, she says, she received direct death threats.
Family and Fallout
Muluka is the mother of three children — Mwase John Paul (13), Kampini Nicole Antonnet (7), and Muwera Noel (5). She describes her decision to continue treating NUP supporters as both professional duty and moral responsibility. But it has come at steep cost: the destruction of her livelihood, the assault on her family, and isolation within her own household.
Her cousin, Waiswa Mufumbira, Deputy Spokesperson of NUP, has also been arrested and tortured, adding weight to her claims that her family is systematically targeted.
A Broader Pattern
Analysts argue that Muluka’s case illustrates a broader strategy: the use of professional sanctions, harassment, and physical intimidation to silence perceived opposition sympathizers. In the polarized environment of Ugandan politics, even medical neutrality can be interpreted as political partisanship.
An Uncertain Future
Today, Muluka remains in limbo. Her clinics lie empty, her professional license remains revoked, and her family continues to bear the scars of the raids. For her, the events of March 20 are more than a professional setback; they are a stark reminder of the risks borne by those who cross Uganda’s political fault lines.