Kampala Woman Member of Parliament, Shamim Malende is out of the Intensive Care Unit-ICU at the Agha Khan Hospital where she was rushed Tuesday evening hours after undergoing abdominal surgery.

James Mubiru, the Lubaga North Councillor, who is with the legislator in Nairobi, says that doctors invited the caretakers at around 11 am on Thursday morning to receive Malende after being taken out of the ICU and returned to the general ward.

Malende who was rushed to Agha Khan Hospital in Nairobi on Sunday morning underwent abdominal surgery on Monday during, which doctors found that she had ingested a chemical that affected her intestines. The operation was successful, but on Tuesday evening Malende developed severe stomach pain and was rushed to ICU.

Mubiru says that Malende is currently recuperating in the general ward as doctors continue monitoring her. “She can now recognize people, but she still cannot talk and is weak,” said Mubiru. Malende was first admitted at the Uganda Martyrs Hospital in Lubaga Division, Kampala after she reportedly suffered a seizure while at her Kawempe residence on November 13th, 2022.

Kampala Woman Member of Parliament, Shamim Malende
                                Kampala Woman Member of Parliament, Shamim Malende

While in Lubaga, she was placed on oxygen but her condition worsened, prompting her transfer to the Aghakhan hospital on November 20th, 2022. She was accompanied by Mubiru, her mother Jane-Francis Nassuuna, and fiancée Shamiru Ssebunya. “The doctors were seeing nothing so they referred us to a bigger hospital. It was decided that we bring her to Aga Khan Hospital,” said Mubiru in a phone interview with the URN.

Malende’s last public appearance was about four days before she was reported sick and rushed to a hospital in Lubaga. On November 9th, she had been arrested by the Police in Kawempe where she was found distributing reflector jackets to Boda Boda riders. She was intercepted by Police and taken to Kawempe police divisional headquarters where she was detained for at least three hours, questioned, and released without charge.

Malende has been at the forefront of demanding justice for the detained supporters of the opposition National Unity Platform-NUP party and would spend most of her time in court. She is also part of the legal team representing her jailed colleagues Makindye West Member of Parliament Allan Ssewanyana and Kawempe North Member of Parliament Muhammad Ssegirinya who are facing charges related to terrorism before the International Crimes Division of the High Court.