By Milton Olupot[newvision]
NYAKIBALE Hospital in Rukungiri district is stranded with a man, whose jaws were shattered in an attack by an elephant on Augusts 27 as he tended his garden at Kihihi village in Kanungu district. Mustapha Batanyenda, 48, is said to have been hurled by an elephant onto a tree, injuring him severely. He now needs extensive facial recontructive surgery, according to Dr. Ronald Kasyaba. “For him to regain near normalcy, this surgical reconstruction has to be done, that is if he has not died by the time he gets help. The breathing passage is partly blocked by the injuries,” Kasyaba said in a letter to The New Vision. “I have been told that when members of communities living near parks get injured by animals outside gazetted areas they get assistance from the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) but it appears to be different this time,” he added. Kasyaba said he had on two separate occasions contacted the Queen Elizabeth National Park warden, Okello Tom, in vain. “I have not got any assistance and I believe this (The New Vision) is the only option I am left with,” he said. Since the attack, the patient has only received emergency care. Kasyaba said the injured man and his relatives cannot afford to facilitate the transfer to Mbarara or Mulago Hospital. UWA spokesperson Lillian Nsubuga yesterday expressed regret over the incident and said the authority was ‘working out some assistance for the victim’. “We are sad about what happened to that man. We don’t want these animals to go and kill people or destroy their property. We have tried to ensure this and to promote co-existence between the wild animals and human beings,” she said. Although compensation is not provided for in the World Life Act, Nsubuga said, the authority provides assistance to affected people. She, however, cautioned the public against cultivating so close to the gazetted parks. “There is supposed to be a buffer zone between human settlements and the parks,” she said.

Subject: Diane Abbott MP: Advice Clinic on how to wipe your DNA from the Government database
Do you know anyone who has had their DNA sampled and put on the government database?
Were they innocent of any crime?
Do you know that the European Court of Human Rights has ruled it is illegal to keep innocent people's DNA for no good reason?
Tory MP Damian Green recently had his DNA wiped off the database because he is innocent of any crime. Diane Abbott MP believes that what is good for Damian Green is good for everybody else.
So on the 25th September Diane Abbott MP and the human rights charity Liberty will be holding a DNA database clinic in Hackney. If you, or anyone you know, has not been convicted of a crime but has their DNA on the national DNA database and would like advice on getting their DNA wiped off the database, then call the number below. Lawyers from Liberty will be on hand at the clinic to offer help and advice on the DNA database.
To book an appointment at the clinic call: 020 7378 3668 or 020 7378 3657. Alternatively you can email: DNA@liberty-human-rights.org.uk. The clinic will take place on the 25th September from 4.30 - 6pm in Hackney
Best wishes,
Diane Abbott MP
Source for this message:
DNA@liberty-human-rights.org.uk--