Roseline Nyongesa (standing second right) with Margaret Aluku (on her right), Pastor Michael Sakwa (behind) and family members outside her new house at Kaludeka village on Saturday. [PHOTO/Reuben Olita]A widow from Kaludeka village, Bukhayo North/Walatsi in Busia County is still coming to terms with the pregnancy puzzle that lasted 24-years before it turned out to be a hoax.
Roseline Nyongesa, 55, conceived in 1993 and after nine months she expected to deliver her fourth child but that was not to be despite birth attendants and some hospitals confirming she was expecting a baby.
"I gave birth to my second born after carrying the pregnancy for five years. With that optimism I expected to deliver my fourth born after the same number of years but it was never to be. With my health deteriorating by the day, a former nominated Councillor Margaret Aluku opted to take me to Tanaka Hospital in Busia Town in February, 2017 where tests confirmed it was a growth and not a pregnancy," she said.
Nyongesa said Aluku took another bold step to take her to Ong'iro Hospital, Kumi in Eastern Uganda where a scan revealed she had a growth in the uterus.
The operation revealed what remains a mystery to-date.
"The doctors found excess fluid and lifeless images in the uterus. The growth weighed 20 kilograms," she said.
Nyongesa who lost her husband in 1997 thanked Busia First Lady Judy Ojaamong and Busia Women representative Florence Mutua for contributing to the sh70,000 hospital bill she paid in Kumi hospital.
Pastor Michael Sakwa of International Pentecostal Holiness Church said it is Nyongesa's faith that healed her, adding that witchcraft was behind strange features that were found in the woman's uterus.
Aluku said for the 10 years she knew Nyongesa she was expecting a baby until she raised the alarm as to what was behind the delayed "delivery".