A Christian missionary Renee Bach, who runs a local non-governmental organisation called Serving His Children in eastern Uganda, is being accused of representing herself as a doctor and treating children in her care. She allegedly took children with malnutrition from local hospitals to “treat” them at her organisation – and some of them died.
Gimbo Zubeda and Kakai Rose from Masese in Jinja District alongside civil society organisation, Women’s Probono Initiative, are suing Bach for the actions they allege led to the death of their children while in her care.
The two women say that they were led to believe that Renee Bach was a medical doctor and that her home was a medical facility as she was often seen wearing a white coat, a stethoscope and often administered medications to children in her care.
They say they learned that Bach had no training at all in medicine after their children died. They also found out that in 2015, the District Health Officer had closed her facility and ordered her to not offer any treatment to any children.
So how then did an American missionary without any medical qualification end up allegedly performing medical procedures and giving treatment to children even after her facility was ordered to shut down?
‘There are procedural and regulatory mechanisms that ought to be followed when establishing a medical facility in Uganda. Even so the law provides for licensing agencies and protocols for who should practice medicine in Uganda. It is unacceptable, narcissistic behaviour, for anyone, black or white, rich or poor, missionary or angel to pass off as a ‘medical practitioner’ when they are not,” says Beatrice Kayaga, an officer at the Women’s Probono Initiative.
The complainants are asking the Jinja High Court in Uganda to shut down Bach’s organisation. They say the actions of Bach led to the death of over 100 children, “violating their right to access adequate treatment, the right to health of the children, the right to life, the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of race and social economic standing and the right to dignity, freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment”.
The Serving His Children NGO responded to an article written by Sarabeth Caplin in 2018 accusing Christian Missionary of “Playing Doctor” With No Training.
“At no time has our founder, Renee Bach, presented herself as a medical professional, experimented on or caused the death of any child. Having been trained by medical professionals to start IVs, Ms Bach has in the past provided assistance in such procedures when requested and currently serves in an administrative capacity and participates in fundraising for the organization” – Lauri Bach, the U.S. Director for Serving His Children.
A group called No White Saviors (NWS) has taken to social media to raise awareness of this case and has asked for help in bringing charges against Bach in the U.S. The group posted pictures of two children with visible scars they say were caused by Renee Bach’s botched care.
Renee Bach’s whereabouts are unavailable, and there have been reports that she didn’t show up for her court date in March 2019.
Uganda has in recent years been plagued by bogus Western missionaries operating as doctors.
Last month, an investigation by The Guardian revealed that a network run by Robert Baldwin, an American pastor from New Jersey, is administering Ugandans with industrial bleach and that up to 50,000 Ugandans, including infants, have been administered chlorine dioxide so far.
Hallelujah Magazine is committed to publishing reliable, trusted, quality and independent Christian journalism. Our journalism is free from commercial bias and is not influenced by wealthy people, politicians, clerics or shareholders. We value our readers’ feedback, suggestions and opinions. Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.