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Ugandan media personality and emcee Caroline Marcah has shared her unsettling experiences with drink spiking during her work in Kampala bars.
The entertainer recounted surviving being poisoned at an unnamed bar located in Kololo and how she failed to get justice.
Her account follows last week’s tragic death of Martha Ahumuza who succumbed to suspected poisoning at Mezo Noir nightclub in Kololo.
Her death sparked a nationwide conversation about the safety of women in bars.
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Marcah in an interview, revealed that she had been a victim of drink spiking twice while working as a host at a bar in the same area.
Read: Marcah recounts getting death threats, house break-in after Semwanga’s death
You cannot be too careful; ugly things are happening in bars. Girls get spiked, and they are taken and horrible things are done to them
A Close Call with Drink Spiking
Marcah recounted a particularly harrowing incident that occurred while she was emceeing at the bar.
I had left my drink on the table, and security would bring it to me to sip while I was on stage. Suddenly, I felt like my voice wasn’t coming out properly, and before I knew it, I was being rushed to the hospital
Marcah said she was disoriented, struggling to breathe and vomiting uncontrollably.
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After receiving medical treatment, the doctor advised her to obtain a police reference letter and attempt to get security footage from the bar.
I was sure I would find out who tampered with my drink, as my table was rarely visited by different people
Inadequate Security and Lack of Accountability
However, when she requested the footage from the bar, the manager told her that the security cameras had malfunctioned just hours before the incident.
This is a problem we have in bars—there’s no proper security, and when things happen, it’s like nothing can be done,
This was a crucial moment for her, as she felt that the bar’s management was not being transparent.
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Online, more voices have emerged for security to be stepped up in bars following Ms Ahumuza’s demise.
In her case according to police, she arrived at Mezo in the wee hours of Thursday morning and sat for drinks with her friend, Edward Mugabo (alias Eddie), a cashier at the bar, around 2 a.m.
They drank together until 3:30 a.m., before moving to the manager's office, which lacks CCTV coverage.
Martha collapsed inside the office, leading Mugabo to contact his brother, Joseph Kalenzi. The pair rushed her to Kampala Hospital, where she was placed on life support but passed away shortly after.