Ailing Lukwago flies to India for neck surgery

The Lord Mayor announced last night that he’d been referred by “several neurosurgeons and other physicians” to New Delhi for the delicate operation.

Lukwago needs an Anterior Cervical Disc and Fusion surgery to remove the herniated one.

For the last two months, the swollen disc has caused him a great deal of pain and paralysis in his back and left arm.

At the start of this month, he was rushed to Nairobi Hospital after doctors at Nakasero Hospital confirmed his condition via an MRI.

Lukwago however, returned from Nairobi weeks later without the surgery.

He said he needed to consult first about the operation.

“The way they (Kenyan doctors) explained it to me, it was so scary so I thought I should first go back home and reflect on it,” he said.

“Right now I am undergoing that process of counselling myself. I have also received a lot of advice from experts including Dr (Kizza Besigye)."

The operation in India will involve the removal of the swollen disc to relieve pressure on the spinal cord and nerve roots.

This will be replaced with a bone graft, fastened with a metal plate to bridge the area.