US missionary serving in Uganda Renee Bach. | Screenshot: 10 News
A U.S Missionary accused in a lawsuit by Ugandan mothers of impersonating a doctor and illegally operating a medical facility in Jinja district, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of babies, says she is ‘innocent.’
Through a statement issued by her lawyers on 25 June, Renee Bach, 35, said she never represented herself as a doctor or nurse but she made nutritional care provided by qualified medical professionals more accessible for families in rural areas in Uganda.
She purported that allegations against her are by “reputational terrorists” using the platform of social media enabling entire communities to determine guilt or innocence, “creating a false reality without factual evidence.”
Renee Bach left Virginia, USA and came to Africa when she was a teenager to work as a missionary. In 2009, she set up the ‘Serving His Children’ clinic in Masese to treat children and babies who were close to death because of malnutrition.
Bach first came to Uganda for a 10-day missionary trip and says she fell in love with it. She met her daughter when she was ten days old and adopted her after learning that her birth mother had died.
It is then that she founded the organization to cure malnutrition.
“As Ms. Bach worked alongside Ugandan medical professionals, she learned skills to help provide assistance as necessary and she often assisted nurses and other healthcare professionals to serve in crisis situations,” her statement read.
“SHC hires licensed Ugandan doctors and nurses to provide healthcare through its nutrition programs to combat malnutrition in Uganda,” it added.
Ms. Bach claimed ‘Serving His Children’ currently partners with the Ugandan Ministry of Health to run a nutrition unit within a government operated health facility that is funded through the organization’s efforts.
“These escalating attacks are currently threatening the personal safety of Ms. Bach and her family, as people are believing these lies about her and the services provided by the organization. The media is escalating these safety risks by globally sharing false information,” her lawyers said.
Adding: “The civil lawsuit was filed against Ms. Bach in Uganda by two mothers is entirely without merit, and will be vigorously answered in court. Bach has responded through her legal counsel to all court matters. One of the children in the lawsuit was never treated by SHC. The other child was treated at SHC while Ms. Bach was not in Uganda. These sensational allegations are patently false and fail to recognize the 3,600 malnourished children who have recovered because of the care and treatment provided by SHC.”
