Police in Jinja are holding a woman who tried to buy a baby from Jinja Referral Hopital for Shs20,000.

According to eye witnesses in the hospital, Ms Esther Namusisi, 19, walked into the maternity ward last Saturday under the pretence of being pregnant.

"She had stuffed a pillow underneath her clothes to make it look like she was pregnant," a nurse at the hospital who preferred anonymity said.

She reportedly sneaked into the nursery, occupied one of the beds and started a conversation with some of the expectant mothers.

The witnesses said, when midwives in the ward became suspicious about her presence, Ms Namusisi offered them Shs20,000 and said she wanted to buy a baby boy.

Mr Gregory Okwi, the officer in charge of the Criminal Investigations Department at Jinja Central Police Station, said witnesses claim that Ms Namusisi later raised the price to Shs500,000 for the baby.

Police said Namusisi had lost her child a few months ago, adding that the loss could have driven her to buying a baby.

Ms Namusisi's grandmother, Ms Florence Nankya, is also being held for allegedly conspiring to steal a baby.