Religious sect stores dead bodies

Oct 10, 2008

A RELIGIOUS sect that preserves dead bodies is seeking to build a multi-million dollar autonomous city in Rakai district. The Sserulanda Spiritual Foundation hopes to turn 200 square miles adjacent to Lake Victoria into a free trade zone, dubbed Ssessamirembe Spiritual City.

By Carol Natukunda

A RELIGIOUS sect that preserves dead bodies is seeking to build a multi-million dollar autonomous city in Rakai district.

The Sserulanda Spiritual Foundation hopes to turn 200 square miles adjacent to Lake Victoria into a free trade zone, dubbed Ssessamirembe Spiritual City.

The area covers the sub-counties of Kabira, Kakuuto and parts of Kooki.
The group, suspected to be a cult, allows its members to choose whether to be buried or have their bodies preserved and kept in a common room, when they die.

On Wednesday, Saturday Vision saw three of the former members’ bodies in a secluded permanent house in Kabira village, about 20 minutes’ drive off the Masaka-Rakai highway.

While two of the bodies lay in coffins, another – belonging to a woman - was on a cradle neatly covered with white linen. Beside the bodies were lit candles. An elderly woman clad in gloves and a lesu was treating the bodies. The members strictly prohibit visitors from taking pictures inside the room.
“We can even preserve your smile if you asked to have it preserved,” a member told this reporter.

Saturday Vision
also saw three grave yards, implying that the majority of the group’s members are buried. Some graves were bigger than others.
“Each grave is given a different value, depending on whether the person was an initiate (has spiritual power),” explains the group’s general administrator, Sseewabwewi Kyalisiima.
Contrary to common practice where graves are dug, here they are built up to waist level so that the body lies at ground level. This is allegedly to imitate the legendary Egyptian Pyramids.

Sserulanda’s members include high-profile personalities such as Gertrude Njuba, a presidential advisor on land matters. It is headed by His Imperishable Glory Ssaabayimiransibo Bambi Baaba Baabuwe, a Ugandan who has been living in the US for the last 15 years.

God in human form

Baaba is said to wield immense power over his followers, who consider him as a “god in human form.” He is said to have got a vision as early as three years of age to build a city and eradicate poverty. His real name was Jozzewafe Mugonza, and he grew up as a herbalist, diviner and healer, operating in Kyotera and Kalisizo in Rakai district. He reportedly later linked up with some Indian businessmen in Kyotera who sponsored him to travel to India in 1969. There he went through what his followers call the “12 stages of initiation” and became a “disciple of a divine living Master of Ancient Wisdom”. By the late 1970’s, he reportedly started buying land from individual households in Rakai, until he was able to secure a vast expanse of land.
When visiting the place, Saturday Vision found a huge plot which has shrubs and scattered shacks. A dusty murram road winds its way through the grass and anthills to a huge shrine, curved out of a rock. The man-made cave has a purple curtain hanging at the entrance. No one enters with shoes. Inside, a fire place is surrounded by dry grass that is carefully spread out for visitors to sit on. The fire burns day and night. In one corner is a portrait of the spiritual leader, Baaba.

Members are strictly forbidden from eating meat or any animal product, and drinking alcohol. This is allegedly in line with the teachings of Baaba, who combines Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and traditional Bachwezi practices in his religion.
Other practices include common ownership of some assets for the “common good” like land, kitchen, cattle kraal, reference library and burial grounds. Though members are allowed to own some personal private property like houses, cars, radios or television sets, they are all required to contribute to the common good.
Anyone who fails to contribute, risks having their membership cancelled or be denied access to communally owned resources.

The group has a charter which specifies how they will govern themselves in the autonomous city, according to information posted on their website www.sseesamirembe.com. They will have powers to enact their own laws, ordinances, by-laws and procedures, as well as provide and maintain a security force for the protection of the inhabitants of the city. Their judicial system will be led by a “High Chancellor” and only permanent residents of the zone will be eligible to hold the office of a “Governing Chancellor”. They will provide their own social services and infrastructure, independent of the central Government.
Key projects already planned by the group include an international airport, an airport city, hotels, international schools, shopping malls, business centres and cultural villages. It is planned to accommodate about 500,000 people.

Chinese investor

To build the city, the group plans to strike agreements with investors. Already, they have signed a deal with a Chinese company, Paradise International Investment, to invest $1.5b (sh2.6trillion) in setting up infrastructure. The investment, set to kick off in December 2008, is said to become the single largest Chinese private investment in East Africa.

However, some people regard the proposed project as a dream. “This is a fairly tale,” says an LC official of Kabira sub-county, who requested anonymity. “They have been talking about it since the 1980s but we have not seen anything.”

Some people also fear that this is likely to be another cult like Joseph Kibwetere’s Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments, which forced its members to live in an isolated community in the hills of Kanungu, western Uganda. Thousands of them were burnt to death in the church on March 17, 2000.

But the group’s leaders say they are being witch-hunted. “When people like Karim (Hirji) or Sudhir (Ruparelia) are investing, do you first ask whether they are Hindu?” asks Beenunula Eyeenunula, who has been appointed governor of the proposed eco-city.

Eyeenunula also insists that the aim is to attract investments to benefit rural people. “Our spiritual group is a foundation, just like Centenary Bank was founded by the Catholic Church and anybody can access it. Likewise, this city will become a free trade zone, like Dubai.”

The trade zone is being aggressively promoted by Kagera Eco-Cities, an organisation owned by Eyeenunula and Njuba.

Commission of inquiry

The group is, however, under fire for its controversial practices. Earlier this year, President Yoweri Museveni set up a commission of inquiry into the activities of the Sserulanda group. There had been reports that the group was making ARVs. The commission was therefore asked to investigate “allegations of divine healing energy and capacity to cure incurable diseases”.

The investigations are still going on, chaired by the dean of Makerere University Medical School, Prof. Nelson Ssewankambo.

“There have been a lot of stories and rumours about the foundation in terms of spiritual healing, and how they handle the dead people. We need to understand the organisation’s activities, leadership and membership. This is crucial before the Government gives the go-ahead for a free trade zone,” says Ssewankambo.

The commission also comprises the director of the Joint Clinical Research Centre, Dr. Peter Mugyenyi, and Dr. Grace Nambatya, head of research at the Natural Chemotherapeutics Research Laboratories. Other members are Richard Tushemereirwe, a state house official, and Harriet Tukamushaba, a state attorney.
Meeting the probe team on Wednesday, Presidential adviser Njuba wondered how the spiritual matters would be established.

“How will you ascertain the spiritual healing? How will you know each individual’s reason for joining the project?”
Reacting to the concerns, the probe chairman Ssewankambo said they would conduct public hearings.

“We will advertise so that people come and tell us what they know about the spiritual foundation. When we reach a point where we don’t understand the issues of spiritualism, we will notify the President that we are not able to proceed.”
Saturday Vision has learnt that the proposal for an eco-city had already been endorsed by the Government in a memorandum of understanding that was signed by state minister for investments Ssemakula Kiwanuka on January 18, 2006. Kiwanuka was not available for comment by press time yesterday.

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