''We are not cannibals''

May 02, 2014

The cultural leader of Kooki County in Rakai district dismisses public criticism and belief that all people originating from Kooki and Rakai practice cannibalism.

By Eddie Ssejjoba                                    

The cultural leader of Kooki County in Rakai district has dismissed public criticism and belief that all people originating from Kooki and Rakai practice cannibalism.


He said the allegations shame and create a bad image of the area people.

His Highness Apollo Kabumbuli Ssansa II insisted that the practice was foreign and could have been introduced by foreigners or intruders with sinister motives which, he said must be thoroughly investigated by government organs.

The Kamuswaga said the recent tales of human eating had greatly tormented the area leaders and residents.

He talked of the need to probe and establish the truth behind “these criminal acts” so as to save the face of Kooki.

 “We also get information that the people behind these practices are linked to the international trade in human organs that must be investigated, otherwise, we the Bakooki are not human eaters,” he said.

Flanked by his wife, Omugo Rebecca Alituuka, the cultural leader was speaking at Africana Hotel during a fundraising dinner for his 10th coronation that is scheduled to take place on May 15.

The coronation event is due to take place at Kagamba Sub-county headquarters in Kooki County.

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Stabua Nattoolo, a musician engages EALA MP, Fred Mukasa Mbidde at the fundraising dinner. PHOTO/Eddie Ssejjoba

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Kooki County cabinet officials dance at the meet. PHOTO/Eddie Ssejjoba

Brigadier Elly Kayanja represented the Vice President Edward Ssekandi as guest of honor at the Wednesday function where sh38m was raised.

Legislators Fred Mukasa Mbidde (EALA), Susan Namaganda (Woman, Bukomansimbi), Amos Mandela (Kooki), Medard Ssegona (Busiro East), district officials including the LCV chairman Benon Mugabi and the business community led by Dr. Sarah Nkonge, Hajji Kiyemba and Teopisita Nabbaale graced the occasion.

 Kooki is a hereditary county forming one of the counties of Buganda kingdom.

He explained that the recent emergence of reports of ‘human eaters’ must be condemned in the strongest terms because they shame all people from the area and paint a negative picture of all the inhabitants.

Other problems he enumerated include the HIV/AIDS scourge that originated from the area and took a huge toll on the population. It affected the social and economic advance of local communities plus the 1979 Liberation war (Kagera War).

The Kamuswaga said the Rwandan genocide that led to dead bodies floating on River Kagera through Kasensero landing site on the shores of Lake Victoria also affected the area.

He appealed to ‘sons of the soil’ to unite and support the education in the area and mobilize residents to promote more trees in hilly areas to protect the environment and plant more food.

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