A family in Luwero district is appealing for financial assistance to aid the return of the body of their 30-year-old son who is said to have died while in police cells in Egypt where he had gone to pursue studies.

Ahmed Mukasa Nsanja who has been studying at the Cairo-based Al Azhar University, is said to have died at the hands of fellow inmates who allegedly beat him to death on December 27.

According to information, which the bereaved family received from Uganda' s embassy in Cairo, the deceased had been arrested during a swoop that the Egyptian police carried out on December 27, 2024, to crack down on illegal migrants.

According to Luweero district Kadhi Sheikh Ramathan Mulindwa, who is a member of the bereaved family, the deceased had gone to Egypt in 2019 after the Egyptian government awarded him a scholarship to study.

The Cairo-based public university is renowned for its prestigious Islamic teachings in addition to major programmes such as medicine, business and others.

Mulindwa said on Friday that the bereaved family members learnt of their son's death through a January 14 communication that came from the Ugandan Embassy in Egypt.

Mulindwa said the late student was legally staying in Egypt but did not have his documents prompting the Egyptian police to lock him up in a cell where he met his death purportedly at the hands of fellow inmates. 

Sh13m needed

He said the Ugandan Embassy in Cairo advised the bereaved family whose home is located at Kigombe village near Luwero town, to raise $3,500 (about shillings 13.3 million) for transporting the body to Uganda for burial.

He, however, said the family members were yet to raise all the required amount as a result of which the body was still in Egypt by the weekend.

 Mulindwa appealed to government through the foreign affairs ministry to help them pursue justice and transport the deceased's body to Uganda.

The devastated mother of the deceased, Nusurah Nalwoga,  said she had been spending sleepless nights since she learnt about the mysterious death of her son on January 14. 

Hussein Sebwato, a family member, said he, on December 22, 2023, had a telephone conversation with the late student during which the deceased informed him that the Egyptian police had intensified operations to crack down on illegal migrants.