New life in Kataribabo's Bunga mass grave house

By Kikonyogo Ngatya It is midday on Sunday March 4. The dry season sun's wrath violently pierces the earth. A cool breeze from Gaba beach interrupts a heavy cloud of dust rising from the paths of Mawanga zone, Bunga, a Kampala suburb where I am standing in front a posh fenced house. All by-passers crane their necks to look at me me with eyes fixed to where I am standing. I gather the feeling that every one is gazing at me like I am a stranger as I stand in front of one of the most feared house in the city. Its beautiful brown tiles and green trees only bring fear as the wind whistles past them towards the neighbours and strangers. This is the house where a mass grave of the innocent victims of Kibwerere's cult was found. Over 1000 members of the Movement for the Restoration of Ten Commandments doomsday cult died in an inferno at Kattate site, Kanungu in Rukungiri District, western Uganda. More than five mass graves in different areas were later discovered containing many bodies including those of children. At this particular one in Bunga, more than 50 bodies were exhumed inside the compound of this posh beautiful house. Fr. Dominic Kataribaabo, one of the cult leaders, formerly rented this house. It belonged to Moses Sengendo, a Kampala resident. As many Ugandans try to put their memories behind them, a year down the road, fresh volcanoes of fear, hopelessness and desperation still erupt inside the hearts and souls of many. Will it happen again? Who is responsible for the Kanungu death? Will they ever be brought before the law? Is freedom of worship really free? Won't it ever be abused again? These are the questions ringing in many Ugandans minds. The gate of this fierce house has a huge viro padlock on it . Children's laughter and cool music can be heard floating in the air. After the fifth knock, the gate is thrown open and the owner looks me straight into the face. The site of a small camera bag wrapped in a newspaper makes her smell a recipe for the press intrusion into her privacy. She leads me inside the newly tarmacked compound. After introductions, I am told that the house was bought three months ago from Ssengendo. The new owners invite into their home for five minutes on conditions that I do not take pictures inside the compound, do not enter their house or reveal their identity. "Please, this is a private property now. Every day we receive a lot of people saying they just want to peep inside and go away. The foreign media comes here and begs to take pictures of our home. We are tired of this. We just want to leave a normal life like other people. I hope you understand our feelings,'' the owner said. After accepting, their conditions, a guard takes me around the house. The site where the bodies were exhumed has been tarmacked. The family goes on with their lives, although it is evident they feel bothered by inquisitive people about how they feel living in a house that once had a mass grave. "We have no fears at all leaving here. The people whose bodies were buried here by Kibwetere were innocent. Their spirits cannot be of any harm to us," the owner said, declining to go into any details and refusing any family member to comment. I come out of the compound after the five minutes are over, only to find young children gathered at the gate. "Oyo munange avamuli enyumba yemirambo" (he is from the mass grave house)' one little girl tells the other. They laugh while running away from me like I had a contagious disease. Later they told me they are under strict orders from their parents and guardians not to talk or associate with any one coming out of the gate. A member of the family that purchased the house said that one of their young boys has been engaged in two fights at school, after his classmates teased him over living in 'the grave house.' "I pity that family. If I were the one I would hang a 'No Vistors Welcome' notice outside the gate. They are so much bothered by the people flocking to have a look inside the house. It is like most people want to come in terms with the incident by trying to come and witness on their own where the mass graves were," a neighbour who preferred anonymity said. Some people interviewed by The New Vision said that the house should be bought and preserved by government. "This house is symbolic of our mistakes as a nation. We have many lessons to learn. Many people go there because I think they have a number of questions they want to find answers to," Badiru Kakooba, a city resident who wants it to be reserved as a museum said. He added, "If the house is preserved by government and it is open to the public, it would offer a sense of associating one with stopping this kind of this from ever happening." Ronah Nabbosa, a resident in the nearby area said, "Many bodies could still be there. One year is not enough for government to declare that the house should be sold off. Kataribaabo was a key figure in the inferno. The house may still have a lot of questions to answer." Ends