Zambian widow contacted by relative

Dec 22, 2008

A Zambian woman who was stranded in Kampala after she had come to look for relatives of her dead Ugandan husband has been contacted by her brother in-law.

By Joseph Kariuki

A Zambian woman who was stranded in Kampala after she had come to look for relatives of her dead Ugandan husband has been contacted by her brother in-law.

The New Vision yesterday reported that Rebecca Musonda, the widow of Cobsa Arwai Onyaa, a refugee in Zambia, and her three children were stranded in Kampala after they came to be re-united with their family.

The widow named her brother in-law, Fr. Ben Ouma, whom she said is a priest in Kampala.

“After your story today, Fr. Ben Ouma has contacted me and is willing to take care of the widow and the orphans,” said Lira Municipality MP Jimmy Akena, who is organising the reunion.

But Ida Katongo, another Zambian widow who was married to Moses Labida, and her children are still stranded as efforts to locate her relatives continue. She has no contact with relatives in Uganda.

“The displacement of people in the north has made it very difficult to locate the families because most people are still in camps,” Akena said.

A new batch of three families of returnees belonging to the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) party members arrived in the country yesterday night, bringing the number to 34 since Saturday.

Of the families that returned yesterday, two were unable to be reunited with their families.

“We are still keeping them in a hostel as we foot their bills. Their bills have been catered for until Christmas. We hope we would have found their family by then,” Akena said.

Charles Okumu, a returnee who arrived yesterday, was met by his family at Entebbe International Airport after 26 years in exile. He is on his way to Atiak, his ancestral home in the northern Uganda.

The returnees fled the country in 1985 after the ouster of Dr. Milton Obote in a military coup.

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