Amin’s secret burial site

Mar 28, 2008

IN the 1970s, most of then President, Idi Amin Dada’s suspected political opponents either ended up in shallow graves or simply became fodder for crocodiles. Although the true figure may never be established, it is estimated that more than 300,000 people died without trace during Amin’s regime.

By George Bita

IN the 1970s, most of then President, Idi Amin Dada’s suspected political opponents either ended up in shallow graves or simply became fodder for crocodiles. Although the true figure may never be established, it is estimated that more than 300,000 people died without trace during Amin’s regime.

People who lived during his rule testify to the routine movements of blood-stained corpses to secret burial sites in the wee hours of the night.

One such secluded location where bullet-riddled bodies ended up was the Mairo Mbili (Mile2) cemetery in Masese Division of Jinja Municipal Council.

At this burial site, set up by the British in the 1920s, it is believed that many of Amin’s victims from Busoga region (five of them popular residents) were secretly buried.

In early 2005, the remains of Shaban Nkuutu, minister of works, housing, transport and communication, who was also the MP for Busoga South East were discovered. Slain over 32 years ago, Nkuutu was reburied on February 12, 2005 at his ancestral home in Busesa, Iganga after he was exhumed from the cemetery.

Farouk Kirunda, of the Jinja-based Voice of Busoga radio, says his relative, William Nkooko, has been traced to this cemetery after the family accidentally bumped into the man who dug the grave three decades ago.

Nkooko’s remains will be re-buried in Mayuge on April 26 at a ceremony presided over by President Yoweri Museveni. Nkooko was a sympathiser of FRONASA, a rebel group formed by Museveni in the 1970s to fight Amin’s regime.

Other prominent victims of the Amin regime, believed to be buried at Mairo Mbili, are Kasigwa, father to Jinja West MP, Harry Kasigwa.

The once-fenced off premises are now an open patch of grass dotted by tombstones, mango trees and a footpath from the main road to Mpummude and Mafubira zones in Jinja town.

The formerly magnificent gate as well as the guard-house are no more. Their faded previously white paint covered with lichens now speaks volumes about their neglected state.

Without a fence, the grounds sometimes become a grazing field for cattle that litter the area with heaps of dung.

However, half-filled pits on the northern section of the premises give an impression that burial still goes on here.

Julius Okware, who leaves near the graves, says Jinja Municipal Council deployed two workers at the cemetery to slash overgrown parts and bury bodies brought in.

“These days, they bring bodies in broad day light especially those uncollected from hospital mortuaries. They are buried in a huge pit that accommodates over 15 corpses,” Okware says.

He adds that the dead are thrown into the pit and covered with a little soil before another consignment is ferried in. The process is repeated as more earth is thrown in to cover subsequent layers of bodies until the pit is nearly full.

He adds that the pits are never fully-filled so as to allow paspalum grass to grow downwards into them leaving a clear mark for a particular mass grave. There are several such grass depressions on the site proving that thousands of souls have been laid to rest here.

Okware believes that almost every inch of the cemetery is carrying at least a corpse. He attributes Amin’s use of the place to its secluded surroundings.

“Those nearby houses were built in the 1990s. In the 1980s, this place was associated with thieves. People walking by in the night would be hit by metal bars,” he adds.

Okware says the corpses emit a foul smell and some human bones are exposed over time as a result of erosion.
At one site, a hip bone and part of the skull are seen with traces of the cloth used for burial.

Okware says traditional healers visit the site at night for cleansing ceremonies.
“Some carry chicken, goats or sheep to slaughter by the graves. We hear them and occasionally peep to see what is going on but in the morning the remains of their rituals are evident,” he says.

A worker who prefers anonymity says construction workers laying water pipes from Jinja to Iganga town uncovered some remains recently at the cemetery section.

“The bones were collected and re-buried at the other part of the site.”

But, there are also those buried here out of their own will. One is an Italian called Prigionibri di Guerra buried in 1946 while Elsa Viktoria Roehren, a German was laid to rest in a marble-tiled grave in 2003.

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