Kasese clashes: bodies rot

Dec 02, 2016

Scores of people were killed in the weekend clashes between the Government forces and the Rwenzururu royal guards.


Tears, a repulsive stench and frustration describe the situation at the municipal council health centre mortuary in Kasese town.

Grief-stricken relatives thronged the mortuary to check for their missing relatives among the dead. To their disappointment, they could not identify the bodies of their relatives among the decomposing bodies.

Scores of people were killed in the weekend clashes between the Government forces and the Rwenzururu royal guards. The security forces raided the palace of the Rwenzururu king, Charles Wesley Mumbere, and the institution's administrative offices.

The dead bodies numbering between 60 and 100, were picked up by the security forces and taken to various mortuaries within the district for a postmortem examination.

The bereaved said yesterday they failed to identify the bodies of their relatives because they had decomposed and were now beyond recognition.

"Six days are too many for any of them to be easily identified," Mugenyi Bahwere, Mbambu Bahwere and Annet Biira, all from one family, said as they returned from a shed behind the mortuary to search for their brother, Nelson.

Julius Kule Ndungo of Ntunga village, Buhuhira sub-county, Busongora north, said he could not trace the remains of his brother, Gideon Maate Lhusenge. He said his brother aged 30, has left behind four children.

Immaculate Bamukoroga and Fannuel Rukunga, both relatives of the missing Marako Bamukoroga, a former Rwenzururu royal guard, said her brother, a father of seven children, called them about four hours before the raid, saying, "Pray for us. We are surrounded. I do not know what is going to happen to us."

 mmaculate who lost her brother arako during the attack on the palace waiting for the identification of bodies at the mortuary Emmaculate, who lost her brother Marako during the attack on the palace, waiting for the identification of bodies at the mortuary.

 


Some of the bereaved are now imploring the local authorities to identify a place where to bury the dead in a mass grave to avoid burying "wrong dead bodies". In response, the mayor of Kasese Municipality, Godfrey Kabyanga, said he would consult the bishops of the Anglican South Rwenzori diocese and the Catholic diocese of Kasese for land for the mass burial.

The mayor was speaking yesterday at a meeting of sub-county chairpersons from across the district. The meeting was chaired by the RDC, Major James Mwesigye.

Speaking to journalists in Kasese yesterday, the Police spokesperson Felix Kaweesi, also hinted at a mass burial.

Bereaved families' ordeal Betty Mbambu, a resident of Kihyo village in Kitswamba sub-county, Kasese district, said she had not seen her 17-year-old son, Cranmer Muhindo, since the clashes last weekend.

"He went to the king's palace to graze the Omusinga's goats, but I have fears he may have died in the scuffle," Mbambu narrated with tears rolling down her cheeks. "I am devastated. My son may have died in this war which some of us do not understand," Mbambu said. Alice Biira, also a resident of Kihyo, said she had not seen her husband, Gideon Bwambale, since the clashes.

She said the fighting broke out when Bwambale was at the palace, where he and other Rwenzururu royalists had been called for a meeting. Biira also fears that one of her two co-wives may have been killed because no one had seen or heard  from them since Sunday.

"I do not know how we will manage without him," Biira said. She added that her husband had three wives and 13 children.

Baturumagho Masereka of Buhaghura village in Rukoki subcounty, said one of his sons had been arrested and another is missing. He believes the missing son was killed.

Peter Baluku of Kasika village in Rukoki sub-county and father to the missing 20-year-old Morris Sikulimunyu said he had failed to identify the body of his son from among a heap of bodies at the mortuary. Baluku, who came with another family member to help him in identifying his son's body, said they both failed to recognise it.

"It is hard to tell who is who because the bodies are decomposing fast," he said.
"My husband's name is not on the list of those who were arrested by the Police. I have also failed to trace his body in the mortuary," Florence Biira said. She said there is a possibility of people claiming bodies which are not of their relatives because of the state they are in.

"I understand my relative was killed during the attack at the palace, but I have not seen the body and nobody is willing to help explain to me," Joyce Kabugho said.

The residents have cast doubt on the list of the arrested people which was released on Wednesday by the Police in Kasese.

"Some people are missing yet their names do not appear on the list of suspects arrested. We have also not seen their bodies," Ibrahim Masereka, a resident of Nyakasanga, said.

Kikanda Bwambale, 40, was back at the mortuary to look for his elder brother, Siriro, after being turned away the previous day.

Bwambale last heard from Siriro on Saturday when he visited the king's palace to discuss a land issue.
"My brother had never been to the palace. He was a peasant, he did not know anything about politics or the kingdom," Bwambale said. "I think he has been shot."

Isaac Mumbere, 27, was also looking for his brother, Nyanza. "The bodies in there are burnt and decomposed," he said, distraught that he may be unable to identify the body.

However, a few people were able to recover the bodies of their relatives. Sobs rang out as coffins were loaded onto trucks.

Children unaccounted for

Different reports claim that there were children in the palace when the raid was carried out. At least 15 children were in the palace and were reportedly unaccounted for.

Reports quoted Jockim Tembo of the Ugandan Red Cross as saying many people remain missing.
"Children and wives to the royal guards were at the palace. The children are neither in Police custody nor on the list of the dead," Jockim said.

Repulsive stench
The people residing near the mortuary say the stench from the decomposing bodies was making their life difficult and appealed for urgent intervention before it turns into a health disaster.

The Kasese Health Centre, Rock Primary School, Kasese Primary School and Kasese municipal council headquarters are among the institutions affected by the stench.

On Sunday, security forces stormed the palace of the Rwenzururu king, after he allegedly failed to hand over his royal guards accused of attacking security forces.

He was airlifted to Kampala, before being transferred to Nalufenya Police Station in Jinja district where he was detained.

Mumbere was charged with murder on Tuesday.
The Government alleges that kingdom hardliners want to secede and establish an independent state they call the Yiira Republic. The state would include part of the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, whose people share the same culture and language as the Bakonzo.

The Government said guns, machetes, spears and petrol bombs had been found in the palace. The Rwenzururu kingdom's Prime Minister, Tembo Kitsumbwe, disputes the official account that royal guards started the violence.

"I was inside my office at midday on Saturday when I received a call that the office was being surrounded by armed men. I escaped through a side door and the royal guards closed the doors and refused to let the Police and army in," he told AFP.

"Moments later, the Police bombed the office. I ran to the palace and within an hour, it was surrounded," he said.

He called for the release of the king and for negotiations between the monarch and President Yoweri Museveni.

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