Police seek to exhume Senteza's body for autopsy

INVESTIGATION

The Uganda Police Force said Monday they are seeking to obtain a court order allowing the exhumation of the body of Frank Sentenza - a private bodyguard of National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi - for a postmortem examination.

Police said they are taking this course of action to enable them  "classify the cause of death and the nature of injuries" Senteza sustained on Sunday.

In a statement released Monday evening, Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said NUP supporters had blocked them from carrying out an autopsy before his burial in Villa Maria, Masaka district.

NUP claimed Senteza died after being run over by a military vehicle. The army, through spokesperson Brig. Flavia Byekwaso, responded by saying that he "fell off a speeding car Reg No UBF 850Z (drone)" that he had tried to jump on to.

Police said NUP supporters proceeded to bury Senteza "without being examined on post mortem". According to Enanga, this was a setback for the Police task teams "actively investigating the matter".

Senteza was buried at his ancestral home in Villa Maria.

"Yesterday Sunday 27, 2020, the body of the victim was released with postmortem forms by Rubaga Hospital to close relatives and NUP members for them to transfer the body to Mulago City Mortuary for postmortem analysis. Unfortunately, they diverted the ambulance and the body of the victim to the NUP offices in Kamwokya, where a vigil was held," Enanga stated.

The body was thereafter transported to the deceased's ancestral home for burial, he added.

"Several engagements with the family, including Major General Elly Kayanja, granted permission for a postmortem examination to be carried out in Masaka. Our team of pathologists flew by chopper to Masaka to conduct a joint postmortem analysis with family doctors to help classify the cause of death and the nature of injuries," the Police statement added.

"Despite clearance from the family, several NUP supporters who were aggressive blocked Police efforts to have the body of the deceased examined by a joint team of medical experts.

"They proceeded to bury the victim, without postmortem examination. We are disturbed by the conduct of these supporters in blocking the postmortem examination," said Enanga.

"We have now started the process of obtaining a court order to exhume the body of the victim for postmortem analysis, to classify the cause of death and the nature of injuries. The initiative is also a great opportunity for our task teams of investigators to make sure all the different parts of the investigations are completed."