Mbarara City stuck with unclaimed dead bodies after losing cemetery land

Amos Tayebwa

There is a crisis in Mbarara City as some entities like police, hospitals and agencies are stranded with unclaimed dead bodies after lacking a gazetted area where to bury stranded dead bodies.

Reports indicate that a few weeks ago, Mbarara City Council failed to protect its cemetery land in Court and was taken by a certain group of people who were claiming for the ownership of the land in Rwobuyenje, North Division of Mbarara City. The City authority was chased out of that Land after the court ruling. As we talk, the City authority has not yet identified any other alternative land for the use.

In a council meeting that was held on Wednesday this week at Mbarara City Council Hall, there was information raised on the floor of Council that Mbarara Central Police station is already stranded with about six dead bodies somewhere in their premises but they are worried where to bury them. During the same meeting, Muhammad Byansi, Councilor representing the people of Kakoba Division addressed the same concern.

“I ask this Council that we must consider the issue of the cemetery as an emergency in our City. I therefore request this council that we get part of Kenkombe land and we gazette it as a cemetery land so that we can get where to bury the stranded dead bodies,” said Byansi.

City Mayor Robert Mugabe Kakyebezi, admitted that the truth of the matter is that the Council lost a case in court over Rwobuyenje to certain individuals with costs.

“We have been on this land and we have been in court for some good time until we lost the land. One time one of the Town Clerks said that we were going to lose this case but we had not yet prepared where to put the dead bodies. We said let us keep in so eventually the land has been taken from us, and as we talk we don’t have a cemetery. But at the level of the executive committee we are also having proposals that we look into some of our lands that we are having here to see if we can have one and we put a cemetery. This time we need to have a cemetery that is organised, may be well fenced, well-kept without anyone encroaching on it. So, it is an emergency as everyone here is saying,” said Kakyebezi.

Kakyebezi says that this land was stolen through connivance between the grabbers and some staff within Mbarara City Council. That the council legal personnel did not do enough to protect the Council during the legal processes. The executive has been given two days to come up with a clear report and to also announce in broadcast media where the stranded bodies will be buried. DEAR READER, DO YOU HAVE A HOT STORY? CALL/TEXT/WHATSAPP 0777959024 OR EMAIL: [email protected] WITH AS MUCH EVIDENCE AS POSSIBLE. SOURCE PROTECTION/CONFIDENTIALITY IS OUR NO.1 PRIORITY.