19 people still missing since the 2016 Kasese attacks

Some of the items allegedly recovered from the palace after the raid. FILE PHOTO

Mystery. No one knows how many people, including royal guards and palace servants, were in Buhikira royal palace when the attack took place. Families of 19 people continuously said they were in the palace but have since gone missing.
They were neither found among the dead nor among those in prison. Some of the families have since concluded that their people died and have held traditional funeral rights.
Timothy Mukududu

He was a resident of Bwesumbu Sub-county who had served as a royal guard for two years, according to his wife, Ms Rafairina Biira.
Mukududu had spent the night of Thursday at his first wife Biira’s home in Kasese Town and returned to the pace on Friday morning. The last communication with his wife was on the morning of the day of the attacks.
“On Sunday morning at around 6am, he called me on phone and said they were surrounded. He told me not to abandon the children and go for other men if he dies, and warned me not to abort the pregnancy I was carrying,” Ms Biira narrated. Mukududu had two wives and five children. In September, Mukududu’s father succumbed to cancer.

Noah Baiseya

Baiseya was a royal guard hailing from Kyabarungira Sub-county. He had worked as a royal guard for two years. He first served at a cultural site at Kanyamiyagha in the same sub-county before being transferred to the palace. His brother, Mr Yona Baiseya, said Baiseya had two wives and eight children.
At the time of the attack, one of the wives, Ms Vanice Nyabosi, had divorced, demanding to be settled on her own piece of land. Mr Baiseya had deposited Shs1.6m on a piece of land worth Shs3.6m.
The family says efforts to raise money to complete the transaction have failed and the seller had refused to refund the Shs1.6m he had received.

Amon Kibingo Bwambale

Bwambale was a royal guard hailing from Maliba Sub-county. The family says he had two wives and six children.
Doreen Masika. Mr Paul Kabwemi, her brother, says Masika was not a royal guard but had come from Kibaale District where she lived to buy a clan identify card. On November 26, after picking the Identity Card in the prime minister’s office, she proceeded to the palace to check on two siblings who were royal guards. Together with her three-year-old baby girl, Masika was allegedly trapped in the palace when the UPDF surrounded it that day. She and the baby have never been found.
Monday Kule Mutheghesanya

Monday, a boda boda rider in Kasese Town, hailed from Nyakiyumbu Sub-county. His older brother, Mr Simeon Nyabwire, says Monday never returned from the palace where he had delivered food on November 26. “He called us, saying on arrival at the palace, the soldiers asked him to enter but never allowed him out. His motorcycle is among those recovered at the palace and is at Kasese Police Station. Back home, Ms Jackline Kabugu and six children are demanding for answers about Monday’s whereabouts because he was the sole bread winner.
Eric Baluku Nyamuntidi
He was reportedly killed at the prime minister’s office on November 26. According to Bwesumbu Sub-county chairperson Samson Bagenda, Nyamuntidi first served as a guard to the native sub-county chief of Bwesumbu before being transferred to the palace. Mr Bagenda says one of Nyamuntidi’s wives has since developed a mental disorder and that family has failed to raise money for her treatment.
Others. Other missing persons whose profiles we did not get but have been listed by several organisations working on the peace and recovery projects in the region are James Baseka, Uziah Muhindo, John Bagenda, Michael Bwambale, Alfred Kule, Moses Mumbere and Francis Baluku. Others are Sele Kule, Edwin Muhindo, Yosamu Mukyuruka, Mary Muhindo, Jockus Masereka and Jonas Bwambale.