Kasese attack: Govt stuck with 4 unclaimed bodies
The UPDF commander of mountain division and operation Shujaa in DR Congo, Maj Gen Dick Olum (L) gestures as he talks to the State Minister for higher Education, John Chrysostom Muyingo (C) and the ministry’s PS, Ms Ketty Lamaro (R) in one of the dormitories was set ablaze by assailants
What you need to know:
- The bodies have not been claimed two months after the attack, Lt Maate Magwara, the deputy resident district commissioner, said yesterday.
The authorities in Kasese District are stuck with bodies of four victims of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attack on Lhubiriha Secondary School in Bukonzo County.
The bodies have not been claimed two months after the attack, Lt Maate Magwara, the deputy resident district commissioner, said yesterday.
He told this publication that bodies of four boys killed in the June 16 attack have not been claimed, even after DNA tests were conducted on parents who reported that their children were missing.
“We are still awaiting the DNA results because more parents, whose children are missing, have had their samples taken. We have hope that results will be forthcoming. However, if the results do not materialise, we are uncertain about the course of action we’ll take,” Lt Magwara said.
He added that samples might also be sent to laboratories in countries with more advanced DNA testing facilities.
Status of school
Lt Magwara said the security personnel, which had been guarding the premises, were withdrawn recently and control was handed back to the proprietor.
“We determined that maintaining a security presence was unnecessary, so we returned control to the owner, who is now employing private security. The Ministry of Education and Sports will guide the owner on the reopening process. While we don’t make that decision, our investigation into the matter remains ongoing,” he said.
Mr Jocus Lubiri, the uncle of the school director, (Mr Nelson Bulotemu), said security operatives had been deployed at the school following the attack and were withdrawn on August 8.
He said: “Reopening the school will likely take around three years, and even then, it will be difficult to regain student enrollment given the bloodshed that occurred here. The project’s revival will require substantial time and advice from the government.”
He added that following the attack, both the school director and head teacher were arrested by the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces soldiers for questioning and said a month later they were released and handed over to the police.
“As of now, the director and head teacher are in police custody. My understanding is that they are facing charges related to operating a boarding section in the school without government permission,” Mr Lubiri said.
Mr Lubiri added that the school director lost his daughter, Ruth Katusiime Masiika, a Senior Four student, during the attack.
He has urged the government to pardon the school director.
On Wednesday, Maj Gen Dick Olum, the commander of the UPDF Mountain Division and Operation Shujaa, told journalists in Fort Portal City that six students were suspected to have been abducted by the rebels. He said three of them could have been killed, based on intelligence reports.
