Three more bodies of Kasese attack victims handed to families

Government has handed another three bodies of victims of the June 16 attack on Mpondwe-Lhubiriha Secondary School to their families.

At least 38 students and 6 community members were killed in the attack blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels.

About 17 of the bodies had been burnt beyond recognition, prompting government to carry out DNA tests to ascertain which families the students belong to.

Initial results identified only 11 bodies whose DNA results matched with their relatives but further tests confirmed two more students and the belonging of a body discovered by the UPDF in its pursuit of the insurgents.

The three include Biira Amina Rashid, 17, whose DNA test matched with her mother, Kyakwima Gertrude.

The other two victims were Edger Bwambale Athwanzire, 16, whose DNA test results matched Kenja Josephine as his mother, and Loyce Muhindo, whose results matched Julius Mbusa as the father.

The state minister for education, Peter Ogwang, who handed over the bodies, condoled with the bereaved families at Bwera General Hospital on Wednesday.

“This place has been peaceful for the last ten years and we cannot allow anybody to destabilize it. This [attack] was a one off. The UPDF is pursuing those attackers. They will be found and defeated,” Ogwang said as he handed over Shs5 million to each family of the three and to other 13 families that had buried their family members.

The minister who visited the scene of the school also revealed that the fate of the school which remains closed will be determined after the investigations into the matter have been completed.

“I don’t want to preempt their report but once investigations are complete, appropriate action will be taken,” Ogwang added.

Addressing the bereaved families, ICT state minister Godfrey Baluku Kabbyanga cautioned locals against domestic violence.

According to him, some fathers whose samples did not match with the deceased students were beginning to interrogate mothers over paternity.

A family member who preferred anonymity revealed that the failure to match the blood sample of the father was causing a rift between the parents.

“My brother is furious, his blood samples were taken twice and they never matched yet for the mother matched at once. He wants to know how that could happen and who the real father of the child is,” he told Monitor.

Meanwhile, some family members say they feel hopeless as they are yet to get their children.

Remegio Kule, a father to Yunasi Surprise who is still missing told this publication that he is haunted by trauma and the family has failed to do any productive work since the attack.

On Wednesday, Kule appealed to government to intensify the pursuit of the ADF so that their children are brought back home dead or alive.

“According to our culture, if you child is missing you stay home doing nothing. People continue coming to console us over the incident. I ask government to comfort us but most importantly bring our children home,” he said.

Government is still keeping four bodies which have not yet been matched with of the samples collected.