On April 20, residents of Kabaseke village woke up to shocking and devastating site of parts of human remains which had been dropped in a forest belonging to Aisha Namayanja.
The herdsmen could not believe what they had seen. It was a human hand and a rib. One of the herdsmen, Gerald Mugera, tried to touch the bones, but feared. He made an alarm which attracted neighbours and the area LC I chairperson Francis Mujjuzi.
The dogs started howling from one side of the forest, Mugera called out loudly: “Speed!” (the name of one of the dogs), but the dog could not come out of the forest. Another energetic dog emerged from the nearby swamp, with a bone in its mouth and entered the forest. The herdsmen pursued the dog to find out why it was howling.
“On seeing us, the dogs all dashed away, reaching where they had converged, we saw a skull that appeared to be of a child. It was at this time that Kasenyi village chairperson [Mujjuzi] decided to report the matter to Kyotera Police Station,” Mugera reminisces.
It rained heavily that day and police headed by the officer in charge of Kyotera Police Station, Patience Baganzi combed the forest for more clues on possible homicide. They recovered only parts of a human skull. The team was not satisfied with the discoveries. They sought more.
The following day, another team led by Rakai District Criminal Intelligence and Investigations boss David Ibanda went back to the scene, checked and later left without anything of prosecution value.
Ibanda ordered his juniors to comb a nearby swamp where the dog emerged from. They followed the path and saw different clothes of children presumed to be aged about 12.
Deep in the swamp, the detectives recovered more human remains, which included skulls, teeth and other body parts.
During the search, women, who had accompanied police began wailing uncontrollably while others covered their faces in grief and disbelief.
Annet Nabasumba, a mother to Sharon Nassuna, aged 9, who had gone missing from an uncle’s home, looked at some of the clothes police recovered from the swamp. She said her daughter was among the dead.
“Sharon was wearing a blue skirt and a yellow sleeveless blouse at the time she went missing from her uncle’s home where she was staying during her holidays,” she said, adding: “We have been looking for her, but failed to trace her whereabouts despite placing announcements on radios.”
Mujjuzi said the swamp where the children’s remains were recovered had been used by several youth for brick laying and they had never reported any case of children being buried there.
“I was surprised to see children’s remains recovered from the swamp. It’s unbelievable,” he said.
Mujjuzi, however, asked police to also investigate the mushrooming traditional shrines in the area. He said the operators of the shrines could be behind the increasing case of child sacrifice and ritual killings.
According to Mujjuzi, the village has more than 10 traditional healer’s shrines. He advised parents and guardians to take extra care of their children and always report to police as soon as a child goes missing.
On April 25, police arrested a couple in connection with the mysterious death of Nassuna, who was reportedly killed for ritual sacrifice.
The suspects are residents of Kyotera Town and include Nassuna’s uncle from whose home the girl disappeared on December 20 last year. The man is also a driver on Kyotera –Mutukula route. Nassuna had gone to spend school holidays with her uncle.
“We all want to get rich, but I condemn the act of amassing wealth by killing children, making parents cry for the rest of their lives,” said Nabasumba, after burying her daughter’s remains, which were recovered by police last month.
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