Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga has called for a thorough and prompt investigation into the death of a Ugandan Church leader which occurred in Tampa, Florida in the US four years ago.
Kadaga says the deceased’s next of kin claim that the repatriated remains were buried “secretly” in Uganda without any report being given to the family about the cause of death.
This is according to a letter from her office dated July 12, and addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Sam Kutesa.
The family of Rev Fr Peter Kasooli Bwayo who died in July 2014 also complained to the Speaker that they have not received any information regarding the gratuity and benefits of the deceased from the Department of Veterans Affairs, James A Haley Veterans Hospital, Florida.
Rev Fr Peter Kasooli Bwayo belonged to the Order of Apostles of Jesus founded in Uganda’s Moroto District by Bishop Sixtus Mazzoldi and Rev John Marengoni on August 22, 1968.
Mr Mathew Bwayo, the deceased’s next of kin, told a local news daily they decided to petition the Speaker after Internal Affairs ministry and police “were reluctant to cooperate on the ‘criminal issues’ surrounding the death of the priest and issuance of a Ugandan passport on the same day he reportedly died.”
“After perusing the complaint, I am of the opinion that the matter can be best handled by your ministry and Ministry of Internal Affairs. I therefore, forward the matter to you to handle and most especially inquire into the deceased’s outstanding entitlements and gratuity from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital,” the Speaker wrote, according to the Daily Monitor.
A report by the Daily Monitor reads that Fr Peter Kasooli Bwayo was buried at his ancestral home in Uganda’s eastern Bulambuli District on July 23, 2014.
The remains were however exhumed on March 21, and they are yet to be reburied. “The family insists they must first know the cause of death,” Daily Monitor reports.
“We check on the body every day and it is still recognisable. There is no way we can rebury until the postmortem report is out and the American government needs to pronounce itself about their citizen whose body was smuggled into Uganda,” Mr Mathew Bwayo told the news outlet.
For four months and 20 days (from exhumation day to date), the family claims they have been paying Shs50,000 daily to cater for prepaid electricity bills to run the refrigerator keeping the body.
According to the Daily Monitor, a July 3, 2014 death certificate in the family’s possession that was reportedly issued by the Bureau of Vital Statistics in the State of Florida indicates Fr Bwayo succumbed to anoxic brain injury and sepsis.
male@ugchristiannews.com
