The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | There was drama at All Saints Cathedral, Kampala as two families fought for the body of lawyer Bob Kasango. The casket containing his remains was grabbed from the A-Plus pallbearers by a group of relatives from Tororo District in Eastern Uganda.
The relatives encircled the procession minutes after a funeral service and demanded to know where the body was being taken. In Church, it had been announced that the Kasango was to be buried at Gweri village in Kabarole District on Thursday. Mourners were advised to take the Kamwenge road, which is about 2 kilometres from Fort Portal City.
The group of youth who said they were Kasango’s brothers started a scuffle forcing the funeral service team to cancel the viewing session and load the casket in a waiting funeral van.
Within a moment, the hearse was surrounded by the youth who were supported by the deceased’s mother, Rose Kabise, who insisted that her son cannot be buried at the in-law’s place in Fort Portal.
The funeral team looked helplessly as the youth grabbed the body and loaded it on a waiting canter truck which sped off at breakneck speed.
James Kasango, who said he was the deceased’s elder brother said burying Kasango in Tooro was disrespectful and tantamount to lowering their dignity. They insisted that Kasango’s body was going to be taken to their ancestral home at Wikusi village, West Budama, in Tororo district.
But the widow, Nice Bitarabeho Kasango and her relatives insisted that the deceased willed that he should be buried at his own home in Fort Portal. Some of the in-laws said all efforts would be applied to ensure Kasango is buried on his own land in Fort Portal.
Reports later indicated that police intercepted the truck on which the Tororo relatives had loaded the body. Police later confirmed the incidents, saying the body had been returned to the Funeral services team as the two families discussed what to do next.
Kasango died in Luzira Prison last Saturday, according to widow Bitarabeho, after battling heart complications. He was serving a 16-year jail term handed to him in 2018 after he was found guilty of theft of 15.4 Billion Shillings which was intended to clear more than 6,000 pensioners.
He is survived by three children; Samara Paul Kasango Junior who is their firstborn, Stefanie Gracia Karungi Kasango and last born Ivana Zeta Murungi Kasango.
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“But the widow, Nice Bitarabeho Kasango and her relatives insisted that the deceased willed that he should be buried at his own home in Fort Portal.”
This will should be challenged. Kasango cannot be buried in the bush but in his ancestral home where he was born and grew up among his relatives.